Continental-scale patterns of canopy tree composition and function across Amazonia

Hans ter Steege (), Nigel C. A. Pitman, Oliver L. Phillips, Jerome Chave, Daniel Sabatier, Alvaro Duque, Jean-François Molino, Marie-Françoise Prévost, Rodolphe Spichiger, Hernán Castellanos, Patricio von Hildebrand and Rodolfo Vásquez
Additional contact information
Hans ter Steege: Institute of Environmental Biology, Section Plant Ecology and Biodiversity, and the National Herbarium of the Netherlands NHN, Utrecht University branch
Nigel C. A. Pitman: Amazon Conservation Association
Oliver L. Phillips: University of Leeds
Jerome Chave: CNRS/UPS, Évolution et Diversité Biologique, UMR 5174, UPS Toulouse III, Bâtiment IVR3
Daniel Sabatier: Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD), UMR AMAP, TA40/PS2
Alvaro Duque: Universidad Nacional de Colombia
Jean-François Molino: Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD), UMR AMAP, TA40/PS2
Marie-Françoise Prévost: Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD), UMR AMAP
Rodolphe Spichiger: Conservatoire et Jardin Botaniques de la Ville de Genève, CP 60
Hernán Castellanos: UNEG, Calle Chile, Urbaniz Chilemex, Puerto Ordaz
Patricio von Hildebrand: Fundacion Puerto Rastrojo, Cra. no. 24-76 of. 1201
Rodolfo Vásquez: Proyecto Flora del Perú, Jardín Botánico de Missouri

Nature, 2006, vol. 443, issue 7110, 444-447

Abstract: An overview of the Amazon Researchers working in the Amazon basin/Guiana shield region have accumulated massive ecological data sets. Now that work has been brought together in a combined database covering over a quarter of a million trees, and providing information on a scale that can contribute significantly to our understanding of the Amazon ecosystem's biodiversity and its place in the global climate system. Two dominant gradients in tree composition and function across the Amazon are evident, reflecting patterns of soil fertility and differences in the length of the dry season. The data also suggest that dominance of legumes in the Guiana shield is due to high seed mass and low rates of disturbance, rather than root adaptations to poor soils.

Date: 2006
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DOI: 10.1038/nature05134

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