Tree species composition in areas of Atlantic Forest in southeastern Brazil is consistent with a new system for classifying the vegetation of South America

Eisenlohr, Pedro V.; Oliveira‐Filho, Ary Teixeira de

doi:10.1590/s0102-33062014000200009

Cited by 14 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 33 publications

(43 reference statements)

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“…First, that phenotypic plasticity is strong enough in the region so that species can express distinct habits and trait values across different vegetation types, to a large extent driven by local resource variation [ 43 , 104 ]. Second, although physiognomic variation captures a significant portion of changes in species composition [ 68 ], we should not use vegetation types as proxies for floristic composition because they masks the main biogeographical patterns in plant species distributions. Rather, vegetation types should be used as a classification scheme complimentary to recognized biogeographical sub regions.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Internal structures have been proposed for the Caatinga based on drought severity [ 64 , 66 ], floristic distinctiveness [ 54 , 66 ], and congruence of soil, geomorphology, plant, and animal species [ 67 ]. Eisenlohr & Oliveira-Filho [ 68 ] suggested that a purely physiognomic classification captured most of the floristic variation in large regions and Fernandes [ 66 ] proposed a physiognomic classification as a proxy for floristic variation in the Caatinga. However, these proposals are qualitative [ 64 , 66 , 69 ] or based on subjective expert opinion [ 67 , 69 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Aridity drives plant biogeographical sub regions in the Caatinga, the largest tropical dry forest and woodland block in South America

Silva

Souza

2018

PLoS ONE

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Our aims were to quantify and map the plant sub regions of the the Caatinga, that covers 844,453 km2 and is the largest block of seasonally dry forest in South America. We performed spatial analyses of the largest dataset of woody plant distributions in this region assembled to date (of 2,666 shrub and tree species; 260 localities), compared these distributions with the current phytogeographic regionalizations, and investigated the potential environmental drivers of the floristic patterns in these sub regions. Phytogeographical regions were identified using quantitative analyses of species turnover calculated as Simpson dissimilarity index. We applied an interpolation method to map NMDS axes of compositional variation over the entire extent of the Caatinga, and then classified the compositional dissimilarity according to the number of biogeographical sub regions identified a priori using k-means analysis. We used multinomial logistic regression models to investigate the influence of contemporary climatic productivity, topographic complexity, soil characteristics, climate stability since the last glacial maximum, and the human footprint in explaining the identified sub regions. We identified nine spatially cohesive biogeographical sub regions. Current productivity, as indicated by an aridity index, was the only explanatory variable retained in the best model, explaining nearly half of the floristic variability between sub regions. The highest rates of endemism within the Caatinga were in the Core and Periphery Chapada Diamantina sub regions. Our findings suggest that the topographic complexity, soil variation, and human footprint in the Caatinga act on woody plant distributions at local scales and not as determinants of broad floristic patterns. The lack of effect of climatic stability since the last glacial maximum probably results from the fact that a single measure of climatic stability does not adequately capture the highly dynamic climatic shifts the region suffered during the Pleistocene. There was limited overlap between our results and previous Caatinga classifications.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Aridity drives plant biogeographical sub regions in the Caatinga, the largest tropical dry forest and woodland block in South America

Silva

Souza

2018

PLoS ONE

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“…Therefore, we considered the Atlantic Forest sensu latissimo (Oliveira-Filho et al 2006) to include the following five main forest types (MFTs): 'Rain Forest', 'Coastal Sandy Forest', 'Cloud Forest', 'Araucaria Mixed Forest', and 'Semi-deciduous Forest'. These MFTs were primarily chosen and defined based on their physiognomic aspects using a framework adapted from Oliveira-Filho (2009) and validated by Eisenlohr and Oliveira-Filho (2014). Note that the OF&F paper did not distinguish between 'Rain Forest' and 'Coastal Sandy Forest', which were both treated as rain forests, and that the authors adopted the sensu latissimo view, although this specific term had not yet been coined.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Revisiting Patterns of Tree Species Composition and their Driving Forces in the Atlantic Forests of Southeastern Brazil

Eisenlohr

Oliveira‐Filho

2015

Biotropica

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The elucidation of phytogeographic patterns and their drivers in biodiversity hotspots is essential to the study of ecology and the conservation of these areas. In 2000, an important study by Oliveira‐Filho and Fontes led to changes in the paradigms that define our understanding of the Atlantic Forest (Brazil). Here, our aim was to revisit this study using a more comprehensive set of environmental predictors, an updated and much larger tree species dataset and checklist, and more refined data analyses. We performed exploratory and confirmatory analyses, including the modeling of the spatial components with Moran's Eigenvector Maps, using data from 483 sites in southeastern Brazil, which encompass a total of 3546 species and 33 geo‐climatic variables. We observed strong floristic similarities between rain‐ and seasonal forests and a species distribution continuum across the main gradients. The environmental and spatial variables were significantly correlated with floristic patterns, and we demonstrated that the tree flora of the seasonal forests should no longer be considered a simple subset of the rain forest flora. The findings of the original paper were not only confirmed but we also unveiled additional, important phytogeographic patterns. We also reinforced the main conclusion of the paper that the Atlantic Forest concept must encompass all of the forest types east of the dry corridor in South America, a designation of utmost importance for the conservation of this biodiversity hotspot.

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“…Normally, such classification systems and their elevational boundaries are supported by scientific studies, validation of results in the field and experience of researchers involved, as is the case with systems designed for the Brazilian vegetation aforementioned. For example, numerical evidence for the consistency of a classification system was recently obtained by Eisenlohr and Oliveira-Filho (2014). The definition of altitudinal zones in classification systems (Ellenberg and Mueller-Dombois 1967;OliveiraFilho 2009;IBGE 2012) should also guide decision-making process in biodiversity conservation, since these systems can guide the definition of priority areas for conservation, human occupancy and even help shorten the reach of certain anthropogenic impacts (Armenteras et al 2003).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Tree species composition and richness along altitudinal gradients as a tool for conservation decisions: the case of Atlantic semideciduous forest

et al. 2015

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Altitude is one of the major environmental variables influencing the distribution of tree taxa around the world, and can be a useful parameter for the development of conservation strategies. Our objectives were to obtain an overview of the conservation status of taxa from the Atlantic semideciduous seasonal forests of southeastern Brazil and check, among the floristically consistent altitudinal zones, which had the largest number of endemic, threatened and indicator species. To accomplish this, we used species occurrence and geo-climatic data from the 'NeoTropTree' database. First, we checked which zones were floristically consistent using an ordination method (non-metric multidimensional scaling, NMS) followed by an analysis of variance. Then, we conducted an indicator species analysis, estimated species richness, calculated the taxonomic distinctness index for all zones and evaluated important aspects for conservation, such as endemism and threat of extinction. Taxa richness, and number of endemic and threatened species decreased with increasing altitude, while the amount of indicator species for each zone increased with altitudinal elevation. These variations related to the altitudinal gradient should be considered when developing conservation strategies. We also should prioritise the conservation of the entire gradient and, whenever possible, include endemic and endangered species in forest recovery programs.

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Tree species composition in areas of Atlantic Forest in southeastern Brazil is consistent with a new system for classifying the vegetation of South America

Cited by 14 publications

References 33 publications

Aridity drives plant biogeographical sub regions in the Caatinga, the largest tropical dry forest and woodland block in South America

Aridity drives plant biogeographical sub regions in the Caatinga, the largest tropical dry forest and woodland block in South America

Revisiting Patterns of Tree Species Composition and their Driving Forces in the Atlantic Forests of Southeastern Brazil

Tree species composition and richness along altitudinal gradients as a tool for conservation decisions: the case of Atlantic semideciduous forest

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