Palm distribution patterns in Amazonian rainforests: What is the role of topographic variation?

Question: Are soil properties and topographic variation related with palm (Arecaceae) species composition and distribution patterns? If so, are species distribution patterns consistent across sites? Location: 100–200 m a.s.l, non-inundated Amazonian rainforest, NE Peru. Methods: One 0.65-ha line tra...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of vegetation science 2004-08, Vol.15 (4), p.485-494
Main Authors: Vormisto, Jaana, Tuomisto, Hanna, Oksanen, Jari
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Arecaceae
Biological taxonomies
botanical composition
cations
Forest soils
geographical distribution
Herpes zoster
Hills
lowland forests
Lowland rainforest
Peru
Plants
s
Sedimentary soils
soil pH
soil texture
Species
Species composition
Species distribution
species diversity
Taxa
Topography
Tropical rain forests
Valleys
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Summary:Question: Are soil properties and topographic variation related with palm (Arecaceae) species composition and distribution patterns? If so, are species distribution patterns consistent across sites? Location: 100–200 m a.s.l, non-inundated Amazonian rainforest, NE Peru. Methods: One 0.65-ha line transect divided into 5 m by 5 m subunits was inventoried for all palm individuals at each site. Soil samples were collected, and topography was measured. Results: A total of 56 palm taxa were recorded. Floristic similarity among transects clearly corresponded with similarity in soil cation content when species abundances were taken into account, but less so when only presence-absence data were used. Taxon-wise distribution analyses were done for the 37 most abundant palm taxa. Quite a few of these taxa proved not to be randomly distributed along the transects, but instead were clearly more abundant in some topographic positions than in others. However, the consistency of the distribution patterns across study sites proved to be rather low, and many of the palm taxa showed different distribution patterns at different sites. Conclusions: The ambiguity in distribution patterns across study sites may partly be due to the complexity of topography as a measure of ecological conditions, and the probability that it is related to the variation in different environmental variables at different sites. Nomenclature: Henderson (1995, 2000); see also Material and Methods section.
ISSN:1100-9233
1654-1103
DOI:10.1658/1100-9233(2004)015[0485:PDPIAR]2.0.CO;2