Dissecting the difference in tree species richness between Africa and South America

• Published in: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences - PNAS 2022-04, Vol.119 (14), p.e2112336119-e2112336119
• Main Authors: Silva de Miranda, Pedro Luiz, Dexter, Kyle G, Swaine, Michael D, de Oliveira-Filho, Ary Teixeira, Hardy, Olivier J, Fayolle, Adeline
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Agriculture & agronomie; Agriculture & agronomy; Biodiversity; Biological Sciences; Biologie végétale (sciences végétales, sylviculture, mycologie...); Clustering; Dry forests; Environmental sciences & ecology; Forests; Geological time; Life sciences; Multidisciplinary; Phylogeny; Phytobiology (plant sciences, forestry, mycology...); Plant diversity; Plant species; Plants; savanna; Sciences de l’environnement & écologie; Sciences du vivant; South America; Species composition; Species diversity; Species richness; taxonomic diversity; Taxonomy; Trees; Tropical Climate; tropical dry forest; Tropical forests; tropical moist forest; tropical trees; Vegetation; Vegetation type
• ISSN: 0027-8424; 1091-6490; 1091-6490
• DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2112336119

SignificanceOur full-scale comparison of Africa and South America's lowland tropical tree floras shows that both Africa and South America's moist and dry tree floras are organized similarly: plant families that are rich in tree species on one continent are also rich in tree species on the other continent, and these patterns hold across moist and dry environments. Moreover, we confirm that there is an important difference in tree species richness between the two continents, which is linked to a few families that are exceptionally diverse in South American moist forests, although dry formations also contribute to this difference. Plant families only present on one of the two continents do not contribute substantially to differences in tree species richness.