The global abundance of tree palms

Journal article

Authors/Editors

WANLOP CHUTIPONG

Strategic Research Themes

Conservation Ecology (Bio resource management & utilization)

Publication Details

Author list: Muscarella, R; Emilio, T; Phillips, OL; Lewis, SL; Slik, F; Baker, WJ; Couvreur, TLP; Eiserhardt, WL; Svenning, JC; Affum-Baffoe, K; Aiba, SI; de Almeida, EC; de Almeida, SS; de Oliveira, EA; alvarez-Davila, E; Alves, LF; Alvez-Valles, CM; Carvalho, FA; Guarin, FA; Andrade, A; Aragao, LEOC; Murakami, AA; Arroyo, L; Ashton, PS; Corredor, GAA; Baker, TR; de Camargo, PB; Barlow, J; Bastin, JF; Bengone, NN; Berenguer, E; Berry, N; Blanc, L; Boehning-Gaese, K; Bonal, D; Bongers, F; Bradford, M; Brambach, F; Brearley, FQ; Brewer, SW; Camargo, JLC; Campbell, DG; Castilho, CV; Castro, W; Catchpole, D; Martinez, CEC; Chen, SB; Chhang, P; Cho, PR; Chutipong, W; Clark, C; Collins, M; Comiskey, JA; Medina, MNC; Costa, FRC; Culmsee, H; David-Higuita, H; Davidar, P; del Aguila-Pasquel, J; Derroire, G; Di Fiore, A; Van Do, T; Doucet, JL; Dourdain, A; Drake, DR; Ensslin, A; Erwin, T; Ewango, CEN; Ewers, RM; Fauset, S; Feldpausch, TR; Ferreira, J; Ferreira, LV; Fischer, M; Franklin, J; Fredriksson, GM; Gillespie, TW; Gilpin, M; Gonmadje, C; Gunatilleke, AUN; Hakeem, KR; Hall, JS; Hamer, KC; Harris, DJ; Harrison, RD; Hector, A; Hemp, A; Herault, B; Pizango, CGH; Coronado, ENH; Hubau, W; Hussain, MS; Ibrahim, FH; Imai, N; Joly, CA; Joseph, S; Anitha, K; Kartawinata, K; Kassi, J; Killeen, TJ; Kitayama, K; Klitgard, BB; Kooyman, R; Labriere, N; Larney, E; Laumonier, Y; Laurance, SG; Laurance, WF; Lawes, MJ; Levesley, A; Lisingo, J; Lovejoy, T; Lovett, JC; Lu, XH; Lykke, AM; Magnusson, WE; Mahayani, NPD; Malhi, Y; Mansor, A; Pena, JLM; Marimon, BH; Marshall, AR; Melgaco, K; Bautista, CM; Mihindou, V; Millet, JM; Milliken, W; Mohandass, D; Mendoza, ALM; Mugerwa, B; Nagamasu, H; Nagy, L; Seuaturien, N; Nascimento, MT; Neill, DA; Neto, LM; Nilus, R; Vargas, MPN; Nurtjahya, E; de Ara?jo, RNO; Onrizal, O; Palacios, WA; Palacios-Ramos, S; Parren, M; Paudel, E; Morandi, PS; Pennington, RT; Pickavance, G; Pipoly, JJ; Pitman, NCA; Poedjirahajoe, E; Poorter, L; Poulsen, JR; Prasad, PRC; Prieto, A; Puyravaud, JP; Qie, L; Quesada, CA; Ramirez-Angulo, H; Razafimahaimodison, JC; Reitsma, JM; Requena-Rojas, EJ; Correa, ZR; Rodriguez, CR; Roopsind, A; Rovero, F; Rozak, A; Lleras, AR; Rutishauser, E; Rutten, G; Punchi-Manage, R; Salomao, RP; Van Sam, H; Sarker, SK; Satdichanh, M; Schietti, J; Schmitt, CB; Marimon, BS; Senbeta, F; Sharma, LN; Sheil, D; Sierra, R; Silva-Espejo, JE; Silveira, M; Sonke, B; Steininger, MK; Steinmetz, R; Stevart, T; Sukumar, R; Sultana, A; Sunderland, TCH; Suresh, HS; Tang, JW; Tanner, E; ter Steege, H; Terborgh, JW; Theilade, I; Timberlake, J; Torres-Lezama, A; Umunay, P; Uriarte, M; Gamarra, LV; van de Bult, M; van der Hout, P; Martinez, RV; Vieira, ICG; Vieira, SA; Vilanova, E; Cayo, JV; Wang, OP; Webb, CO; Webb, EL; White, L; Whitfeld, TJS; Wich, S; Willcock, S; Wiser, SK; Young, KR; Zakaria, R; Zang, R; Zartman, CE; Zo-Bi, IC; Balslev, H

Publisher: Wiley

Publication year: 2020

Journal acronym: Glob. Ecol. Biogeogr.

Volume number: 29

Issue number: 9

Start page: 1495

End page: 1514

Number of pages: 20

ISSN: 1466-822X

eISSN: 1466-8238

URL: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/geb.13123

Languages: English-Great Britain (EN-GB)

View in Web of Science | View on publisher site | View citing articles in Web of Science

Abstract

Aim: Palms are an iconic, diverse and often abundant component of tropical ecosystems
that provide many ecosystem services. Being monocots, tree palms are evolutionarily,
morphologically and physiologically distinct from other trees, and these
differences have important consequences for ecosystem services (e.g., carbon sequestration
and storage) and in terms of responses to climate change. We quantified
global patterns of tree palm relative abundance to help improve understanding
of tropical forests and reduce uncertainty about these ecosystems under climate
change.
Location: Tropical and subtropical moist forests.
Time period: Current.
Major taxa studied: Palms (Arecaceae).
Methods: We assembled a pantropical dataset of 2,548 forest plots (covering
1,191 ha) and quantified tree palm (i.e., ≥10 cm diameter at breast height) abundance
relative to co-occurring non-palm trees. We compared the relative abundance of tree
palms across biogeographical realms and tested for associations with palaeoclimate
stability, current climate, edaphic conditions and metrics of forest structure.
Results: On average, the relative abundance of tree palms was more than five
times larger between Neotropical locations and other biogeographical realms. Tree
palms were absent in most locations outside the Neotropics but present in >80% of
Neotropical locations. The relative abundance of tree palms was more strongly associated
with local conditions (e.g., higher mean annual precipitation, lower soil fertility,
shallower water table and lower plot mean wood density) than metrics of long-term
climate stability. Life-form diversity also influenced the patterns; palm assemblages
outside the Neotropics comprise many non-tree (e.g., climbing) palms. Finally, we
show that tree palms can influence estimates of above-ground biomass, but the magnitude
and direction of the effect require additional work.
Conclusions: Tree palms are not only quintessentially tropical, but they are also overwhelmingly
Neotropical. Future work to understand the contributions of tree palms
to biomass estimates and carbon cycling will be particularly crucial in Neotropical
forests.

Keywords

above-ground biomass, abundance patterns, Arecaceae, local abiotic conditions, Neotropics, pantropical biogeography, wood density