Phylogenetic classification of the world’s tropical forests

Slik, J.W. Ferry; Franklin, Janet; Arroyo-Rodr?guez, V?ctor; Field, Richard; Aguilar, Salomon; Aguirre, Nikolay; Ahumada, Jorge; Aiba, Shin-Ichiro; Alves, Luciana F.; K, Anitha; Avella, Andres; Mora, Francisco; Aymard C., Gerardo A.; B?ez, Selene; Balvanera, Patricia; Bastian, Meredith L.; Bastin, Jean-Fran?ois; Bellingham, Peter J.; van den Berg, Eduardo; da Concei??o Bispo, Polyanna; Boeckx, Pascal; Boehning-Gaese, Katrin; Bongers, Frans; Boyle, Brad; Brambach, Fabian; Brearley, Francis Q.; Brown, Sandra; Chai, Shauna-Lee; Chazdon, Robin L.; Chen, Shengbin; Chhang, Phourin; Chuyong, George; Ewango, Corneille; Coronado, Indiana M.; Crist?bal-Azkarate, Jurgi; Culmsee, Heike; Damas, Kipiro; Dattaraja, H. S.; Davidar, Priya; DeWalt, Saara J.; Din, Hazimah; Drake, Donald R.; Duque, Alvaro; Durigan, Giselda; Eichhorn, Karl; Eler, Eduardo Schmidt; Enoki, Tsutomu; Ensslin, Andreas; Fandohan, Adand? Belarmain; Farwig, Nina; Feeley, Kenneth J.; Fischer, Markus; Forshed, Olle; Garcia, Queila So...

Abstract

Knowledge about the biogeographic affinities of the world’s tropical forests helps to better understand regional differences in forest structure, diversity, composition, and dynamics. Such understanding will enable anticipation of region-specific responses to global environmental change. Modern phylogenies, in combination with broad coverage of species inventory data, now allow for global biogeographic analyses that take species evolutionary distance into account. Here we present a classification of the world’s tropical forests based on their phylogenetic similarity. We identify five principal floristic regions and their floristic relationships: (i) Indo-Pacific, (ii) Subtropical, (iii) African, (iv) American, and (v) Dry forests. Our results do not support the traditional neo- versus paleotropical forest division but instead separate the combined American and African forests from their Indo-Pacific counterparts. We also find indications for the existence of a global dry forest region, with representatives in America, Africa, Madagascar, and India. Additionally, a northern-hemisphere Subtropical forest region was identified with representatives in Asia and America, providing support for a link between Asian and American northern hemisphere forests.

Citation

Slik, J. F., Franklin, J., Arroyo-Rodríguez, V., Field, R., Aguilar, S., Aguirre, N., …Zang, R. (2018). Phylogenetic classification of the world’s tropical forests. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 115(8), 1837-1842. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1714977115

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Dec 22, 2017
• Online Publication Date: Feb 5, 2018
• Publication Date: Feb 20, 2018
• Deposit Date: Feb 8, 2018
• Publicly Available Date: Feb 8, 2018
• Journal: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
• Print ISSN: 0027-8424
• Electronic ISSN: 1091-6490
• Publisher: National Academy of Sciences
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 115
• Issue: 8
• Pages: 1837-1842
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1714977115
• Keywords: biogeographic legacies ; forest classification ; forest functional similarity ; phylogenetic community distance ; tropical forests
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/910228
• Publisher URL: http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2018/01/31/1714977115