Biased-corrected richness estimates for the Amazonian tree flora

2020

Article référencé dans le Web of Science WOS:000543993000007

ter Steege H., Prado P. I., de Lima R. A. F., Pos E., Coelho L. D., Lima D. D., Salomao R. P., Amaral I. L., de Almeida Matos F. D., Castilho C. V., Phillips O. L., Guevara J. E., Carim M. D. J., Lopez D. C., Magnusson W. E., Wittmann F., Martins M. P., Sabatier Daniel, Irume M. V., Guimaraes J. R. D., Molino Jean-François, Engel Julien, et al.

Scientific Reports - Nature, 2020, 10 (1), p. art. 10130 [13 p.] ISSN 2045-2322

Amazonian forests are extraordinarily diverse, but the estimated species richness is very much debated. Here, we apply an ensemble of parametric estimators and a novel technique that includes conspecific spatial aggregation to an extended database of forest plots with up-to-date taxonomy. We show that the species abundance distribution of Amazonia is best approximated by a logseries with aggregated individuals, where aggregation increases with rarity. By averaging several methods to estimate total richness, we confirm that over 15,000 tree species are expected to occur in Amazonia. We also show that using ten times the number of plots would result in an increase to just similar to 50% of those 15,000 estimated species. To get a more complete sample of all tree species, rigorous field campaigns may be needed but the number of trees in Amazonia will remain an estimate for years to come.

Sciences du monde végétal [076] ; Etudes, transformation, conservation du milieu naturel [082]

AMAZONIE

Fonds IRD [F B010079315]

fdi:010079315