Rarity of monodominance in hyperdiverse Amazonian forests
Authors: ter Steege Hans , Henkel Terry W. , Helal Nora , Marimon Beatriz S. , Marimon-Junior Ben Hur , Huth Andreas , Groeneveld Jürgen , Sabatier Daniel , Coelho Luiz de Souza , Filho Diogenes de Andrade Lima , Salomão Rafael P. , Amaral Iêda Leão , Matos Francisca Dionízia de Almeida , Castilho Carolina V. , Phillips Oliver L. , Guevara Juan Ernesto , Carim Marcelo de Jesus Veiga , Cárdenas López Dairon , Magnusson William E. , Wittmann Florian , Irume Mariana Victória , Martins Maria Pires , Guimarães José Renan da Silva , Molino Jean-François , Bánki Olaf S. , Piedade Maria Teresa Fernandez , Pitman Nigel C. A. , Mendoza Abel Monteagudo , Ramos José Ferreira , Luize Bruno Garcia , Moraes de Leão Novo Evlyn Márcia , Núñez Vargas Percy , Silva Thiago Sanna Freire , Venticinque Eduardo Martins , Manzatto Angelo Gilberto , Reis Neidiane Farias Costa , Terborgh John , Casula Katia Regina , Honorio Coronado Euridice N. , Montero Juan Carlos , Feldpausch Ted R. , Duque Alvaro , Costa Flávia R. C. , Arboleda Nicolás Castaño , Schöngart Jochen , Killeen Timothy J. , Vasquez Rodolfo , Mostacedo Bonifacio , Demarchi Layon O. , Assis Rafael L. , Baraloto Chris , Engel Julien , Petronelli Pascal , Castellanos Hernán , de Medeiros Marcelo Brilhante , Quaresma Adriano , Simon Marcelo Fragomeni , Andrade Ana , Camargo José Luís , Laurance Susan G. W. , Laurance William F. , Rincón Lorena M. , Schietti Juliana , Sousa Thaiane R. , de Sousa Farias Emanuelle , Lopes Maria Aparecida , Magalhães José Leonardo Lima , Mendonça Nascimento Henrique Eduardo , Lima de Queiroz Helder , Aymard C. Gerardo A. , Brienen Roel , Revilla Juan David Cardenas , Vieira Ima Célia Guimarães , Cintra Bruno Barçante Ladvocat , Stevenson Pablo R. , Feitosa Yuri Oliveira , Duivenvoorden Joost F. , Mogollón Hugo F. , Araujo-Murakami Alejandro , Ferreira Leandro Valle , Lozada José Rafael , Comiskey James A. , de Toledo José Julio , Damasco Gabriel , Dávila Nállarett , Draper Freddie , García-Villacorta Roosevelt , Lopes Aline , Vicentini Alberto , Alonso Alfonso , Dallmeier Francisco , Gomes Vitor H. F. , Lloyd Jon , Neill David , de Aguiar Daniel Praia Portela , Arroyo Luzmila , Carvalho Fernanda Antunes , de Souza Fernanda Coelho , do Amaral Dário Dantas , Feeley Kenneth J. , Gribel Rogerio , Pansonato Marcelo Petratti , Barlow Jos , Berenguer Erika , Ferreira Joice , Fine Paul V. A. , Guedes Marcelino Carneiro , Jimenez Eliana M. , Licona Juan Carlos , Peñuela Mora Maria Cristina , Villa Boris , Cerón Carlos , Maas Paul , Silveira Marcos , Stropp Juliana , Thomas Raquel , Baker Tim R. , Daly Doug , Dexter Kyle G. , Huamantupa-Chuquimaco Isau , Milliken William , Pennington Toby , Ríos Paredes Marcos , Fuentes Alfredo , Klitgaard Bente , Pena José Luis Marcelo , Peres Carlos A. , Silman Miles R. , Tello J. Sebastián , Chave Jerome , Cornejo Valverde Fernando , Di Fiore Anthony , Hilário Renato Richard , Phillips Juan Fernando , Rivas-Torres Gonzalo , van Andel Tinde R. , von Hildebrand Patricio , Noronha Janaína Costa , Barbosa Edelcilio Marques , Barbosa Flávia Rodrigues , de Matos Bonates Luiz Carlos , Carpanedo Rainiellen de Sá , Dávila Doza Hilda Paulette , Fonty Émile , GómeZárate z Ricardo , Gonzales Therany , Gallardo Gonzales George Pepe , Hoffman Bruce , Junqueira André Braga , Malhi Yadvinder , Miranda Ires Paula de Andrade , Pinto Linder Felipe Mozombite , Prieto Adriana , Rodrigues Domingos de Jesus , Rudas Agustín , Ruschel Ademir R. , Silva Natalino , Vela César I. A. , Vos Vincent Antoine , Zent Egleé L. , Zent Stanford , Weiss Albuquerque Bianca , Cano Angela , Carrero Márquez Yrma Andreina , Correa Diego F. , Costa Janaina Barbosa Pedrosa , Flores Bernardo Monteiro , Galbraith David , Holmgren Milena , Kalamandeen Michelle , Nascimento Marcelo Trindade , Oliveira Alexandre A. , Ramirez-Angulo Hirma , Rocha Maira , Scudeller Veridiana Vizoni , Sierra Rodrigo , Tirado Milton , Umaña Medina Maria Natalia , van der Heijden Geertje , Vilanova Torre Emilio , Vriesendorp Corine , Wang Ophelia , Young Kenneth R. , Ahuite Reategui Manuel Augusto , Baider Cláudia , Balslev Henrik , Cárdenas Sasha , Casas Luisa Fernanda , Farfan-Rios William , Ferreira Cid , Linares-Palomino Reynaldo , Mendoza Casimiro , Mesones Italo , Torres-Lezama Armando , Giraldo Ligia Estela Urrego , Villarroel Daniel , Zagt Roderick , Alexiades Miguel N. , de Oliveira Edmar Almeida , Garcia-Cabrera Karina , Hernandez Lionel , Palacios Cuenca Walter , Pansini Susamar , Pauletto Daniela , Ramirez Arevalo Freddy , Sampaio Adeilza Felipe , Sandoval Elvis H. Valderrama , Valenzuela Gamarra Luis , Levesley Aurora , Pickavance Georgia , Melgaço Karina 
Published: September 2019

Tropical forests are known for their high diversity. Yet, forest patches do occur in the tropics where a single tree species is dominant. Such “monodominant” forests are known from all of the main tropical regions. For Amazonia, we sampled the occurrence of monodominance in a massive, basin-wide database of forest-inventory plots from the Amazon Tree Diversity Network (ATDN). Utilizing a simple defining metric of at least half of the trees ≥ 10 cm diameter belonging to one species, we found only a few occurrences of monodominance in Amazonia, and the phenomenon was not significantly linked to previously hypothesized life history traits such wood density, seed mass, ectomycorrhizal associations, orRhizobiumnodulation. In our analysis, coppicing (the formation of sprouts at the base of the tree or on roots) was the only trait significantly linked to monodominance. While at specific locales coppicing or ectomycorrhizal associations may confer a considerable advantage to a tree species and lead to its monodominance, very few species have these traits. Mining of the ATDN dataset suggests that monodominance is quite rare in Amazonia, and may be linked primarily to edaphic factors.