Geography and ecology shape the phylogenetic composition of Amazonian tree communities
Authors: Luize Bruno Garcia , Bauman David , ter Steege Hans , Palma‐Silva Clarisse , do Amaral Iêda Leão , de Souza Coelho Luiz , de Almeida Matos Francisca Dionízia , de Andrade Lima Filho Diógenes , Salomão Rafael P. , Wittmann Florian , Castilho Carolina V. , de Jesus Veiga Carim Marcelo , Guevara Juan Ernesto , Phillips Oliver L. , Magnusson William E. , Sabatier Daniel , Revilla Juan David Cardenas , Molino Jean‐François , Irume Mariana Victória , Martins Maria Pires , da Silva Guimarães José Renan , Ramos José Ferreira , Bánki Olaf S. , Piedade Maria Teresa Fernandez , López Dairon Cárdenas , Pitman Nigel C. A. , Demarchi Layon O. , Schöngart Jochen , de Leão Novo Evlyn Márcia Moraes , Vargas Percy Núñez , Silva Thiago Sanna Freire , Venticinque Eduardo Martins , Manzatto Angelo Gilberto , Reis Neidiane Farias Costa , Terborgh John , Casula Katia Regina , Honorio Coronado Euridice N. , Mendoza Abel Monteagudo , Montero Juan Carlos , Costa Flávia R. C. , Feldpausch Ted R. , Quaresma Adriano Costa , Arboleda Nicolás Castaño , Zartman Charles Eugene , Killeen Timothy J. , Marimon Beatriz S. , Marimon‐Junior Ben Hur , Vasquez Rodolfo , Mostacedo Bonifacio , Assis Rafael L. , Baraloto Chris , do Amaral Dário Dantas , Engel Julien , Petronelli Pascal , Castellanos Hernán , de Medeiros Marcelo Brilhante , Simon Marcelo Fragomeni , Andrade Ana , Camargo José Luís , Laurance William F. , Laurance Susan G. W. , Rincón Lorena Maniguaje , Schietti Juliana , Sousa Thaiane R. , de Sousa Farias Emanuelle , Lopes Maria Aparecida , Magalhães José Leonardo Lima , Nascimento Henrique Eduardo Mendonça , de Queiroz Helder Lima , Aymard C Gerardo A. , Brienen Roel , Stevenson Pablo R. , Araujo‐Murakami Alejandro , Cintra Bruno Barçante Ladvocat , Baker Tim R. , Feitosa Yuri Oliveira , Mogollón Hugo F. , Duivenvoorden Joost F. , Peres Carlos A. , Silman Miles R. , Ferreira Leandro Valle , Lozada José Rafael , Comiskey James A. , de Toledo José Julio , Damasco Gabriel , Dávila Nállarett , Draper Freddie C. , García‐Villacorta Roosevelt , Lopes Aline , Vicentini Alberto , Valverd Fernando Cornejo , Alonso Alfonso , Arroyo Luzmila , Dallmeier Francisco , Gomes Vitor H. F. , Jimenez Eliana M. , Neill David , Mora Maria Cristina Peñuela , Noronha Janaína Costa , de Aguiar Daniel P. P. , Barbosa Flávia Rodrigues , Bredin Yennie K. , de Sá Carpanedo Rainiellen , Carvalho Fernanda Antunes , de Souza Fernanda Coelho , Feeley Kenneth J. , Gribel Rogerio , Haugaasen Torbjørn , Hawes Joseph E. , Pansonato Marcelo Petratti , Paredes Marcos Ríos , de Jesus Rodrigues Domingos , Barlow Jos , Berenguer Erika , da Silva Izaias Brasil , Ferreira Maria Julia , Ferreira Joice , Fine Paul V. A. , Guedes Marcelino Carneiro , Levis Carolina , Licona Juan Carlos , Zegarra Boris Eduardo Villa , Vos Vincent Antoine , Cerón Carlos , Durgante Flávia Machado , Fonty Émile , Henkel Terry W. , Householder John Ethan , Huamantupa‐Chuquimaco Isau , Silveira Marcos , Stropp Juliana , Thomas Raquel , Daly Doug , Millike William , Molina Guido Pardo , Pennington Toby , Vieira Ima Célia Guimarães , Albuquerque Bianca Weiss , Campelo Wegliane , Fuentes Alfredo , Klitgaard Bente , Pena José Luis Marcelo , Tello J. Sebastián , Vriesendorp Corine , Chave Jerome , Di Fiore Anthony , Hilário Renato Richard , de Oliveira Pereira Luciana , Phillips Juan Fernando , Rivas‐Torres Gonzalo , van Andel Tinde R. , von Hildebrand Patricio , Balee William , Barbosa Edelcilio Marques , de Matos Bonates Luiz Carlos , Doza Hilda Paulette Dávila , Gómez Ricardo Zárate , Gonzales Therany , Gonzales George Pepe Gallardo , Hoffman Bruce , Junqueira André Braga , Malhi Yadvinder , de Andrade Miranda Ires Paula , Pinto Linder Felipe Mozombite , Prieto Adriana , Rudas Agustín , Ruschel Ademir R. , Silva Natalino , Vela César I. A. , Zent Stanford , Zent Egleé L. , Cano Angela , Márquez Yrma Andreina Carrero , Correa Diego F. , Costa Janaina Barbosa Pedrosa , Flores Bernardo Monteiro , Galbraith David , Holmgren Milena , Kalamandeen Michelle , Lobo Guilherme , Montenegro Luis Torres , Nascimento Marcelo Trindade , Oliveira Alexandre A. , Pombo Maihyra Marina , Ramirez‐Angulo Hirma , Rocha Maira , Scudeller Veridiana Vizoni , Umaña Maria Natalia , van der Heijden Geertje , Torre Emilio Vilanova , Reategui Manuel Augusto Ahuite , Baider Cláudia , Balslev Henrik , Cárdenas Sasha , Casas Luisa Fernanda , Farfan‐Rios William , Ferreira Cid , Linares‐Palomino Reynaldo , Mendoza Casimiro , Mesones Italo , Parada Germaine Alexander , Torres‐Lezama Armando , Giraldo Ligia Estela Urrego , Villarroel Daniel , Zagt Roderick , Alexiades Miguel N. , de Oliveira Edmar Almeida , Garcia‐Cabrera Karina , Hernandez Lionel , Cuenca Walter Palacios , Pansini Susamar , Pauletto Daniela , Arevalo Freddy Ramirez , Sampaio Adeilza Felipe , Valderrama Sandoval Elvis H. , Gamarra Luis Valenzuela , Dexter Kyle G. 
Published: February 2024

Aim

Amazonia hosts more tree species from numerous evolutionary lineages, both young and ancient, than any other biogeographic region. Previous studies have shown that tree lineages colonized multiple edaphic environments and dispersed widely across Amazonia, leading to a hypothesis, which we test, that lineages should not be strongly associated with either geographic regions or edaphic forest types.

Location

Amazonia.

Taxon

Angiosperms (Magnoliids; Monocots; Eudicots).

Methods

Data for the abundance of 5082 tree species in 1989 plots were combined with a mega‐phylogeny. We applied evolutionary ordination to assess how phylogenetic composition varies across Amazonia. We used variation partitioning and Moran's eigenvector maps (MEM) to test and quantify the separate and joint contributions of spatial and environmental variables to explain the phylogenetic composition of plots. We tested the indicator value of lineages for geographic regions and edaphic forest types and mapped associations onto the phylogeny.

Results

In the terra firme and várzea forest types, the phylogenetic composition varies by geographic region, but the igapó and white‐sand forest types retain a unique evolutionary signature regardless of region. Overall, we find that soil chemistry, climate and topography explain 24% of the variation in phylogenetic composition, with 79% of that variation being spatially structured (R2 = 19% overall for combined spatial/environmental effects). The phylogenetic composition also shows substantial spatial patterns not related to the environmental variables we quantified (R2 = 28%). A greater number of lineages were significant indicators of geographic regions than forest types.

Main Conclusion

Numerous tree lineages, including some ancient ones (>66 Ma), show strong associations with geographic regions and edaphic forest types of Amazonia. This shows that specialization in specific edaphic environments has played a long‐standing role in the evolutionary assembly of Amazonian forests. Furthermore, many lineages, even those that have dispersed across Amazonia, dominate within a specific region, likely because of phylogenetically conserved niches for environmental conditions that are prevalent within regions.