One sixth of Amazonian tree diversity is dependent on river floodplains
Authors: Householder John Ethan , Wittmann Florian , Schöngart Jochen , Piedade Maria Teresa Fernandez , Junk Wolfgang J. , Latrubesse Edgardo Manuel , Quaresma Adriano Costa , Demarchi Layon O. , de S. Lobo Guilherme , Aguiar Daniel P. P. de , Assis Rafael L. , Lopes Aline , Parolin Pia , Leão do Amaral Iêda , Coelho Luiz de Souza , de Almeida Matos Francisca Dionízia , Lima Filho Diógenes de Andrade , Salomão Rafael P. , Castilho Carolina V. , Guevara-Andino Juan Ernesto , Carim Marcelo de Jesus Veiga , Phillips Oliver L. , Cárdenas López Dairon , Magnusson William E. , Sabatier Daniel , Revilla Juan David Cardenas , Molino Jean-François , Irume Mariana Victória , Martins Maria Pires , Guimarães José Renan da Silva , Ramos José Ferreira , Rodrigues Domingos de Jesus , Bánki Olaf S. , Peres Carlos A. , Pitman Nigel C. A. , Hawes Joseph E. , Almeida Everton José , Barbosa Luciane Ferreira , Cavalheiro Larissa , dos Santos Márcia Cléia Vilela , Luize Bruno Garcia , Novo Evlyn Márcia Moraes de Leão , Núñez Vargas Percy , Silva Thiago Sanna Freire , Venticinque Eduardo Martins , Manzatto Angelo Gilberto , Reis Neidiane Farias Costa , Terborgh John , Casula Katia Regina , Costa Flávia R. C. , Honorio Coronado Euridice N. , Monteagudo Mendoza Abel , Montero Juan Carlos , Feldpausch Ted R. , Aymard C Gerardo A. , Baraloto Chris , Castaño Arboleda Nicolás , Engel Julien , Petronelli Pascal , Zartman Charles Eugene , Killeen Timothy J. , Rincón Lorena Maniguaje , Marimon Beatriz S. , Marimon-Junior Ben Hur , Schietti Juliana , Sousa Thaiane R. , Vasquez Rodolfo , Mostacedo Bonifacio , Dantas do Amaral Dário , Castellanos Hernán , Medeiros Marcelo Brilhante de , Simon Marcelo Fragomeni , Andrade Ana , Camargo José Luís , Laurance William F. , Laurance Susan G. W. , Farias Emanuelle de Sousa , Lopes Maria Aparecida , Magalhães José Leonardo Lima , Mendonça Nascimento Henrique Eduardo , Queiroz Helder Lima de , Brienen Roel , Stevenson Pablo R. , Araujo-Murakami Alejandro , Baker Tim R. , Cintra Bruno Barçante Ladvocat , Feitosa Yuri Oliveira , Mogollón Hugo F. , Noronha Janaína Costa , Barbosa Flávia Rodrigues , de Sá Carpanedo Rainiellen , Duivenvoorden Joost F. , Silman Miles R. , Ferreira Leandro Valle , Levis Carolina , Lozada José Rafael , Comiskey James A. , Draper Freddie C. , Toledo José Julio de , Damasco Gabriel , Dávila Nállarett , García-Villacorta Roosevelt , Vicentini Alberto , Cornejo Valverde Fernando , Alonso Alfonso , Arroyo Luzmila , Dallmeier Francisco , Gomes Vitor H. F. , Jimenez Eliana M. , Neill David , Peñuela Mora Maria Cristina , Carvalho Fernanda Antunes , Coelho de Souza Fernanda , Feeley Kenneth J. , Gribel Rogerio , Pansonato Marcelo Petratti , Ríos Paredes Marcos , Barlow Jos , Berenguer Erika , Dexter Kyle G. , Ferreira Joice , Fine Paul V. A. , Guedes Marcelino Carneiro , Huamantupa-Chuquimaco Isau , Licona Juan Carlos , Pennington Toby , Villa Zegarra Boris Eduardo , Vos Vincent Antoine , Cerón Carlos , Fonty Émile , Henkel Terry W. , Maas Paul , Pos Edwin , Silveira Marcos , Stropp Juliana , Thomas Raquel , Daly Doug , Milliken William , Pardo Molina Guido , Vieira Ima Célia Guimarães , Albuquerque Bianca Weiss , Campelo Wegliane , Emilio Thaise , Fuentes Alfredo , Klitgaard Bente , Marcelo Pena José Luis , Souza Priscila F. , Tello J. Sebastián , Vriesendorp Corine , Chave Jerome , Di Fiore Anthony , Hilário Renato Richard , Pereira Luciana de Oliveira , Phillips Juan Fernando , Rivas-Torres Gonzalo , van Andel Tinde R. , von Hildebrand Patricio , Balee William , Barbosa Edelcilio Marques , Bonates Luiz Carlos de Matos , Doza Hilda Paulette Dávila , Gómez Ricardo Zárate , Gonzales Therany , Gonzales George Pepe Gallardo , Hoffman Bruce , Junqueira André Braga , Malhi Yadvinder , Miranda Ires Paula de Andrade , Mozombite-Pinto Linder Felipe , Prieto Adriana , Rudas Agustín , Ruschel Ademir R. , Silva Natalino , Vela César I. A. , Zent Stanford , Zent Egleé L. , 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 Maria Natalia , van der Heijden Geertje , Vilanova Torre Emilio , 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 , Parada Germaine Alexander , Torres-Lezama Armando , Urrego Giraldo Ligia Estela , 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 , Valderrama Sandoval Elvis H. , Valenzuela Gamarra Luis , ter Steege Hans 
Published: March 2024

Amazonia’s floodplain system is the largest and most biodiverse on Earth. Although forests are crucial to the ecological integrity of floodplains, our understanding of their species composition and how this may differ from surrounding forest types is still far too limited, particularly as changing inundation regimes begin to reshape floodplain tree communities and the critical ecosystem functions they underpin. Here we address this gap by taking a spatially explicit look at Amazonia-wide patterns of tree-species turnover and ecological specialization of the region’s floodplain forests. We show that the majority of Amazonian tree species can inhabit floodplains, and about a sixth of Amazonian tree diversity is ecologically specialized on floodplains. The degree of specialization in floodplain communities is driven by regional flood patterns, with the most compositionally differentiated floodplain forests located centrally within the fluvial network and contingent on the most extraordinary flood magnitudes regionally. Our results provide a spatially explicit view of ecological specialization of floodplain forest communities and expose the need for whole-basin hydrological integrity to protect the Amazon’s tree diversity and its function.