Geographic patterns of tree dispersal modes in Amazonia and their ecological correlates
Authors: Correa Diego F. , Stevenson Pablo R. , Umaña Maria Natalia , Coelho Luiz de Souza , Lima Filho Diógenes de Andrade , Salomão Rafael P. , Amaral Iêda Leão do , Wittmann Florian , Matos Francisca Dionízia de Almeida , Castilho Carolina V. , Phillips Oliver L. , Guevara Juan Ernesto , Carim Marcelo de Jesus Veiga , Magnusson William E. , Sabatier Daniel , Molino Jean‐François , Irume Mariana Victória , Martins Maria Pires , Guimarães José Renan da Silva , Bánki Olaf S. , Piedade Maria Teresa Fernandez , Pitman Nigel C. A. , Monteagudo Mendoza Abel , Ramos José Ferreira , 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 W. , Casula Katia Regina , Honorio Coronado Euridice N. , Montero Juan Carlos , Schöngart Jochen , Cárdenas López Dairon , Costa Flávia R. C. , Quaresma Adriano Costa , Zartman Charles Eugene , Killeen Timothy J. , Marimon Beatriz S. , Marimon‐Junior Ben Hur , Vasquez Rodolfo , Mostacedo Bonifacio , Demarchi Layon O. , Feldpausch Ted R. , Assis Rafael L. , Baraloto Christopher , Engel Julien , Petronelli Pascal , Castellanos Hernán , Medeiros Marcelo Brilhante de , Simon Marcelo Fragomeni , Andrade Ana , Camargo José Luís , Laurance Susan G. W. , Laurance William F. , Maniguaje Rincón Lorena , Schietti Juliana , Sousa Thaiane R. , Farias Emanuelle de Sousa , Lopes Maria Aparecida , Magalhães José Leonardo Lima , Nascimento Henrique Eduardo Mendonça , Queiroz Helder Lima de , Aymard C. Gerardo A. , Brienen Roel , Cardenas Revilla Juan David , Vieira Ima Célia Guimarães , Cintra Bruno Barçante Ladvocat , 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 , García‐Villacorta Roosevelt , Lopes Aline , Vicentini Alberto , Draper Freddie C. , Castaño Arboleda Nicolás , Cornejo Valverde Fernando , Alonso Alfonso , Dallmeier Francisco , Gomes Vitor H. F. , Neill David , de Aguiar Daniel P. P. , Arroyo Luzmila , Carvalho Fernanda Antunes , de Souza Fernanda Coelho , Amaral Dário Dantas do , 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 Zegarra Boris Eduardo , Cerón Carlos , Fonty Émile , Henkel Terry W. , Householder John Ethan , Maas Paul , Silveira Marcos , Stropp Juliana , Thomas Raquel , Durgante Flávia Machado , Baker Tim R. , Daly Doug , Huamantupa‐Chuquimaco Isau , Milliken William , Pennington Toby , Ríos Paredes Marcos , Molina Pardo , Fuentes Alfredo , Klitgaard Bente , Marcelo Peña José Luis , Peres Carlos A. , Silman Miles R. , Tello J. Sebastián , Campelo Wegliane , Chave Jerome , Di Fiore Anthony , Hilário Renato Richard , Phillips Juan Fernando , Rivas‐Torres Gonzalo , van Andel Tinde R. , von Hildebrand Patricio , Pereira Luciana de Oliveira , Barbosa Edelcilio Marques , Barbosa Flávia Rodrigues , Bonates Luiz Carlos de Matos , Carpanedo Rainiellen de Sá , Dávila Doza Hilda Paulette , Zárate Gómez Ricardo , Gonzales Therany , Gallardo Gonzales George Pepe , Hoffman Bruce , Junqueira André Braga , Malhi Yadvinder , Miranda Ires Paula de Andrade , Mozombite Pinto Linder Felipe , Prieto Adriana , Rodrigues Domingos de Jesus , Rudas Agustín , Ruschel Ademir R. , Silva Natalino , Vela César I. A. , Vos Vincent Antoine , Zent Stanford , Zent Egleé L. , Noronha Janaína Costa , Albuquerque Bianca Weiss , Cano Angela , Carrero Márquez Yrma Andreina , 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 , van der Heijden Geertje , Vilanova Torre Emilio , Vriesendorp Corine , Pombo Maihyra Marina , 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 , Urrego Giraldo Ligia Estela , Villarroel Daniel , Zagt Roderick , Parada Germaine Alexander , 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: October 2022

Aim

To investigate the geographic patterns and ecological correlates in the geographic distribution of the most common tree dispersal modes in Amazonia (endozoochory, synzoochory, anemochory and hydrochory). We examined if the proportional abundance of these dispersal modes could be explained by the availability of dispersal agents (disperser‐availability hypothesis) and/or the availability of resources for constructing zoochorous fruits (resource‐availability hypothesis).

Time period

Tree‐inventory plots established between 1934 and 2019.

Major taxa studied

Trees with a diameter at breast height (DBH) ≥ 9.55 cm.

Location

Amazonia, here defined as the lowland rain forests of the Amazon River basin and the Guiana Shield.

Methods

We assigned dispersal modes to a total of 5433 species and morphospecies within 1877 tree‐inventory plots across terra‐firme, seasonally flooded, and permanently flooded forests. We investigated geographic patterns in the proportional abundance of dispersal modes. We performed an abundance‐weighted mean pairwise distance (MPD) test and fit generalized linear models (GLMs) to explain the geographic distribution of dispersal modes.

Results

Anemochory was significantly, positively associated with mean annual wind speed, and hydrochory was significantly higher in flooded forests. Dispersal modes did not consistently show significant associations with the availability of resources for constructing zoochorous fruits. A lower dissimilarity in dispersal modes, resulting from a higher dominance of endozoochory, occurred in terra‐firme forests (excluding podzols) compared to flooded forests.

Main conclusions

The disperser‐availability hypothesis was well supported for abiotic dispersal modes (anemochory and hydrochory). The availability of resources for constructing zoochorous fruits seems an unlikely explanation for the distribution of dispersal modes in Amazonia. The association between frugivores and the proportional abundance of zoochory requires further research, as tree recruitment not only depends on dispersal vectors but also on conditions that favour or limit seedling recruitment across forest types.