| Title: |
Analogous environments across the tropics have similar levels of tree species alpha diversity |
| Authors: |
Xiao, Shumei; Adams, Jonathan M.; Li, Shufeng; Slik, Ferry; Griffith, Daniel M.; Quaresma, Adriano; Sultana, Aisha; Rozak, Andes Hamuraby; Muñoz, Andres Avella; Marshall, Andrew R.; Gabriel, Arellano; Dar, Ashaq Ahmad; Mansor, Asyraf; Narayanan, Ayyappan; Herault, Bruno; Joly, Carlos Alfredo; Piotto, Daniel; Harris, David J.; Drake, Donald R.; Sheil, Douglas; Rocha, Diogo S.B.; de Oliveira, Eddie Lenza; Nurtjahya, Eddy; van den Berg, Eduardo; Webb, Edward L.; Ibrahim, Faridah Hanum; Saiter, Felipe Zamborlini; Wittmann, Florian; Ardila, Francisco Mora; Durigan, Giselda; Shukla, Gopal; Ibarra-Manríquez, Guillermo; Nagamasu, Hidetoshi; Theilade, Ida; Zo-Bi, Irie Casimir; Huamantupa-Chuquimaco, Isau; Rangel-Ch, J.O.; Grogan, James; Dar, Javid Ahmad; Schöngart, Jochen; Herbohn, John; Poulsen, John R.; Williams, John N.; Lovett, Jon; De Alban, Jose Don; Lozada, José Rafael; Pinto, José Roberto Rodrigues; Guevara-Andino, Juan Ernesto; Cristóbal-Azkarate, Jurgi; Homeier, Jürgen; Böhning-Gaese, Katrin; Hakeem, Khalid Rehman; Feeley, Kenneth; Tomlinson, Kyle W.; Rasingam, Ladan; Demarchi, Layon Oreste; Laumonier, Yves; Alves, Luciana F.; Montenegro, Luis Torres; Satdichanh, Manichanh; Macía, Manuel J.; Tabarelli, Marcelo; Suganuma, Marcio Seiji; Ríos Paredes, Marcos Antonio; Fernandez Piedade, Maria Teresa; Schulze, Mark; van de Bult, Mattheas; Bastian, Meredith L.; Khan, Mohammed Latif; Hussain, Mohammad Shah; Kessler, Michael; Lawes, Michael J.; Munguía-Rosas, Miguel A.; Parthasarathy, Narayanaswamy; Seuaturian, Naret; Kanda, Naveen Babu; Jagadeesan, Naveenkumar; Pitman, Nigel; Onrizal, Onrizal; Vetaas, Ole R.; Munishi, Pantaleo; Chhang, Phourin; da Conceição Bispo, Polyanna; Zakaria, Rahmad; Sukri, Rahayu Sukmaria; Muthu, Rajkumar; Prasad, Rama Chandra; V S, Ramachandran; Harrison, Rhett D.; Veridiano, Rizza Karen; Steinmetz, Robert; Chazdon, Robin L.; Tumaneng, Roven; Gonçalves Rolim, Samir; Garkoti, S.C.; Báez, Selene; Wich, Serge; Mukul, Sharif A.; Joseph, Shijo; Vieira, Simone Aparecida; Muthuramkumar, S.; Sundarapandian, Somaiah; Chakravarty, Sumit; Kothandaraman, Subashree; Wendt, Tânia; Metzker, Thiago; Whitfeld, Timothy; Su, Tao; Van Andel, Tinde R.; Hans, Verbeeck; Arroyo-Rodríguez, Víctor; Chutipong, Wanlop; Laurance, William F.; Carrero, Yrma Andreina; Zhou, Zhekun |
| Source: |
National Science Review 13 (2026) 2 ; ISSN: 2095-5138 |
| Publication Year: |
2026 |
| Collection: |
Wageningen UR (University & Research Centre): Digital Library |
| Subject Terms: |
Life Science |
| Description: |
Different regions of the tropics vary in overall tree species diversity, with the tropical Americas exhibiting strikingly higher regional tree species richness than Africa and Southeast Asia. We investigated whether these differences also occur at the local scale and whether the environmental conditions associated with tree species richness are consistent across tropical regions despite highly dissimilar species pools. A spatial random forest model was trained by using a network of 429 1-hectare plots across the tropics, together with 24 environmental variables, to predict plot-level tree α diversity. A combination of climatic, soil and topographical variables explained ∼86% of the variation in richness. Despite differences in regional species pools and the potentially disruptive effects of different geological, climatic and evolutionary histories, the relationship between environmental variables and local-scale tree species richness is closely similar across different continents. Our findings imply a pervasive role of niche-based mechanisms in structuring local tree species richness, regardless of the regional species assemblages. This pantropical convergence in the richness–environment relationship poses a challenge for ecology to explain. |
| Document Type: |
article in journal/newspaper |
| File Description: |
application/pdf |
| Language: |
English |
| Relation: |
https://edepot.wur.nl/709685 |
| DOI: |
10.1093/nsr/nwaf465 |
| Availability: |
https://research.wur.nl/en/publications/analogous-environments-across-the-tropics-have-similar-levels-of-; https://doi.org/10.1093/nsr/nwaf465; https://edepot.wur.nl/709685 |
| Rights: |
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ ; Wageningen University & Research |
| Accession Number: |
edsbas.95DC5730 |
| Database: |
BASE |