Phylogenetic classification of the world's tropical forests

Slik, J. W. F. et al. (2018) Phylogenetic classification of the world's tropical forests. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 115(8), pp. 1837-1842. (doi: 10.1073/pnas.1714977115) (PMID:29432167) (PMCID:PMC5828595)

Abstract

Knowledge about the biogeographic affinities of the world's tropical forests helps to better understand regional differences in forest structure, diversity, composition, and dynamics. Such understanding will enable anticipation of region-specific responses to global environmental change. Modern phylogenies, in combination with broad coverage of species inventory data, now allow for global biogeographic analyses that take species evolutionary distance into account. Here we present a classification of the world's tropical forests based on their phylogenetic similarity. We identify five principal floristic regions and their floristic relationships: ( ) Indo-Pacific, ( ) Subtropical, ( ) African, ( ) American, and ( ) Dry forests. Our results do not support the traditional neo- versus paleotropical forest division but instead separate the combined American and African forests from their Indo-Pacific counterparts. We also find indications for the existence of a global dry forest region, with representatives in America, Africa, Madagascar, and India. Additionally, a northern-hemisphere Subtropical forest region was identified with representatives in Asia and America, providing support for a link between Asian and American northern-hemisphere forests.

• Item Type: Articles
• Keywords: Biogeographic legacies, forest classification, forest functional similarity, phylogenetic community distance, tropical forests.
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Sarker, Swapan Kumar
• Authors: Slik, J. W. F., Franklin, J., Arroyo-Rodríguez, V., Field, R., Aguilar, S., Aguirre, N., Ahumada, J., Aiba, S.-I., Alves, L. F., K, A., Avella, A., Mora, F., Aymard C, G. A., Báez, S., Balvanera, P., Bastian, M. L., Bastin, J.-F., Bellingham, P. J., van den Berg, E., da Conceição Bispo, P., Boeckx, P., Boehning-Gaese, K., Bongers, F., Boyle, B., Brambach, F., Brearley, F. Q., Brown, S., Chai, S.-L., Chazdon, R. L., Chen, S., Chhang, P., Chuyong, G., Ewango, C., Coronado, I. M., Cristóbal-Azkarate, J., Culmsee, H., Damas, K., Dattaraja, H. S., Davidar, P., DeWalt, S. J., Din, H., Drake, D. R., Duque, A., Durigan, G., Eichhorn, K., Eler, E. S., Enoki, T., Ensslin, A., Fandohan, A. B., Farwig, N., Feeley, K. J., Fischer, M., Forshed, O., Garcia, Q. S., Garkoti, S. C., Gillespie, T. W., Gillet, J.-F., Gonmadje, C., Granzow-de la Cerda, I., Griffith, D. M., Grogan, J., Hakeem, K. R., Harris, D. J., Harrison, R. D., Hector, A., Hemp, A., Homeier, J., Hussain, M. S., Ibarra-Manríquez, G., Hanum, I. F., Imai, N., Jansen, P. A., Joly, C. A., Joseph, S., Kartawinata, K., Kearsley, E., Kelly, D. L., Kessler, M., Killeen, T. J., Kooyman, R. M., Laumonier, Y., Laurance, S. G., Laurance, W. F., Lawes, M. J., Letcher, S. G., Lindsell, J., Lovett, J., Lozada, J., Lu, X., Lykke, A. M., Mahmud, K. B., Mahayani, N. P. D., Mansor, A., Marshall, A. R., Martin, E. H., Calderado Leal Matos, D., Meave, J. A., Melo, F. P. L., Mendoza, Z. H. A., Metali, F., Medjibe, V. P., Metzger, J. P., Metzker, T., Mohandass, D., Munguía-Rosas, M. A., Muñoz, R., Nurtjahy, E., de Oliveira, E. L., Onrizal, , Parolin, P., Parren, M., Parthasarathy, N., Paudel, E., Perez, R., Pérez-García, E. A., Pommer, U., Poorter, L., Qi, L., Piedade, M. T. F., Pinto, J. R. R., Poulsen, A. D., Poulsen, J. R., Powers, J. S., Prasad, R. C., Puyravaud, J.-P., Rangel, O., Reitsma, J., Rocha, D. S. B., Rolim, S., Rovero, F., Rozak, A., Ruokolainen, K., Rutishauser, E., Rutten, G., Mohd Said, M. N., Saiter, F. Z., Saner, P., Santos, B., Dos Santos, J. R., Sarker, S. K., Schmitt, C. B., Schoengart, J., Schulze, M., Sheil, D., Sist, P., Souza, A. F., Spironello, W. R., Sposito, T., Steinmetz, R., Stevart, T., Suganuma, M. S., Sukri, R., Sultana, A., Sukumar, R., Sunderland, T., Supriyadi, , Suresh, H. S., Suzuki, E., Tabarelli, M., Tang, J., Tanner, E. V. J., Targhetta, N., Theilade, I., Thomas, D., Timberlake, J., de Morisson Valeriano, M., van Valkenburg, J., Van Do, T., Van Sam, H., Vandermeer, J. H., Verbeeck, H., Vetaas, O. R., Adekunle, V., Vieira, S. A., Webb, C. O., Webb, E. L., Whitfeld, T., Wich, S., Williams, J., Wiser, S., Wittmann, F., Yang, X., Adou Yao, C. Y., Yap, S. L., Zahawi, R. A., Zakaria, R., and Zang, R.
• College/School: College of Medical Veterinary and Life Sciences
• Journal Name: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
• Publisher: National Academy of Sciences
• ISSN: 0027-8424
• ISSN (Online): 1091-6490
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2018 The Authors
• First Published: First published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 115(8): 1837-1842
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced under a Creative Commons License