Biased-corrected richness estimates for the Amazonian tree flora

Amazonian forests are extraordinarily diverse, but the estimated species richness is very much debated. Here, we apply an ensemble of parametric estimators and a novel technique that includes conspecific spatial aggregation to an extended database of forest plots with up-to-date taxonomy. We show that the species abundance distribution of Amazonia is best approximated by a logseries with aggregated individuals, where aggregation increases with rarity. By averaging several methods to estimate total richness, we confirm that over 15,000 tree species are expected to occur in Amazonia. We also show that using ten times the number of plots would result in an increase to just ~50% of those 15,000 estimated species. To get a more complete sample of all tree species, rigorous field campaigns may be needed but the number of trees in Amazonia will remain an estimate for years to come.

Bibliographic Details

Main Authors:	Ter Steege, Hans, Prado, Paulo I., de Lima, Renato A. F., Pos, Edwin, de Souza Coelho, Luiz, de Andrade Lima Filho, Diogenes, Salomão, Rafael P., Amaral, Iêda Leão, de Almeida Matos, Francisca Dionízia, Castilho, Carolina V., Phillips, Oliver L., Guevara, Juan Ernesto, de Jesus Veiga Carim, Marcelo, Cárdenas López, Dairon, Magnusson, William E, Wittmann, Florian, Pires Martins, Maria, Sabatier, Daniel, Irume, Victória Irume, da Silva Guimarães, José Renan, Molino, Jean-François, Banki, Olaf, Fernandez Piedade, Maria Teresa, Pitman, Nigel C. A., Ferreira Ramos, José, Monteagudo Mendoza, Abel, Venticinque, Eduardo Martins, Garcia Luize, Bruno, Nuñez Vargas, Percy, Freire Silva, Thiago Sanna, Moraes de Leão Novo, Evlyn Márcia, Costa Reis, Neidiane Farias, Terborgh, John, Manzatto, Angelo Gilberto, Casula, Katia Regina, Honorio Coronado, Eurídice N., Montero, Juan Carlos, Duque, Alvaro, Costa, Flávia R.C, Castaño Arboleda, Nicolás, Schöngart, Jochen, Zartman, Charles Eugene, Killeen, Timothy J., Marimon, Beatriz Schwantes, Marimon-Junior, Ben Hur, Vasquez, Rodolfo, Mostacedo, Bonifacio, Demarchi, Layon O., Feldpausch, Ted R., Engel, Julien, Petronelli, Pascal, et al.
Format:	article biblioteca
Language:	eng
Subjects:	flore, taxonomie, dynamique des populations, modèle de simulation, arbre forestier, biodiversité, forêt, espèce, distribution géographique, distribution des populations, identification, base de données spatiale, composition botanique, http://aims.fao.org/aos/agrovoc/c_2983, http://aims.fao.org/aos/agrovoc/c_7631, http://aims.fao.org/aos/agrovoc/c_6111, http://aims.fao.org/aos/agrovoc/c_24242, http://aims.fao.org/aos/agrovoc/c_3052, http://aims.fao.org/aos/agrovoc/c_33949, http://aims.fao.org/aos/agrovoc/c_3062, http://aims.fao.org/aos/agrovoc/c_7280, http://aims.fao.org/aos/agrovoc/c_5083, http://aims.fao.org/aos/agrovoc/c_6113, http://aims.fao.org/aos/agrovoc/c_3791, http://aims.fao.org/aos/agrovoc/c_9000154, http://aims.fao.org/aos/agrovoc/c_15945, http://aims.fao.org/aos/agrovoc/c_32372, http://aims.fao.org/aos/agrovoc/c_3081,
Online Access:	http://agritrop.cirad.fr/605382/ http://agritrop.cirad.fr/605382/1/605382.pdf
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