Unraveling Amazon tree community assembly using Maximum Information Entropy: A quantitative analysis of tropical forest ecology

In a time of rapid global change, the question of what determines patterns in species abundance distribution remains a priority for understanding the complex dynamics of ecosystems. The constrained maximization of information entropy provides a framework for the understanding of such complex systems dynamics by a quantitative analysis of important constraints via predictions using least biased probability distributions. We apply it to over two thousand hectares of Amazonian tree inventories across seven forest types and thirteen functional traits, representing major global axes of plant strategies. Results show that constraints formed by regional relative abundances of genera explain eight times more of local relative abundances than constraints based on directional selection for specific functional traits, although the latter does show clear signals of environmental dependency. These results provide a quantitative insight by inference from large-scale data using cross-disciplinary methods, furthering our understanding of ecological dynamics.

Bibliographic Details

Main Authors:	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 Andino, Juan Ernesto, de Jesus Veiga Carim, Marcelo, López, Dairon Cárdenas, Magnusson, William E, Wittmann, Florian, Irume, Mariana Victória, Pires Martins, Maria, Sabatier, Daniel, da Silva Guimarães, José Renan, Molino, Jean-François, Banki, Olaf, Fernandez Piedade, Maria Teresa, Pitman, Nigel C. A., Mendoza, Abel Monteagudo, Ferreira Ramos, José, Hawes, Joseph E., Almeida, Everton José, Ferreira Barbosa, Luciane, Cavalheiro, Larissa, Vilela dos Santos, Márcia Cléia, Garcia Luize, Bruno, Moraes de Leão Novo, Evlyn Márcia, Nuñez Vargas, Percy, Freire Silva, Thiago Sanna, Venticinque, Eduardo Martins, Manzatto, Angelo Gilberto, Costa Reis, Neidiane Farias, Terborgh, John, Casula, Katia Regina, Coronado, Euridice N. Honorio, Montero, Juan Carlos, Marimon, Beatriz Schwantes, Marimon-Junior, Ben Hur, Feldpausch, Ted R., Duque, Alvaro, Baraloto, Christopher, Castaño Arboleda, Nicolás, Engel, Julien, Petronelli, Pascal, et al.
Format:	article biblioteca
Language:	eng
Subjects:	F40 - Écologie végétale, U10 - Informatique, mathématiques et statistiques, écologie, forêt tropicale, dynamique des populations, écologie forestière, biodiversité, arbre forestier, taxonomie, écosystème forestier, inventaire forestier, forêt tropicale humide, protection de la forêt, http://aims.fao.org/aos/agrovoc/c_2467, http://aims.fao.org/aos/agrovoc/c_24904, http://aims.fao.org/aos/agrovoc/c_6111, http://aims.fao.org/aos/agrovoc/c_3044, http://aims.fao.org/aos/agrovoc/c_33949, http://aims.fao.org/aos/agrovoc/c_3052, http://aims.fao.org/aos/agrovoc/c_7631, http://aims.fao.org/aos/agrovoc/c_1374842133961, http://aims.fao.org/aos/agrovoc/c_24174, http://aims.fao.org/aos/agrovoc/c_7976, http://aims.fao.org/aos/agrovoc/c_28075, http://aims.fao.org/aos/agrovoc/c_32372, http://aims.fao.org/aos/agrovoc/c_3081, http://aims.fao.org/aos/agrovoc/c_3445,
Online Access:	http://agritrop.cirad.fr/608253/ http://agritrop.cirad.fr/608253/1/608253.pdf
Tags:	Add Tag No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!