Biased-corrected richness estimates for the Amazonian tree flora.
Hans Ter SteegePaulo I PradoRenato A F de LimaEdwin PosLuiz de Souza CoelhoDiogenes de Andrade Lima FilhoRafael P SalomãoIêda Leão AmaralFrancisca Dionízia de Almeida MatosCarolina V CastilhoOliver L PhillipsJuan Ernesto GuevaraMarcelo de Jesus Veiga CarimDairon Cárdenas LópezWilliam E MagnussonFlorian WittmannMaria Pires MartinsDaniel SabatierMariana Victória IrumeJosé Renan da Silva GuimarãesJean-François MolinoOlaf S BánkiMaria Teresa Fernandez PiedadeNigel C A PitmanJosé Ferreira RamosAbel Monteagudo MendozaEduardo Martins VenticinqueBruno Garcia LuizePercy Núñez VargasThiago Sanna Freire SilvaEvlyn Márcia Moraes de Leão NovoNeidiane Farias Costa ReisJohn TerborghAngelo Gilberto ManzattoKatia Regina CasulaEuridice N Honorio CoronadoJuan Carlos MonteroAlvaro DuqueFlávia R C CostaNicolás Castaño ArboledaJochen SchöngartCharles Eugene ZartmanTimothy J KilleenBeatriz S MarimonBen Hur Marimon-JuniorRodolfo VasquezBonifacio MostacedoLayon O DemarchiTed R FeldpauschJulien EngelPascal PetronelliChris BaralotoRafael L AssisHernán CastellanosMarcelo Fragomeni SimonMarcelo Brilhante de MedeirosAdriano QuaresmaSusan G W LauranceLorena M RincónAna AndradeThaiane R SousaJosé Luís CamargoJuliana SchiettiWilliam F LauranceHelder Lima de QueirozHenrique Eduardo Mendonça NascimentoMaria Aparecida LopesEmanuelle de Sousa FariasJosé Leonardo Lima MagalhãesRoel BrienenGerardo A Aymard CJuan David Cardenas RevillaIma Célia Guimarães VieiraBruno Barçante Ladvocat CintraPablo R StevensonYuri Oliveira FeitosaJoost F DuivenvoordenHugo F MogollónAlejandro Araujo-MurakamiLeandro Valle FerreiraJosé Rafael LozadaJames A ComiskeyJosé Julio de ToledoGabriel DamascoNállarett DávilaAline LopesRoosevelt García-VillacortaFreddie DraperAlberto VicentiniFernando Cornejo ValverdeJon LloydVitor H F GomesDavid NeillAlfonso AlonsoFrancisco DallmeierFernanda Coelho de SouzaRogerio GribelLuzmila ArroyoFernanda Antunes CarvalhoDaniel Praia Portela de AguiarDário Dantas do AmaralMarcelo Petratti PansonatoKenneth J FeeleyErika BerenguerPaul V A FineMarcelino Carneiro GuedesJos BarlowJoice FerreiraBoris VillaMaria Cristina Peñuela MoraEliana M JimenezJuan Carlos LiconaCarlos CerónRaquel ThomasPaul MaasMarcos SilveiraTerry W HenkelJuliana StroppMarcos Ríos ParedesKyle G DexterDoug DalyTim R BakerIsau Huamantupa-ChuquimacoWilliam MillikenToby PenningtonJ Sebastián TelloJosé Luis Marcelo PenaCarlos A PeresBente KlitgaardAlfredo FuentesMiles R SilmanAnthony Di FiorePatricio von HildebrandJerome ChaveTinde R van AndelRenato Richard HilárioJuan Fernando PhillipsGonzalo Rivas-TorresJanaína Costa NoronhaAdriana PrietoTherany GonzalesRainiellene de Sá CarpanedoGeorge Pepe Gallardo GonzalesRicardo Zárate GómezDomingos de Jesus RodriguesEgleé L ZentAdemir R RuschelVincent Antoine VosÉmile FontyAndré Braga JunqueiraHilda Paulette Dávila DozaBruce HoffmanStanford ZentEdelcilio Marques BarbosaYadvinder MalhiLuiz Carlos de Matos BonatesIres Paula de Andrade MirandaNatalino SilvaFlávia Rodrigues BarbosaCésar I A VelaLinder Felipe Mozombite PintoAgustín RudasBianca Weiss AlbuquerqueMaria Natalia UmañaYrma Andreina Carrero MárquezGeertje van der HeijdenKenneth R YoungMilton TiradoDiego F CorreaRodrigo SierraJanaina Barbosa Pedrosa CostaMaira RochaEmilio Vilanova TorreOphelia WangAlexandre A OliveiraMichelle KalamandeenCorine VriesendorpHirma Ramirez-AnguloMilena HolmgrenMarcelo Trindade NascimentoDavid GalbraithBernardo Monteiro FloresVeridiana Vizoni ScudellerAngela CanoManuel Augusto Ahuite ReateguiItalo MesonesCláudia BaiderCasimiro MendozaRoderick ZagtLigia Estela Urrego GiraldoCid FerreiraDaniel VillarroelReynaldo Linares-PalominoWilliam Farfan-RiosWilliam Farfan-RiosLuisa Fernanda CasasSasha CárdenasHenrik BalslevArmando Torres-LezamaMiguel N AlexiadesKarina Garcia-CabreraLuis Valenzuela GamarraElvis H Valderrama SandovalFreddy Ramirez ArevaloLionel HernandezAdeilza Felipe SampaioSusamar PansiniWalter Palacios CuencaEdmar Almeida de OliveiraDaniela PaulettoAurora LevesleyKarina MelgaçoGeorgia PickavancePublished in: Scientific reports (2020)
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.