Hyperdominance in Amazonian forest carbon cycling.
Sophie FausetMichelle O JohnsonManuel GloorTimothy R BakerAbel Monteagudo MRoel J W BrienenTed R FeldpauschGabriela Lopez-GonzalezYadvinder MalhiHans Ter SteegeNigel C A PitmanChristopher BaralotoJulien EngelPascal PétronelliAna AndradeJosé Luís C CamargoSusan G W LauranceWilliam F LauranceJerôme ChaveElodie AlliePercy Núñez VargasJohn W TerborghKalle RuokolainenMarcos SilveiraGerardo A Aymard CLuzmila ArroyoDamien BonalHirma Ramirez-AnguloAlejandro Araujo-MurakamiDavid NeillBruno HéraultAurélie DourdainArmando Torres-LezamaBeatriz S MarimonRafael P SalomãoJames A ComiskeyMaxime Réjou-MéchainMarisol ToledoJuan Carlos LiconaAlfredo AlarcónAdriana PrietoAgustín RudasPeter J van der MeerTimothy J KilleenBen-Hur Marimon JuniorLourens PoorterRene G A BootBasil StergiosEmilio Vilanova TorreFlávia R C CostaCarolina LevisJuliana SchiettiPriscila SouzaNikée GrootEric J M M AretsVictor Chama MoscosoWendeson CastroEuridice N Honorio CoronadoMarielos Peña-ClarosClement StahlJorcely BarrosoJoey TalbotIma Célia Guimarães VieiraGeertje van der HeijdenRaquel ThomasVincent A VosEverton C AlmeidaEsteban Álvarez DavilaLuiz E O C AragãoTerry L ErwinPaulo S MorandiEdmar Almeida de OliveiraMarco B X ValadãoRoderick J ZagtPeter van der HoutPatricia Alvarez LoayzaJohn J PipolyOphelia WangMiguel AlexiadesCarlos E CerónIsau Huamantupa-ChuquimacoAnthony Di FioreJulie PeacockNadir C Pallqui CamachoRicardo K UmetsuPlínio Barbosa de CamargoRobyn J BurnhamRafael HerreraCarlos A QuesadaJuliana StroppSimone A VieiraMarc SteiningerCarlos Reynel RodríguezZorayda RestrepoAdriane Esquivel MuelbertSimon L LewisGeorgia C PickavanceOliver L PhillipsPublished in: Nature communications (2015)
While Amazonian forests are extraordinarily diverse, the abundance of trees is skewed strongly towards relatively few 'hyperdominant' species. In addition to their diversity, Amazonian trees are a key component of the global carbon cycle, assimilating and storing more carbon than any other ecosystem on Earth. Here we ask, using a unique data set of 530 forest plots, if the functions of storing and producing woody carbon are concentrated in a small number of tree species, whether the most abundant species also dominate carbon cycling, and whether dominant species are characterized by specific functional traits. We find that dominance of forest function is even more concentrated in a few species than is dominance of tree abundance, with only ≈1% of Amazon tree species responsible for 50% of carbon storage and productivity. Although those species that contribute most to biomass and productivity are often abundant, species maximum size is also influential, while the identity and ranking of dominant species varies by function and by region.