scholarly journals An estimate of the number of tropical tree species

2015 ◽  
Vol 112 (24) ◽  
pp. 7472-7477 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. W. Ferry Slik ◽  
Víctor Arroyo-Rodríguez ◽  
Shin-Ichiro Aiba ◽  
Patricia Alvarez-Loayza ◽  
Luciana F. Alves ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Species Richness ◽  
Tree Species ◽  
Forest Tree ◽  
Tropical Tree ◽  
Tropical Tree Species ◽  
As Species ◽  
Tree Inventory ◽  
Minimum Number ◽  
Closed Canopy ◽  
High Species Richness

The high species richness of tropical forests has long been recognized, yet there remains substantial uncertainty regarding the actual number of tropical tree species. Using a pantropical tree inventory database from closed canopy forests, consisting of 657,630 trees belonging to 11,371 species, we use a fitted value of Fisher’s alpha and an approximate pantropical stem total to estimate the minimum number of tropical forest tree species to fall between ∼40,000 and ∼53,000, i.e., at the high end of previous estimates. Contrary to common assumption, the Indo-Pacific region was found to be as species-rich as the Neotropics, with both regions having a minimum of ∼19,000–25,000 tree species. Continental Africa is relatively depauperate with a minimum of ∼4,500–6,000 tree species. Very few species are shared among the African, American, and the Indo-Pacific regions. We provide a methodological framework for estimating species richness in trees that may help refine species richness estimates of tree-dependent taxa.

scholarly journals Classification of Tropical Forest Tree Species Using Meter-Scale Image Data

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (12) ◽  
pp. 1411 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew Cross ◽  
Ted Scambos ◽  
Fabio Pacifici ◽  
Orlando Vargas-Ramirez ◽  
Rafael Moreno-Sanchez ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Tropical Forest ◽  
Tree Species ◽  
Near Infrared ◽  
Single Species ◽  
Forest Tree ◽  
Tropical Tree ◽  
Forest Composition ◽  
Species Classification ◽  
Tropical Tree Species

Accurate classification of tropical tree species is critical for understanding forest habitat, biodiversity, forest composition, biomass, and the role of trees in climate variability through carbon uptake. The aim of this study is to establish an accurate classification procedure for tropical tree species, specifically testing the feasibility of WorldView-3 (WV-3) multispectral imagery for this task. The specific study site is a defined arboretum within a well-known tropical forest research location in Costa Rica (La Selva Biological Station). An object-based classification is the basis for the analysis to classify six selected tree species. A combination of pre-processed WV-3 bands were inputs to the classification, and an edge segmentation process defined multi-pixel-scale tree canopies. WorldView-3 bands in the Green, Red, Red Edge, and Near-Infrared 2, particularly when incorporated in two specialized vegetation indices, provide high discrimination among the selected species. Classification results yield an accuracy of 85.37%, with minimal errors of commission (7.89%) and omission (14.63%). Shadowing in the satellite imagery had a significant effect on segmentation accuracy (identifying single-species canopy tops) and on classification. The methodology presented provides a path to better characterization of tropical forest species distribution and overall composition for improving biomass studies in a tropical environment.

Towards quantifying tropical tree species richness in tropical forests

2009 ◽  
Vol 30 (6) ◽  
pp. 1629-1634 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. W. Gillespie ◽  
S. Saatchi ◽  
S. Pau ◽  
S. Bohlman ◽  
A. P. Giorgi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Species Richness ◽  
Tropical Forests ◽  
Tree Species ◽  
Tropical Tree ◽  
Tropical Tree Species ◽  
Tree Species Richness

scholarly journals Evaluating the potential of full‐waveform lidar for mapping pan‐tropical tree species richness

2020 ◽  
Vol 29 (10) ◽  
pp. 1799-1816
Author(s):  
Suzanne M. Marselis ◽  
Katharine Abernethy ◽  
Alfonso Alonso ◽  
John Armston ◽  
Timothy R. Baker ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Species Richness ◽  
Tree Species ◽  
Tropical Tree ◽  
Tropical Tree Species ◽  
Full Waveform ◽  
Tree Species Richness ◽  
Waveform Lidar ◽  
Full Waveform Lidar

scholarly journals Comment on “Global Correlations in Tropical Tree Species Richness and Abundance Reject Neutrality”

Science ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 336 (6089) ◽  
pp. 1639.5-1639 ◽  
Author(s):  
François Munoz ◽  
Pierre Couteron ◽  
Stephen P. Hubbell
Keyword(s):  
Species Richness ◽  
Tropical Forests ◽  
Tree Species ◽  
Neutral Theory ◽  
Tropical Tree ◽  
Temporal Scales ◽  
Spatial And Temporal Scales ◽  
Tropical Tree Species ◽  
Neutral Theory Of Biodiversity ◽  
Species Richness And Abundance

Ricklefs and Renner (Reports, 27 January 2012, p. 464) have argued that the neutral theory of biodiversity and biogeography cannot explain the correlations in family abundances and species richness found between tropical forests from distinct continents. However, we show that such patterns can arise from neutral processes of diversification, migration, and drift over large spatial and temporal scales.

scholarly journals Comment on “Global Correlations in Tropical Tree Species Richness and Abundance Reject Neutrality”

Science ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 336 (6089) ◽  
pp. 1639.2-1639 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rampal S. Etienne ◽  
James Rosindell
Keyword(s):  
Species Richness ◽  
Tree Species ◽  
Neutral Theory ◽  
Tropical Tree ◽  
Neutral Model ◽  
Tropical Tree Species ◽  
Tree Species Richness ◽  
Species Richness And Abundance

Ricklefs and Renner (Reports, 27 January 2012, p. 464) showed correlations of species richness and individual abundance within families across continents and claimed that neutral theory predicts no such correlation. However, they did not substantiate this claim quantitatively with a neutral model. Here, we show that neutral theory can be consistent with these correlations and, consequently, that the correlations alone cannot reject neutrality.

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