Abstract
Forests that regrow naturally on abandoned fields are important for restoring biodiversity and ecosystem services, but can they also preserve the distinct regional tree floras? Using the floristic composition of 1215 early successional forests (≤20 years) in 75 human-modified landscapes across the Neotropic realm, we identified 14 distinct floristic groups, with a between-group dissimilarity of 0.97. Floristic groups were associated with location, bioregions, soil pH, temperature seasonality, and water availability. Hence, there is large continental-scale variation in the species composition of early successional forests, which is mainly associated with biogeographic and environmental factors but not with human disturbance indicators. This floristic distinctiveness is partially driven by regionally restricted species belonging to widespread genera. Early secondary forests contribute therefore to restoring and conserving the distinctiveness of bioregions across the Neotropical realm, and forest restoration initiatives should use local species to assure that these distinct floras are maintained.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | eabn1767 |
| Pages (from-to) | 1-12 |
| Journal | Science advances |
| Volume | 8 |
| Issue number | 26 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - Aug 2022 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:This work was supported by the following: Agencia Nacional de Investigación y Desarrollo, FONDECYT Regular No. 1201347 (to D.C.); Apasia Grant 015.014.006 (to M.P.-C.); BNP Paribas Foundation's Climate and Biodiversity Initiative (Project Bioclimate) (to F.F.); Colciencias grant 1243-13 (to J.R.); Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología, grants SEMARNAT-2002-C01-0267 and CB-2009-01-128136 (to J.A.M.), SEP-CONACYT 2009-129740 and 2015-255544 (to F.Mo., N.P.-C., and P.B.), and CONACYT-PRONACE F003-2022-319065 (to P.B.); Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico, Brazil; Edital SINBIOSE grants 442371/2019-5-Regenera (to C.C.J. and R.Me.) and 442354/2019-3-Synergize (to J.F., F.F., F.E., and J.B.) and grants 302113/2021-5 (to T.V.B.), 141730/2006-4 (to A.S.), 201423/2007-3 (to A.S.), 308471/2017-12 (to M.M.E.-S.), 441949/2018-5-Sem-Flama (to J.F., F.F., F.E., and J.B.), 420254/2018-8-Resflora (to J.F., F.F., F.E., and J.B.), 441659/2016-0 (to J.F., F.F., F.E., and J.B.), and 441573/2020-7-PELD-RAS (to J.F., F.F., F.E., and J.B.); European Research Council-ERC, Advanced Grant PANTROP 834775 519 (to L.P. and C.C.J.); FAPESPA: BJT-FAPESPA Program grant 2021/658588 (to F.E.); Fondo Mixto CONACYT-Gobierno del estado de Yucatán, FOMIX YUC-2008-C06-108863 (to J.L.H.-S. and J.M.D.); Foundation Het Kronendak (to H.F.M.V. and C.C.J.); Foundation Tropenbos (to H.F.M.V. and C.C.J.); Fundação de Amparo à Ciência de Santa Catarina-FAPESC, grant Edital no 01/2006 (to A.S.); Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa de Minas Gerais (FAPEMIG) (to M.M.E.-S.); Global Environment Facility-GEF, grant VEN/SGP/2010-2015 (to P.M.V.); Grantham Foundation for the Environment (to J.S.H.); HSBC Climate partnership (to J.S.H.); Instituto Nacional de Investigaciones Agrícolas, INIA-Amazonas (to P.M.V.); Inter-American Development Bank (Cooperation #ATN/BD-15408-CO) (to N.N.); Investissement d'Avenir grants (CEBA, ref. ANR-10-LABX-25-01; TULIP, ref. ANR-10-LABX-0041) and ESA CCI-Biomass and CNES (to J.C.); NASA Terrestrial Ecology Program, University of Connecticut Research Foundation, and Andrew W. Mellon Foundation (to R.L.C.); NSF (USA): Graduate Fellowship (to S.G.L.), grant DEB-9208031 (to S.J.D. and D.D.), and grants DEB-0639114, DEB-1147434, DEB-0424767, DEB-0639393, and DEB-1147429 (to R.L.C.); Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research-NWO, grant NWO-ALW.OP241 (to C.C.J., L.P., and M.T.v.d.S.), grant ALWOP.457 (to F.B. and R.Mu), grant ALW grant 863.15.017 (to M.L.), and grant Veni.192.027 (to M.T.v.d.S.); NWO-FAPESP grant 17418 (NEWFOR Project; to P.H.S.B. and F.B.); Organization for Tropical Studies Graduate Fellowship (to S.G.L.); Programa de Capacitação Institucional of the Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia-INPA, Brazil (to T.V.B.); Rainforest Luxemburg and COBIGA (to P.H.); Singapore's Ministry of Education and Yale-NUS College, grant IG16-LR004 and YNC startup grant (to M.v.B.); United Nations Development Program, Venezuela (to P.M.V.); United Nations Programme for Development and the Global Environmental Facility (Proyecto Uso Sostenible y conservación de la biodiversidad en ecosistemas secos) (to N.N.); Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México-Programa de Apoyo de Proyectos de Investigación e Innovación Tecnológica, grants IN216007, IN218416, IN217620 (to J.A.M.), and IN-211417 (to F.Mo and N.P.-C.); and UNAM-PAPIIT grant IN-211417 (to N.P.-C., P.B., and F.Mo).
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