El objetivo del presente trabajo fue determinar la diversidad de palmeras en tres regiones de la ... more El objetivo del presente trabajo fue determinar la diversidad de palmeras en tres regiones de la Amazonía baja (Loreto, Ucayali y Madre de Dios). El estudio fue realizado durante el Proyecto desarrollado en los años del 2004-2013, en el marco del proyecto Palms. Se inventariaron 354 transectos de 5 × 100 m totalizando 88,50 hectáreas de área evaluada en las tres regiones. En la región Loreto fueron realizados 239 transectos en Ucayali 38 transectos y Madre de Dios 77 transectos. Se registraron un total de 97 especies y 6 morfotipos. En Loreto, Oenocarpus bataua “hungurahui” fue la más abundante con 28,898 ind. (10 % total de los ind.), en Ucayali Lepidocaryum tenue “irapay” con 14,379 ind. (20% del total de ind.) y en Madre de Dios Geonoma deversa “palmiche” con 5,743 individuos con el (20 % del total de individuos). Loreto fue la región con mayor diversidad de especies con 3,601, Ucayali con 3,061 y Madre de Dios con 2,839. Entre Loreto y Ucayali hubo una similitud de 73% y entre U...
Trabajo presentado al Simposio Internacional "Las paLmeras en eL marco de La investigación para e... more Trabajo presentado al Simposio Internacional "Las paLmeras en eL marco de La investigación para eL desarroLLo en américa deL sur",
In Amazonian terra-firme non inundated forests, local floristic composition and species occurrenc... more In Amazonian terra-firme non inundated forests, local floristic composition and species occurrence are explained by water availability as determined by topographic conditions. Topographic complexity can render these conditions quite variable across the landscape and the effects on plant ecological responses are difficult to document. We used a set of topographically defined hydrological metrics to evaluate community composition and single-species responses of four plant groups [pteridophytes (ferns and lycophytes), Melastomataceae, palms (Arecaceae) and Zingiberales] to topographic conditions in the middle Juruá River region, in western Brazilian Amazonia. The area spans two geological formations (Içá and Solimões) with contrasting topography. River terraces are also found along the main rivers in the area. Local topographic conditions were approximated by height above the nearest drainage (HAND), slope, and Strahler´s drainage order, all obtained from a SRTM digital elevation model...
Environmental heterogeneity across the landscape can cause lineage divergence and speciation. The... more Environmental heterogeneity across the landscape can cause lineage divergence and speciation. The Geonoma macrostachys (Arecaceae) species complex has been proposed as a candidate case of ecological speciation in Amazonia due to evidence of habitat partitioning and pre-zygotic reproductive barriers between co-occurring morphotypes at a local scale. In this study, we provide a continent-wide perspective of the divergence patterns in G. macrostachys by integrating data from morphological traits, target sequence capture, climate, soil and reproductive biology. A morphometric analysis revealed four morphogroups, defined by traits related to leaf shape. A coalescence-based phylogenetic analysis did not recover the morphogroups as monophyletic, indicating independent evolution of leaf shape across geographical space. We demonstrate scale-dependent habitat differentiation for two of the morphogroups, in which segregation driven mostly by climate was complete at the regional scale but incom...
Amazonia is extremely biodiverse, but the mechanisms for the origin of this diversity are still u... more Amazonia is extremely biodiverse, but the mechanisms for the origin of this diversity are still under debate. We propose a diversification model for Amazonia based on the interplay of intrinsic clade functional traits, habitat associations and past geological events, using as a model group the species-rich Neotropical family Marantaceae. Our results show that the species richness of the lineage is predicted by functional strategy, rather than clade age, and thus the fast vs. slow growth functional trade-off is a major determinant of clade diversification in Marantaceae. Rapidly growing clades were mostly associated with highly productive habitats, and their origin and diversification dynamics matched the expansion of fertile soils mediated by Andean uplift c. 23 Mya. Fast-growth strategies probably led to fast molecular evolution, speeding up speciation rates and species accumulation, resulting in higher numbers of extant species. Our results indicate that pure allopatric-dispersal ...
Aim: Pleistocene (2.58 Ma-11.7 ka) climatic fluctuations have shaped intraspecific genetic patter... more Aim: Pleistocene (2.58 Ma-11.7 ka) climatic fluctuations have shaped intraspecific genetic patterns worldwide; however, their impact on species in many regions remains unknown. In order to determine the impact of Pleistocene climatic fluctuations on the tropical rain forests of western Ecuador, we explored the evolutionary history of the endemic palm Phytelephas aequatorialis.
The vegetable ivory palms (Phytelepheae) form a small group of Neotropical palms whose phylogenet... more The vegetable ivory palms (Phytelepheae) form a small group of Neotropical palms whose phylogenetic relationships are not fully understood. Three genera and eight species are currently recognized; however, it has been suggested that Phytelephas macrocarpa could include the species Phytelephas seemannii and Phytelephas schottii because of supposed phylogenetic relatedness and similar morphology. We inferred their phylogenetic relationships and divergence time estimates using the 32 most clock-like loci of a custom palm bait-kit formed by 176 genes and four fossils for time calibration. We additionally explored the historical biogeography of the tribe under the recovered phylogenetic relationships. Our fossil-dated tree showed the eight species previously recognized, and that P. macrocarpa is not closely related to P. seemanii and P. schottii, which, as a consequence, should not be included in P. macrocarpa. The ancestor of the vegetable ivory palms was widely-distributed in the Chocó...
Understanding the main relationships between the current macroclimate and broad spatial patterns ... more Understanding the main relationships between the current macroclimate and broad spatial patterns of plant diversity is a priority in biogeography, and although there is an important body of studies on the topic worldwide, tropical mountains remain underrepresented. Because understanding primary drivers of diversity patterns in the Andean páramo is still in its infancy, we focused on evaluating the role of the current macroclimate in form of three complementary hypotheses, energy, seasonality and harshness, in explaining local variation of plant species richness. We relied on 1,559 vegetation plots that offered a fine-scale outlook on real species assemblages due to community rules and species' interactions with their surrounding environment, including climate. Generalized Least Squares (GLS) regression models provided insight on the significance of the different hypotheses in explaining local plant richness, but only the energy and seasonality hypotheses received partial support. The best model was then combined with spatial interpolation Kriging modeling techniques to project species richness for a standardized 25 m 2 plot throughout the entire páramo biogeographical province. We highlighted a North-South increase in richness with several species-rich areas, potential local biodiversity hotspots, independent of the general gradient: the Amotape-Huancabamba zone, Sangay and Cotacachi areas, and eastern Venezuelan Andes. Our endeavor to finely map local richness is the first effort predicting macroecological patterns in the emblematic Andean páramo and contributes novel biogeographical knowledge useful to further support in-depth research and conservation focus in the northern Andes.
Palms are most diverse in warm and humid regions near the equator. Though palms remain relatively... more Palms are most diverse in warm and humid regions near the equator. Though palms remain relatively well conserved, they are under increasing pressure from deforestation. Here, we analyze patterns of palm species richness relative to latitudinal gradient, sampling effort, and deforestation in the Amazon, and compare patterns of richness and floristic similarity among Amazonian sub-regions. We built a database of 17,310 records for 177 species. The areas with the greatest richness were in the western, central and northeastern Amazon, principally at latitudes 0-5ºS. Species richness and the number of records were highly correlated (R 2 =0.76, P<0.005). The highest rates of deforestation (>2000 km 2) were found in the southern and eastern Amazon of Brazil, which coincide with low richness and gaps in records. Similarity analyzes resulted in two groups of sub-regions: the first included the Amazon s.s., the Andes and the Guiana, while the second included the Plateau and Gurupi. We conclude that the highest species richness is at low latitudes, and observed richness is affected by sampling effort and is vulnerable to deforestation. Therefore, areas with low species richness, especially areas with data deficiency, need to be further studied for a better understanding of their patterns of diversity and richness.
Phylogenomics of Neotropical Geonomateae Palms a large genomic dataset is provided for an entire ... more Phylogenomics of Neotropical Geonomateae Palms a large genomic dataset is provided for an entire tribe within the Arecaceae. Our study lays the groundwork not only for detailed macro-and micro-evolutionary studies within the group, but also sets a workflow for understanding other species complexes across the tree of life.
The rainforests of Amazonia comprise some of the most biologically diverse ecosystems on Earth. D... more The rainforests of Amazonia comprise some of the most biologically diverse ecosystems on Earth. Despite this high biodiversity, little is known about how landscape changes that took place in deep history have affected the assembly of its species, and whether the impact of such changes on biodiversity can still be observed. Here, we present a hypothesis to explain our observation that plants typical of Neotropical coastal habitats also occur in western Amazonia, in some cases thousands of kilometres away from the coast. Evidence on their current distribution, dispersal biology and divergence times estimated from molecular phylogenies suggest that these plants may be the legacy of the large marine-influenced embayment that dominated the area for millions of years in the Neogene. We hypothesize that coastal plants dispersed along the shores of this embayment and persisted as inland relicts after the marine incursion(s) retreated, probably with the aid of changes in soil conditions caused by the depo sition of marine sediments. This dispersal corridor may also have facilitated the colonization of coastal environments by Amazonian lineages. These scenarios could imply an unexpected coastal source that has contributed to Amazonia's high floristic diversity and led to disjunct distributions across the Neotropics.
AimTo evaluate the relative importance of climatic versus soil data when predicting species distr... more AimTo evaluate the relative importance of climatic versus soil data when predicting species distributions for Amazonian plants and to gain understanding of potential range shifts under climate change.LocationAmazon rain forest.MethodsWe produced species distribution models (SDM) at 5‐km spatial resolution for 42 plant species (trees, palms, lianas, monocot herbs and ferns) using species occurrence data from herbarium records and plot‐based inventories. We modelled species distribution with Bayesian logistic regression using either climate data only, soil data only or climate and soil data together to estimate their relative predictive powers. For areas defined as unsuitable to species occurrence, we mapped the difference between the suitability predictions obtained with climate‐only versus soil‐only models to identify regions where climate and soil might restrict species ranges independently or jointly.ResultsFor 40 out of the 42 species, the best models included both climate and so...
Summary Understanding the responses of individual plant species along different edaphic gradients... more Summary Understanding the responses of individual plant species along different edaphic gradients is a key question in ecology, with implications to community assembly, functioning of forest ecosystems, niche theory and conservation planning. In tropical rain forests, responses to soil nutrients have been described only for a handful of species. Even abundant and conspicuous components of the forest, such as the palms (Arecaceae), remain largely unknown in this respect. We inventoried all palm species and analysed soil chemistry in 96 sites across western Amazonia to (i) assess the relative importance of some micronutrients vs. macronutrients as drivers of patterns in palm species composition, (ii) model the response shapes of 61 palm taxa and of canopy vs. understorey palms along gradients of selected soil nutrients, (iii) determine if the response shapes of conspecific palm varieties differ in relation to the most important observed soil nutrient and (iv) assess if the rank order ...
AimTo assess the relative roles of geologically defined terrain types (environmental heterogeneit... more AimTo assess the relative roles of geologically defined terrain types (environmental heterogeneity) and a major river (physical dispersal barrier) as predictors of ecological structuring and biogeographical differentiation within Amazonian forests.LocationWestern Brazilian Amazonia, where the Juruá river and its terraces cross a 1000‐km‐long boundary between two geological formations (the Solimões and Içá Formations).MethodsWe sampled a 500‐km stretch of the Juruá with 71 transects (5 m by 500 m) that spanned both the river and the geological boundary. All transects were inventoried for pteridophytes (ferns and lycophytes) and Melastomataceae, and a subset of 39 transects also for palms and Zingiberales. Three surface soil samples were collected from each transect. The data were analysed using ordinations, regression trees, indicator species analyses and Mantel tests.ResultsAll plant groups showed congruent species turnover between geologically defined terrain types, but little evid...
Garc es was born in the Colombian city of Medell ın, the daughter of Gerardo Galeano, an accounta... more Garc es was born in the Colombian city of Medell ın, the daughter of Gerardo Galeano, an accountant from Amag a, and L ıa Garc es, from Heliconia. Gloria was the second of six children. Growing up in Sabaneta within the metropolitan area of Medell ın, Gloria attended El Carmelo, a traditional Catholic school. In 1976, at the age of 18, she enrolled in the Medell ın branch of the Universidad Nacional de Colombia. She graduated in 1983 with the title of Ingeniero Agr onomo and her thesis entitled Palmas del Departamento de Antioquia was awarded a special mention. This thesis was published in 1987 as a book, co-authored with her study-mate and lifetime companion Rodrigo Bernal. Over her entire career, Gloria's research covered a wide range of fields, including taxonomy, systematics, conservation, traditional knowledge, ecology and harvest impacts of Colombian plants and, in particular, Neotropical palms. Her proximity to nature as she was growing up inspired Gloria to study plants at university. This affinity combined with her lifelong commitment to contributing sustainable solutions in a country with so many needs drove her to study to become an agronomic engineer in her first degree. Following her graduation, she investigated not only palms, but the entire Colombian flora, while going on to teach botany and ultimately inspiring an entire generation of students. In 1984, the year after her graduation, she took up a position at Instituto de Ciencias Naturales, part of the National Colombian University in the capital Bogot a, where the Colombian National Herbarium (COL) is housed. Gloria remained there for her entire career, holding the office of Director of the Institute from 2003 to 2006, and when she passed away, she was an associate professor (Fig. 1). In 1993 Gloria had the opportunity to deepen her education and she started a PhD study at Aarhus University, Denmark, under the supervision of Henrik Balslev. She completed her studies in 1997 with a thesis entitled Quantitative forest inventories on the Pacific coast of Choc o, Colombia. This work, the first rigorous ethnobotanical and ecological study in the Choc o area, was later published in two papers in Biodiversity and Conservation and Economic Botany.
The Neotropical palm tribe Iriarteeae is ubiquitous in several lowland and montane biomes across ... more The Neotropical palm tribe Iriarteeae is ubiquitous in several lowland and montane biomes across northern South America, but the phylogenetic relationships among genera and species remain unresolved. A well resolved phylogenetic tree is key to exploring morphological evolution in the tribe, including striking features such as the complex and unique inflorescence structures in Wettinia. We generated data from five plastid (ndhA, petD-rpoA, psbK-trnS and trnG) and six nuclear (AG1, CISPs 4 and 5, PRK, RPB2 and WRKY21) molecular loci to infer the phylogeny. We explored the evolutionary patterns of trait evolution using the D statistic and stochastic character mapping. All genera were inferred as monophyletic and their relationships were recovered with strong to moderate support. Based on these results we synonymize the two species of Iriartella under I. setigera and resurrect Socratea montana from S. rostrata. Interspecific relationships were mostly consistent with current morphological classification. One exception concerns trait evolution in Wettinia, in which the clustered infructescence was found to have evolved at least four times. Phylogenetic signal for this trait was weak and randomly distributed across the tree, probably representing convergence. Our results provide a robust phylogenetic framework for Iriarteeae, largely corroborating current morphological classification and laying the groundwork for macroevolutionary studies in the tribe.
The páramo region in the northern Andes is very biodiverse, presents high endemism and provides m... more The páramo region in the northern Andes is very biodiverse, presents high endemism and provides many ecosystem services. Unfortunately, the páramo is critically threatened by anthropogenic activities and climate change. Further research and development of efficient conservation strategies are therefore needed for the region, but they are often limited by the lack of consistent biological data-sources. Here we present VegPáramo (GIVD ID: SA-00-002, http://www.givd.info/ID/SA-00-002), a flora and vegetation database for the páramo based on phytosociological vegetation plots. VegPáramo contains data from 3,000 georeferenced vegetation plots with updated nomenclature. The database is accessible through the webportal http://www.vegparamo.com, from which floristic and vegetation data can be freely consulted and downloaded. This new tool should make future botanical and ecological páramo studies easier. VegPáramo is already geographically and floristically representative for the páramo reg...
Functional traits play a key role in driving plant community effects on ecosystem function. We ex... more Functional traits play a key role in driving plant community effects on ecosystem function. We examined nine functional traits in various palm (Arecaceae) species and their relationships with moisture, tree-fall gaps, slope, and forest type at 29 transects (500×5 m) in the northeastern region of the Colombian Amazon. Redundancy analysis of mean trait values of species within a plot weighted by their abundance and Pearson correlations were used to evaluate the relationships between traits and environmental factors. The community trait composition was correlated with local environmental factors, which explained 23% of the trait variance. We detected functional dominance of the tallest palms in soils with high moisture and in floodplain forests (p ≤0.05). Palms with relatively long leaves were dominant in the flooded forests. Acaulescent and small palms were dominant on high slopes, and interra firmeforests, long-petioled palms were dominant in forest gaps. The number of seeds per frui...
El objetivo del presente trabajo fue determinar la diversidad de palmeras en tres regiones de la ... more El objetivo del presente trabajo fue determinar la diversidad de palmeras en tres regiones de la Amazonía baja (Loreto, Ucayali y Madre de Dios). El estudio fue realizado durante el Proyecto desarrollado en los años del 2004-2013, en el marco del proyecto Palms. Se inventariaron 354 transectos de 5 × 100 m totalizando 88,50 hectáreas de área evaluada en las tres regiones. En la región Loreto fueron realizados 239 transectos en Ucayali 38 transectos y Madre de Dios 77 transectos. Se registraron un total de 97 especies y 6 morfotipos. En Loreto, Oenocarpus bataua “hungurahui” fue la más abundante con 28,898 ind. (10 % total de los ind.), en Ucayali Lepidocaryum tenue “irapay” con 14,379 ind. (20% del total de ind.) y en Madre de Dios Geonoma deversa “palmiche” con 5,743 individuos con el (20 % del total de individuos). Loreto fue la región con mayor diversidad de especies con 3,601, Ucayali con 3,061 y Madre de Dios con 2,839. Entre Loreto y Ucayali hubo una similitud de 73% y entre U...
Trabajo presentado al Simposio Internacional "Las paLmeras en eL marco de La investigación para e... more Trabajo presentado al Simposio Internacional "Las paLmeras en eL marco de La investigación para eL desarroLLo en américa deL sur",
In Amazonian terra-firme non inundated forests, local floristic composition and species occurrenc... more In Amazonian terra-firme non inundated forests, local floristic composition and species occurrence are explained by water availability as determined by topographic conditions. Topographic complexity can render these conditions quite variable across the landscape and the effects on plant ecological responses are difficult to document. We used a set of topographically defined hydrological metrics to evaluate community composition and single-species responses of four plant groups [pteridophytes (ferns and lycophytes), Melastomataceae, palms (Arecaceae) and Zingiberales] to topographic conditions in the middle Juruá River region, in western Brazilian Amazonia. The area spans two geological formations (Içá and Solimões) with contrasting topography. River terraces are also found along the main rivers in the area. Local topographic conditions were approximated by height above the nearest drainage (HAND), slope, and Strahler´s drainage order, all obtained from a SRTM digital elevation model...
Environmental heterogeneity across the landscape can cause lineage divergence and speciation. The... more Environmental heterogeneity across the landscape can cause lineage divergence and speciation. The Geonoma macrostachys (Arecaceae) species complex has been proposed as a candidate case of ecological speciation in Amazonia due to evidence of habitat partitioning and pre-zygotic reproductive barriers between co-occurring morphotypes at a local scale. In this study, we provide a continent-wide perspective of the divergence patterns in G. macrostachys by integrating data from morphological traits, target sequence capture, climate, soil and reproductive biology. A morphometric analysis revealed four morphogroups, defined by traits related to leaf shape. A coalescence-based phylogenetic analysis did not recover the morphogroups as monophyletic, indicating independent evolution of leaf shape across geographical space. We demonstrate scale-dependent habitat differentiation for two of the morphogroups, in which segregation driven mostly by climate was complete at the regional scale but incom...
Amazonia is extremely biodiverse, but the mechanisms for the origin of this diversity are still u... more Amazonia is extremely biodiverse, but the mechanisms for the origin of this diversity are still under debate. We propose a diversification model for Amazonia based on the interplay of intrinsic clade functional traits, habitat associations and past geological events, using as a model group the species-rich Neotropical family Marantaceae. Our results show that the species richness of the lineage is predicted by functional strategy, rather than clade age, and thus the fast vs. slow growth functional trade-off is a major determinant of clade diversification in Marantaceae. Rapidly growing clades were mostly associated with highly productive habitats, and their origin and diversification dynamics matched the expansion of fertile soils mediated by Andean uplift c. 23 Mya. Fast-growth strategies probably led to fast molecular evolution, speeding up speciation rates and species accumulation, resulting in higher numbers of extant species. Our results indicate that pure allopatric-dispersal ...
Aim: Pleistocene (2.58 Ma-11.7 ka) climatic fluctuations have shaped intraspecific genetic patter... more Aim: Pleistocene (2.58 Ma-11.7 ka) climatic fluctuations have shaped intraspecific genetic patterns worldwide; however, their impact on species in many regions remains unknown. In order to determine the impact of Pleistocene climatic fluctuations on the tropical rain forests of western Ecuador, we explored the evolutionary history of the endemic palm Phytelephas aequatorialis.
The vegetable ivory palms (Phytelepheae) form a small group of Neotropical palms whose phylogenet... more The vegetable ivory palms (Phytelepheae) form a small group of Neotropical palms whose phylogenetic relationships are not fully understood. Three genera and eight species are currently recognized; however, it has been suggested that Phytelephas macrocarpa could include the species Phytelephas seemannii and Phytelephas schottii because of supposed phylogenetic relatedness and similar morphology. We inferred their phylogenetic relationships and divergence time estimates using the 32 most clock-like loci of a custom palm bait-kit formed by 176 genes and four fossils for time calibration. We additionally explored the historical biogeography of the tribe under the recovered phylogenetic relationships. Our fossil-dated tree showed the eight species previously recognized, and that P. macrocarpa is not closely related to P. seemanii and P. schottii, which, as a consequence, should not be included in P. macrocarpa. The ancestor of the vegetable ivory palms was widely-distributed in the Chocó...
Understanding the main relationships between the current macroclimate and broad spatial patterns ... more Understanding the main relationships between the current macroclimate and broad spatial patterns of plant diversity is a priority in biogeography, and although there is an important body of studies on the topic worldwide, tropical mountains remain underrepresented. Because understanding primary drivers of diversity patterns in the Andean páramo is still in its infancy, we focused on evaluating the role of the current macroclimate in form of three complementary hypotheses, energy, seasonality and harshness, in explaining local variation of plant species richness. We relied on 1,559 vegetation plots that offered a fine-scale outlook on real species assemblages due to community rules and species' interactions with their surrounding environment, including climate. Generalized Least Squares (GLS) regression models provided insight on the significance of the different hypotheses in explaining local plant richness, but only the energy and seasonality hypotheses received partial support. The best model was then combined with spatial interpolation Kriging modeling techniques to project species richness for a standardized 25 m 2 plot throughout the entire páramo biogeographical province. We highlighted a North-South increase in richness with several species-rich areas, potential local biodiversity hotspots, independent of the general gradient: the Amotape-Huancabamba zone, Sangay and Cotacachi areas, and eastern Venezuelan Andes. Our endeavor to finely map local richness is the first effort predicting macroecological patterns in the emblematic Andean páramo and contributes novel biogeographical knowledge useful to further support in-depth research and conservation focus in the northern Andes.
Palms are most diverse in warm and humid regions near the equator. Though palms remain relatively... more Palms are most diverse in warm and humid regions near the equator. Though palms remain relatively well conserved, they are under increasing pressure from deforestation. Here, we analyze patterns of palm species richness relative to latitudinal gradient, sampling effort, and deforestation in the Amazon, and compare patterns of richness and floristic similarity among Amazonian sub-regions. We built a database of 17,310 records for 177 species. The areas with the greatest richness were in the western, central and northeastern Amazon, principally at latitudes 0-5ºS. Species richness and the number of records were highly correlated (R 2 =0.76, P<0.005). The highest rates of deforestation (>2000 km 2) were found in the southern and eastern Amazon of Brazil, which coincide with low richness and gaps in records. Similarity analyzes resulted in two groups of sub-regions: the first included the Amazon s.s., the Andes and the Guiana, while the second included the Plateau and Gurupi. We conclude that the highest species richness is at low latitudes, and observed richness is affected by sampling effort and is vulnerable to deforestation. Therefore, areas with low species richness, especially areas with data deficiency, need to be further studied for a better understanding of their patterns of diversity and richness.
Phylogenomics of Neotropical Geonomateae Palms a large genomic dataset is provided for an entire ... more Phylogenomics of Neotropical Geonomateae Palms a large genomic dataset is provided for an entire tribe within the Arecaceae. Our study lays the groundwork not only for detailed macro-and micro-evolutionary studies within the group, but also sets a workflow for understanding other species complexes across the tree of life.
The rainforests of Amazonia comprise some of the most biologically diverse ecosystems on Earth. D... more The rainforests of Amazonia comprise some of the most biologically diverse ecosystems on Earth. Despite this high biodiversity, little is known about how landscape changes that took place in deep history have affected the assembly of its species, and whether the impact of such changes on biodiversity can still be observed. Here, we present a hypothesis to explain our observation that plants typical of Neotropical coastal habitats also occur in western Amazonia, in some cases thousands of kilometres away from the coast. Evidence on their current distribution, dispersal biology and divergence times estimated from molecular phylogenies suggest that these plants may be the legacy of the large marine-influenced embayment that dominated the area for millions of years in the Neogene. We hypothesize that coastal plants dispersed along the shores of this embayment and persisted as inland relicts after the marine incursion(s) retreated, probably with the aid of changes in soil conditions caused by the depo sition of marine sediments. This dispersal corridor may also have facilitated the colonization of coastal environments by Amazonian lineages. These scenarios could imply an unexpected coastal source that has contributed to Amazonia's high floristic diversity and led to disjunct distributions across the Neotropics.
AimTo evaluate the relative importance of climatic versus soil data when predicting species distr... more AimTo evaluate the relative importance of climatic versus soil data when predicting species distributions for Amazonian plants and to gain understanding of potential range shifts under climate change.LocationAmazon rain forest.MethodsWe produced species distribution models (SDM) at 5‐km spatial resolution for 42 plant species (trees, palms, lianas, monocot herbs and ferns) using species occurrence data from herbarium records and plot‐based inventories. We modelled species distribution with Bayesian logistic regression using either climate data only, soil data only or climate and soil data together to estimate their relative predictive powers. For areas defined as unsuitable to species occurrence, we mapped the difference between the suitability predictions obtained with climate‐only versus soil‐only models to identify regions where climate and soil might restrict species ranges independently or jointly.ResultsFor 40 out of the 42 species, the best models included both climate and so...
Summary Understanding the responses of individual plant species along different edaphic gradients... more Summary Understanding the responses of individual plant species along different edaphic gradients is a key question in ecology, with implications to community assembly, functioning of forest ecosystems, niche theory and conservation planning. In tropical rain forests, responses to soil nutrients have been described only for a handful of species. Even abundant and conspicuous components of the forest, such as the palms (Arecaceae), remain largely unknown in this respect. We inventoried all palm species and analysed soil chemistry in 96 sites across western Amazonia to (i) assess the relative importance of some micronutrients vs. macronutrients as drivers of patterns in palm species composition, (ii) model the response shapes of 61 palm taxa and of canopy vs. understorey palms along gradients of selected soil nutrients, (iii) determine if the response shapes of conspecific palm varieties differ in relation to the most important observed soil nutrient and (iv) assess if the rank order ...
AimTo assess the relative roles of geologically defined terrain types (environmental heterogeneit... more AimTo assess the relative roles of geologically defined terrain types (environmental heterogeneity) and a major river (physical dispersal barrier) as predictors of ecological structuring and biogeographical differentiation within Amazonian forests.LocationWestern Brazilian Amazonia, where the Juruá river and its terraces cross a 1000‐km‐long boundary between two geological formations (the Solimões and Içá Formations).MethodsWe sampled a 500‐km stretch of the Juruá with 71 transects (5 m by 500 m) that spanned both the river and the geological boundary. All transects were inventoried for pteridophytes (ferns and lycophytes) and Melastomataceae, and a subset of 39 transects also for palms and Zingiberales. Three surface soil samples were collected from each transect. The data were analysed using ordinations, regression trees, indicator species analyses and Mantel tests.ResultsAll plant groups showed congruent species turnover between geologically defined terrain types, but little evid...
Garc es was born in the Colombian city of Medell ın, the daughter of Gerardo Galeano, an accounta... more Garc es was born in the Colombian city of Medell ın, the daughter of Gerardo Galeano, an accountant from Amag a, and L ıa Garc es, from Heliconia. Gloria was the second of six children. Growing up in Sabaneta within the metropolitan area of Medell ın, Gloria attended El Carmelo, a traditional Catholic school. In 1976, at the age of 18, she enrolled in the Medell ın branch of the Universidad Nacional de Colombia. She graduated in 1983 with the title of Ingeniero Agr onomo and her thesis entitled Palmas del Departamento de Antioquia was awarded a special mention. This thesis was published in 1987 as a book, co-authored with her study-mate and lifetime companion Rodrigo Bernal. Over her entire career, Gloria's research covered a wide range of fields, including taxonomy, systematics, conservation, traditional knowledge, ecology and harvest impacts of Colombian plants and, in particular, Neotropical palms. Her proximity to nature as she was growing up inspired Gloria to study plants at university. This affinity combined with her lifelong commitment to contributing sustainable solutions in a country with so many needs drove her to study to become an agronomic engineer in her first degree. Following her graduation, she investigated not only palms, but the entire Colombian flora, while going on to teach botany and ultimately inspiring an entire generation of students. In 1984, the year after her graduation, she took up a position at Instituto de Ciencias Naturales, part of the National Colombian University in the capital Bogot a, where the Colombian National Herbarium (COL) is housed. Gloria remained there for her entire career, holding the office of Director of the Institute from 2003 to 2006, and when she passed away, she was an associate professor (Fig. 1). In 1993 Gloria had the opportunity to deepen her education and she started a PhD study at Aarhus University, Denmark, under the supervision of Henrik Balslev. She completed her studies in 1997 with a thesis entitled Quantitative forest inventories on the Pacific coast of Choc o, Colombia. This work, the first rigorous ethnobotanical and ecological study in the Choc o area, was later published in two papers in Biodiversity and Conservation and Economic Botany.
The Neotropical palm tribe Iriarteeae is ubiquitous in several lowland and montane biomes across ... more The Neotropical palm tribe Iriarteeae is ubiquitous in several lowland and montane biomes across northern South America, but the phylogenetic relationships among genera and species remain unresolved. A well resolved phylogenetic tree is key to exploring morphological evolution in the tribe, including striking features such as the complex and unique inflorescence structures in Wettinia. We generated data from five plastid (ndhA, petD-rpoA, psbK-trnS and trnG) and six nuclear (AG1, CISPs 4 and 5, PRK, RPB2 and WRKY21) molecular loci to infer the phylogeny. We explored the evolutionary patterns of trait evolution using the D statistic and stochastic character mapping. All genera were inferred as monophyletic and their relationships were recovered with strong to moderate support. Based on these results we synonymize the two species of Iriartella under I. setigera and resurrect Socratea montana from S. rostrata. Interspecific relationships were mostly consistent with current morphological classification. One exception concerns trait evolution in Wettinia, in which the clustered infructescence was found to have evolved at least four times. Phylogenetic signal for this trait was weak and randomly distributed across the tree, probably representing convergence. Our results provide a robust phylogenetic framework for Iriarteeae, largely corroborating current morphological classification and laying the groundwork for macroevolutionary studies in the tribe.
The páramo region in the northern Andes is very biodiverse, presents high endemism and provides m... more The páramo region in the northern Andes is very biodiverse, presents high endemism and provides many ecosystem services. Unfortunately, the páramo is critically threatened by anthropogenic activities and climate change. Further research and development of efficient conservation strategies are therefore needed for the region, but they are often limited by the lack of consistent biological data-sources. Here we present VegPáramo (GIVD ID: SA-00-002, http://www.givd.info/ID/SA-00-002), a flora and vegetation database for the páramo based on phytosociological vegetation plots. VegPáramo contains data from 3,000 georeferenced vegetation plots with updated nomenclature. The database is accessible through the webportal http://www.vegparamo.com, from which floristic and vegetation data can be freely consulted and downloaded. This new tool should make future botanical and ecological páramo studies easier. VegPáramo is already geographically and floristically representative for the páramo reg...
Functional traits play a key role in driving plant community effects on ecosystem function. We ex... more Functional traits play a key role in driving plant community effects on ecosystem function. We examined nine functional traits in various palm (Arecaceae) species and their relationships with moisture, tree-fall gaps, slope, and forest type at 29 transects (500×5 m) in the northeastern region of the Colombian Amazon. Redundancy analysis of mean trait values of species within a plot weighted by their abundance and Pearson correlations were used to evaluate the relationships between traits and environmental factors. The community trait composition was correlated with local environmental factors, which explained 23% of the trait variance. We detected functional dominance of the tallest palms in soils with high moisture and in floodplain forests (p ≤0.05). Palms with relatively long leaves were dominant in the flooded forests. Acaulescent and small palms were dominant on high slopes, and interra firmeforests, long-petioled palms were dominant in forest gaps. The number of seeds per frui...
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Papers by Henrik Balslev