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Biased-corrected richness estimates for the Amazonian tree flora

  • Hans ter Steege*
  • , Paulo I. Prado*
  • , Renato A.F.de Lima
  • , Edwin Pos
  • , Luiz de Souza Coelho
  • , Diogenes de Andrade Lima Filho
  • , Rafael P. Salomão
  • , Iêda Leão Amaral
  • , Francisca Dionízia de Almeida Matos
  • , Carolina V. Castilho
  • , Oliver L. Phillips
  • , Juan Ernesto Guevara
  • , Marcelo de Jesus Veiga Carim
  • , Dairon Cárdenas López
  • , William E. Magnusson
  • , Florian Wittmann
  • , Maria Pires Martins
  • , Daniel Sabatier
  • , Mariana Victória Irume
  • , José Renan da Silva Guimarães
  • Jean François Molino, Olaf S. Bánki, Maria Teresa Fernandez Piedade, Nigel C.A. Pitman, José Ferreira Ramos, Abel Monteagudo Mendoza, Eduardo Martins Venticinque, Bruno Garcia Luize, Percy Núñez Vargas, Thiago Sanna Freire Silva, Evlyn Márcia Moraes de Leão Novo, Neidiane Farias Costa Reis, John Terborgh, Angelo Gilberto Manzatto, Katia Regina Casula, Euridice N. Honorio Coronado, Juan Carlos Montero, Alvaro Duque, Flávia R.C. Costa, Nicolás Castaño Arboleda, Jochen Schöngart, Charles Eugene Zartman, Timothy J. Killeen, Beatriz S. Marimon, Ben Hur Marimon-Junior, Rodolfo Vasquez, Bonifacio Mostacedo, Layon O. Demarchi, Ted R. Feldpausch, Julien Engel, Pascal Petronelli, Chris Baraloto, Rafael L. Assis, Hernán Castellanos, Marcelo Fragomeni Simon, Marcelo Brilhante de Medeiros, Adriano Quaresma, Susan G.W. Laurance, Lorena M. Rincón, Ana Andrade, Thaiane R. Sousa, José Luís Camargo, Juliana Schietti, William F. Laurance, Helder Lima de Queiroz, Henrique Eduardo Mendonça Nascimento, Maria Aparecida Lopes, Emanuelle de Sousa Farias, José Leonardo Lima Magalhães, Roel Brienen, Gerardo A. Aymard C, Juan David Cardenas Revilla, Ima Célia Guimarães Vieira, Bruno Barçante Ladvocat Cintra, Pablo R. Stevenson, Yuri Oliveira Feitosa, Joost F. Duivenvoorden, Hugo F. Mogollón, Alejandro Araujo-Murakami, Leandro Valle Ferreira, José Rafael Lozada, James A. Comiskey, José Julio de Toledo, Gabriel Damasco, Nállarett Dávila, Aline Lopes, Roosevelt García-Villacorta, Freddie Draper, Alberto Vicentini, Fernando Cornejo Valverde, Jon Lloyd, Vitor H.F. Gomes, David Neill, Alfonso Alonso, Francisco Dallmeier, Fernanda Coelho de Souza, Rogerio Gribel, Luzmila Arroyo, Fernanda Antunes Carvalho, Daniel Praia Portela de Aguiar, Dário Dantas do Amaral, Marcelo Petratti Pansonato, Kenneth J. Feeley, Erika Berenguer, Paul V.A. Fine, Marcelino Carneiro Guedes, Jos Barlow, Joice Ferreira, Boris Villa, Maria Cristina Peñuela Mora, Eliana M. Jimenez, Juan Carlos Licona, Carlos Cerón, Raquel Thomas, Paul Maas, Marcos Silveira, Terry W. Henkel, Juliana Stropp, Marcos Ríos Paredes, Kyle G. Dexter, Doug Daly, Tim R. Baker, Isau Huamantupa-Chuquimaco, William Milliken, Toby Pennington, J. Sebastián Tello, José Luis Marcelo Pena, Carlos A. Peres, Bente Klitgaard, Alfredo Fuentes, Miles R. Silman, Anthony Di Fiore, Patricio von Hildebrand, Jerome Chave, Tinde R. van Andel, Renato Richard Hilário, Juan Fernando Phillips, Gonzalo Rivas-Torres, Janaína Costa Noronha, Adriana Prieto, Therany Gonzales, Rainiellene de Sá Carpanedo, George Pepe Gallardo Gonzales, Ricardo Zárate Gómez, Domingos de Jesus Rodrigues, Egleé L. Zent, Ademir R. Ruschel, Vincent Antoine Vos, Émile Fonty, André Braga Junqueira, Hilda Paulette Dávila Doza, Bruce Hoffman, Stanford Zent, Edelcilio Marques Barbosa, Yadvinder Malhi, Luiz Carlos de Matos Bonates, Ires Paula de Andrade Miranda, Natalino Silva, Flávia Rodrigues Barbosa, César I.A. Vela, Linder Felipe Mozombite Pinto, Agustín Rudas, Bianca Weiss Albuquerque, Maria Natalia Umaña, Yrma Andreina Carrero Márquez, Geertje van der Heijden, Kenneth R. Young, Milton Tirado, Diego F. Correa, Rodrigo Sierra, Janaina Barbosa Pedrosa Costa, Maira Rocha, Emilio Vilanova Torre, Ophelia Wang, Alexandre A. Oliveira, Michelle Kalamandeen, Corine Vriesendorp, Hirma Ramirez-Angulo, Milena Holmgren, Marcelo Trindade Nascimento, David Galbraith, Bernardo Monteiro Flores, Veridiana Vizoni Scudeller, Angela Cano, Manuel Augusto Ahuite Reategui, Italo Mesones, Cláudia Baider, Casimiro Mendoza, Roderick Zagt, Ligia Estela Urrego Giraldo, Cid Ferreira, Daniel Villarroel, Reynaldo Linares-Palomino, William Farfan-Rios, William Farfan-Rios, Luisa Fernanda Casas, Sasha Cárdenas, Henrik Balslev, Armando Torres-Lezama, Miguel N. Alexiades, Karina Garcia-Cabrera, Luis Valenzuela Gamarra, Elvis H. Valderrama Sandoval, Freddy Ramirez Arevalo, Lionel Hernandez, Adeilza Felipe Sampaio, Susamar Pansini, Walter Palacios Cuenca, Edmar Almeida de Oliveira, Daniela Pauletto, Aurora Levesley, Karina Melgaço, Georgia Pickavance
*Corresponding author for this work
  • Naturalis Biodiversity Center
  • Systems Ecology
  • Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
  • Universidade de São Paulo
  • Ecology & Biodiversity Group
  • Utrecht University
  • Coordenação de Biodiversidade
  • Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia
  • Programa Professor Visitante Nacional Sênior na Amazônia - CAPES
  • Universidade Federal Rural da Amazônia
  • Museu Paraense Emílio Goeldi
  • EMBRAPA – Centro de Pesquisa Agroflorestal de Roraima
  • Empresa Brasileira de Pesquisa Agropecuária
  • School of Geography
  • University of Leeds
  • Grupo de Investigación en Biodiversidad
  • Universidad de las Américas - Ecuador
  • Keller Science Action Center
  • Field Museum of Natural History
  • Departamento de Botânica
  • Instituto de Pesquisas Científicas e Tecnológicas do Amapá - IEPA
  • Herbario Amazónico Colombiano
  • Instituto Amazónico de Investigaciones Científicas
  • Coordenação de Pesquisas em Ecologia
  • Wetland Department
  • Karlsruhe Institute of Technology
  • Biogeochemistry
  • Max Planck Institute for Chemistry
  • Université de Montpellier
  • Science and Education
  • Oxapampa
  • Centro de Biociências
  • Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte
  • Departamento de Ecologia
  • Universidade Estadual Paulista Júlio de Mesquita Filho
  • Universidad Nacional San Antonio Abad del Cusco
  • Biological and Environmental Sciences
  • University of Stirling
  • Divisao de Sensoriamento Remoto – DSR
  • Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas Espaciais
  • Programa de Pós- Graduação em Biodiversidade e Biotecnologia PPG- Bionorte
  • Fundação Universidade Federal de Rondônia
  • University of Florida
  • Centre for Tropical Environmental and Sustainability Science (TESS) and College of Science and Engineering
  • James Cook University Queensland
  • Departamento de Biologia
  • Instituto de Investigaciones de la Amazonía Peruana
  • Instituto Boliviano de Investigacion Forestal Bolivia
  • Departamento de Ciencias Forestales
  • Universidad Nacional de Colombia
  • Agteca-Amazonica
  • Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ecologia e Conservação
  • Universidade do Estado de Mato Grosso
  • Facultad de Ciencias Agrícolas
  • Universidad Autónoma Gabriel Rene Moreno
  • Geography
  • University of Exeter
  • Florida International University
  • Centre de coopération internationale en recherche agronomique pour le développement
  • Natural History Museum
  • University of Oslo
  • Centro de Investigaciones Ecológicas de Guayana
  • Universidad Nacional Experimental de Guayana
  • Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia
  • Diretoria Técnico-Científica
  • Instituto de Desenvolvimento Sustentável Mamirauá
  • Instituto de Ciências Biológicas
  • Universidade Federal do Pará
  • Laboratório de Ecologia de Doenças Transmissíveis da Amazônia (EDTA)
  • Fundação Oswaldo Cruz
  • Programa de Pós-graduação em Biodiversidade e Saúde
  • Programa de Pós-graduação em Ecologia
  • Programa de Ciencias Del Agro y El Mar
  • Herbario Universitario (PORT)
  • Laboratorio de Ecología de Bosques Tropicales y Primatología
  • Universidad de los Andes Colombia
  • Programa de Pós-Graduação em Biologia (Botânica)
  • University of Amsterdam
  • Endangered Species Coalition
  • Universidad de los Andes Mérida
  • Inventory and Monitoring Program
  • U.S. Department of the Interior
  • Center for Conservation and Sustainability
  • Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute
  • Universidade Federal do Amapá
  • Department of Integrative Biology
  • University of California at Berkeley
  • Universidade Estadual de Campinas
  • Departamento de Ecologia
  • Universidade de Brasília
  • Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
  • Cornell University
  • Peruvian Center For Biodiversity And Conservation
  • Department of Global Ecology
  • Carnegie Institution of Washington
  • Andes to Amazon Biodiversity Program
  • Department of Life Sciences
  • Imperial College London
  • Escola de Negócios Tecnologia e Inovação
  • Centro Universitário do Pará
  • Universidad Estatal Amazónica
  • Departamento de Genética
  • Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais
  • University of Miami
  • Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden
  • Environmental Change Institute
  • University of Oxford
  • Lancaster University
  • Direccíon de Evaluación Forestal y de Fauna Silvestre
  • Universidad Regional Amazónica Ikiam
  • Grupo de Ecología y Conservación de Fauna y Flora Silvestre
  • Escuela de Biología Herbario Alfredo Paredes
  • Universidad Central del Ecuador
  • Iwokrama International Centre for Rainforest Conservation and Development
  • Universidade Federal do Acre
  • Department of Biological Sciences
  • California State Polytechnic University, Humboldt
  • Institute of Biological and Health Sciences
  • Universidade Federal de Alagoas
  • Servicios de Biodiversidad EIRL
  • School of Geosciences
  • University of Edinburgh
  • Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh
  • 2900 Southern Blvd
  • New York Botanical Garden
  • Natural Capital and Plant Health
  • Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
  • Center for Conservation and Sustainable Development
  • Missouri Botanical Garden
  • Universidad Nacional de Jaén
  • University of East Anglia
  • Department for Identification & Naming
  • Universidad Mayor de San Andrés, Bolivia
  • Biology Department and Center for Energy
  • Wake Forest University
  • University of Texas at Austin
  • Cra 10 No. 24-76 Oficina 1201
  • Fundación Estación de Biología
  • CNRS and Université Paul Sabatier
  • Biosystematics group
  • Wageningen University & Research
  • Cra 10 No. 24-76 Oficina 1201
  • Fundación Puerto Rastrojo
  • ICNHS
  • Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso
  • Instituto de Ciencias Naturales
  • ACEER Foundation
  • Laboratory of Human Ecology
  • Instituto Venezolano de Investigaciones Científicas
  • Universidad Autónoma Del Beni José Ballivián
  • Direction régionale de la Guyane
  • ONF
  • Autonomous University of Barcelona
  • Amazon Conservation Team
  • Instituto de Ciência Agrárias
  • Escuela Profesional de Ingeniería Forestal
  • Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
  • University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
  • University of Nottingham
  • GeoIS
  • University of Queensland
  • Instituto de Investigaciones para El Desarrollo Forestal (INDEFOR)
  • School of Environmental and Forest Sciences
  • University of Washington
  • Northern Arizona University
  • Laurentian University
  • Resource Ecology Group
  • Laboratório de Ciências Ambientais
  • Universidade Estadual do Norte Fluminense
  • Department of Plant Biology
  • Departamento de Biologia
  • Universidade Federal do Amazonas
  • University of Cambridge
  • PLUSPRETOL
  • The Mauritius Herbarium
  • Ministry of Agro-Industry and Food Security
  • Escuela de Ciencias Forestales (ESFOR)
  • Universidad Mayor de San Simón
  • Tropenbos International
  • Living Earth Collaborative
  • Washington University St. Louis
  • Department of Bioscience
  • Aarhus University
  • School of Anthropology and Conservation
  • University of Kent
  • University of Missouri at St. Louis
  • Facultad de Biologia
  • Universidad Nacional de la Amazonía Peruana
  • Herbario Nacional del Ecuador
  • Universidad Técnica del Norte
  • Instituto de Biodiversidade e Floresta
  • Universidade Federal do Oeste do Pará

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

114 Scopus citations

Abstract

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.

Original languageEnglish
Article number10130
JournalScientific Reports
Volume10
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - 1 Dec 2020

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