Hyperdominance in the Amazonian Tree Flora

摘要: The vast extent of the Amazon Basin has historically restricted study its tree communities to local and regional scales. Here, we provide empirical data on commonness, rarity, richness lowland species across entire Guiana Shield (Amazonia), collected in 1170 plots all major forest types. Extrapolations suggest that Amazonia harbors roughly 16,000 species, which just 227 (1.4%) account for half trees. Most these are habitat specialists only dominant one or two regions basin. We discuss some implications finding a small group species—less diverse than North American flora—accounts world’s most community.