Stability in a changing world – palm community dynamics in the hyperdiverse western Amazon over 17 years

Ingrid Olivares, Jens Christian Svenning, Peter M. van Bodegom, Renato Valencia, Henrik Balslev

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

8 Scopus citations

Abstract

Are the hyperdiverse local forests of the western Amazon undergoing changes linked to global and local drivers such as climate change, or successional dynamics? We analyzed local climatic records to assess potential climatic changes in Yasuní National Park, Ecuador, and compared two censuses (1995, 2012) of a palm community to assess changes in community structure and composition. Over 17 years, the structure and composition of this palm community remained remarkably stable. Soil humidity was significantly lower and canopy conditions were significantly more open in 2012 compared to 1995, but local climatic records showed that no significant changes in precipitation, temperature or river level have occurred during the last decade. Thus, we found no evidence of recent directional shifts in climate or the palm community in Yasuní. The absence of changes in local climate and plant community dynamics in Yasuní contrasts with recent findings from eastern Amazon, where environmental change is driving significant changes in ecosystem dynamics. Our findings suggest that until now, local forests in the northwest Amazon may have escaped pressure from climate change. The stability of this rich palm community embedded in the hyperdiverse Yasuní National Park underlines its uniqueness as a sanctuary for the protection of Amazonian diversity from global change impacts.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1232-1239
Number of pages8
JournalGlobal Change Biology
Volume23
Issue number3
DOIs
StatePublished - 1 Mar 2017

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd

Keywords

  • Arecaceae
  • biodiversity
  • climate change
  • climatic records
  • community ecology
  • directional changes
  • forest dynamics
  • forest monitoring
  • global change
  • Yasuní National Park

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