Evolutionary heritage influences Amazon tree ecology.

ABSTRACT: Lineages tend to retain ecological characteristics of their ancestors through time. However, for some traits, selection during evolutionary history may have also played a role in determining trait values. To address the relative importance of these processes requires large-scale quantification of traits and evolutionary relationships among species. The Amazonian tree flora comprises a high diversity of angiosperm lineages and species with widely differing life-history characteristics, providing an excellent system to investigate the combined influences of evolutionary heritage and selection in determining trait variation. We used trait data related to the major axes of life-history variation among tropical trees (e.g. growth and mortality rates) from 577 inventory plots in closed-canopy fo

SUBMITTER: Coelho de Souza F 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5204144 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature