TY - JOUR

T1 - Climatic distribution of tree species in the Atlantic Forest

AU - Klipel, Joice

AU - Bergamin, Rodrigo Scarton

AU - Esquivel-Muelbert, Adriane

AU - de Lima, Renato A.F.

AU - de Oliveira, Alexandre Adalardo

PY - 2022/5/23

Y1 - 2022/5/23

N2 - Species under milder climates (e.g., warm and wet) tend to experience lower variability in temperature and rainfall regimes and might occur in narrower climatic ranges than species that tolerate harsher conditions (e.g., cold or dry climates). Thus, tree species that occur under harsh conditions should have a broader climatic range, being a small subset of the flora. Here, we assess the influence of climate on species distribution of 1138 tree species from the Atlantic Forest biodiversity hotspot. We investigate their range (or niche breadth), and the “center of gravity” index (or niche optima), along with gradients of mean annual temperature and climatic water deficit (CWD). We further identified those species associated with conditions on different ends of temperature and moisture gradients. We found a small subset of species occurring under colder temperatures or under drier conditions, and these species had a wider niche breadth.The warm or wet-affiliated species had narrower ranges along with the temperatureand the CWD gradients, respectively. Moreover, species affiliated to warm and those to moister conditions had greater densities near their occurrence limits, thus they may be more susceptible to climate changes. We conclude that global climate changes will affect the incidence and abundance distribution patterns of tree species along this threatened biodiversity hotspot, mainly those with narrow niches and within the limit of its distribution.

AB - Species under milder climates (e.g., warm and wet) tend to experience lower variability in temperature and rainfall regimes and might occur in narrower climatic ranges than species that tolerate harsher conditions (e.g., cold or dry climates). Thus, tree species that occur under harsh conditions should have a broader climatic range, being a small subset of the flora. Here, we assess the influence of climate on species distribution of 1138 tree species from the Atlantic Forest biodiversity hotspot. We investigate their range (or niche breadth), and the “center of gravity” index (or niche optima), along with gradients of mean annual temperature and climatic water deficit (CWD). We further identified those species associated with conditions on different ends of temperature and moisture gradients. We found a small subset of species occurring under colder temperatures or under drier conditions, and these species had a wider niche breadth.The warm or wet-affiliated species had narrower ranges along with the temperatureand the CWD gradients, respectively. Moreover, species affiliated to warm and those to moister conditions had greater densities near their occurrence limits, thus they may be more susceptible to climate changes. We conclude that global climate changes will affect the incidence and abundance distribution patterns of tree species along this threatened biodiversity hotspot, mainly those with narrow niches and within the limit of its distribution.

KW - Ecosystems Research

KW - biogeography

KW - climate changes

KW - climatic gradients

KW - niche breadth

KW - niche optima

KW - Temperature

KW - tolerance

KW - tropical forests

KW - water deficit

U2 - 10.1111/btp.13140

DO - 10.1111/btp.13140

M3 - Journal articles

VL - 2022

JO - Biotropica

JF - Biotropica

SN - 0006-3606

ER -