Plant diversity patterns in neotropical dry forests and their conservation implications

• Published in: Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science) Vol. 353; no. 6306; pp. 1383 - 1387
• Main Authors: Banda-R., Karina, Delgado-Salinas, Alfonso, Dexter, Kyle G., Linares-Palomino, Reynaldo, Oliveira-Filho, Ary, Prado, Darién, Pullan, Martin, Quintana, Catalina, Riina, Ricarda, Rodríguez M., Gina M., Weintritt, Julia, Acevedo-Rodríguez, Pedro, Adarve, Juan, Álvarez, Esteban, Aranguren, Anairamiz, Arteaga, Julián Camilo, Aymard, Gerardo, Castaño, Alejandro, Ceballos-Mago, Natalia, Cogollo, Álvaro, Cuadros, Hermes, Delgado, Freddy, Devia, Wilson, Dueñas, Hilda, Fajardo, Laurie, Fernández, Ángel, Fernández, Miller Ángel, Franklin, Janet, Freid, Ethan H., Galetti, Luciano A., Gonto, Reina, González-M., Roy, Graveson, Roger, Helmer, Eileen H., Idárraga, Álvaro, López, René, Marcano-Vega, Humfredo, Martínez, Olga G., Maturo, Hernán M., McDonald, Morag, McLaren, Kurt, Melo, Omar, Mijares, Francisco, Mogni, Virginia, Molina, Diego, del Pilar Moreno, Natalia, Nassar, Jafet M., Neves, Danilo M., Oakley, Luis J., Oatham, Michael, Olvera-Luna, Alma Rosa, Pezzini, Flávia F., Dominguez, Orlando Joel Reyes, Ríos, María Elvira, Rivera, Orlando, Rodríguez, Nelly, Rojas, Alicia, Särkinen, Tiina, Sánchez, Roberto, Smith, Melvin, Vargas, Carlos, Villanueva, Boris, Pennington, R. Toby
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States American Association for the Advancement of Science 23.09.2016; The American Association for the Advancement of Science
• Subjects: Biodiversity; Caribbean Region; Conservation areas; Conservation biology; Conservation of Natural Resources - methods; Decision Making; Dry forests; Drying; Flowers & plants; Forest management; Forests; Grassland; Inventories; Latin America; Plant diversity; Plant species; Plants (organisms); Rainforests; Seasons; Stockpiling; Trees; Tropical Climate; Tropical forests; Wood; Woody plants
• ISSN: 0036-8075; 1095-9203
• DOI: 10.1126/science.aaf5080

Seasonally dry tropical forests are distributed across Latin America and the Caribbean and are highly threatened, with less than 10% of their original extent remaining in many countries. Using 835 inventories covering 4660 species of woody plants, we show marked floristic turnover among inventories and regions, which may be higher than in other neotropical biomes, such as savanna. Such high floristic turnover indicates that numerous conservation areas across many countries will be needed to protect the full diversity of tropical dry forests. Our results provide a scientific framework within which national decision-makers can contextuaiize the floristic significance of their dry forest at a regional and continental scale.