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Recurrent wildfires drive rapid taxonomic homogenization of seasonally flooded Neotropical forests

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 March 2018

ANA PAULA G. DA SILVA ,
HENRIQUE A. MEWS ,
BEN HUR MARIMON-JUNIOR ,
EDMAR A. DE OLIVEIRA ,
PAULO S. MORANDI ,
IMMA OLIVERAS  and
BEATRIZ S. MARIMON
ANA PAULA G. DA SILVA
Affiliation:
Programa de Pós-graduação em Ecologia e Conservação, Universidade do Estado de Mato Grosso, PO Box 08, 78690-000 Nova Xavantina, MT, Brazil
HENRIQUE A. MEWS
Affiliation:
Centro de Ciências Biológicas e da Natureza, Universidade Federal do Acre, PO Box 500, 69920-000 Rio Branco, AC, Brazil
BEN HUR MARIMON-JUNIOR
Affiliation:
Programa de Pós-graduação em Ecologia e Conservação, Universidade do Estado de Mato Grosso, PO Box 08, 78690-000 Nova Xavantina, MT, Brazil
EDMAR A. DE OLIVEIRA
Affiliation:
Programa de Pós-graduação em Biodiversidade e Biotecnologia, Rede BIONORTE, Campus de Nova Xavantina-MT, PO Box 08, 78690-000 Nova Xavantina, MT, Brazil
PAULO S. MORANDI
Affiliation:
Programa de Pós-graduação em Biodiversidade e Biotecnologia, Rede BIONORTE, Campus de Nova Xavantina-MT, PO Box 08, 78690-000 Nova Xavantina, MT, Brazil
IMMA OLIVERAS
Affiliation:
Environmental Change Institute, School of Geography and the Environment, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford, OX1 3QY, UK
BEATRIZ S. MARIMON*
Affiliation:
Programa de Pós-graduação em Ecologia e Conservação, Universidade do Estado de Mato Grosso, PO Box 08, 78690-000 Nova Xavantina, MT, Brazil Programa de Pós-graduação em Biodiversidade e Biotecnologia, Rede BIONORTE, Campus de Nova Xavantina-MT, PO Box 08, 78690-000 Nova Xavantina, MT, Brazil
*
*Correspondence: Professor Beatriz S. Marimon email: biamarimon@unemat.br
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Summary

Recent evidence has shown that most tropical species are declining as a result of global change. Under this scenario, the prevalence of tolerant species to disturbances has driven many biological communities towards biotic homogenization (BH). However, the mechanisms that drive communities towards BH are not yet thoroughly understood. We tested effects of recurring wildfires on woody species richness and composition in six seasonally flooded Amazonian forests and whether these fires reduce species composition (i.e., taxonomic homogenization) over short periods of time. Our results show that these forests are undergoing taxonomic homogenization in response to recurring fire events. Species richness decreased as a result of local extinctions and floristic similarity increased among forest communities. Fire was selecting tolerant (‘winner’) species and eliminating the more sensitive (‘loser’) species. BH leads to biodiversity erosion, which can deeply alter ecosystem processes such as productivity, nutrient cycling and decomposition, resulting in important consequences for conservation.

Keywords

Amazoniabiological impoverishmentbiotic homogenizationbiotic distinctivenessfloristic reassemblynon-random extinction
Type
Papers
Information
Environmental Conservation , Volume 45 , Issue 4 , December 2018 , pp. 378 - 386
Copyright
Copyright © Foundation for Environmental Conservation 2018 

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Footnotes

Supplementary material can be found online at https://doi.org/10.1017/S0376892918000127

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