Biogeosciences www.biogeosciences.net 1726-4170 1726-4189 6 4 2009 10.5194/bg-6-545-2009 http://www.biogeosciences.net/6/545/2009/ http://www.biogeosciences.net/6/545/2009/bg-6-545-2009.html http://www.biogeosciences.net/6/545/2009/bg-6-545-2009.pdf 545 568 2009-04-08 Branch xylem density variations across the Amazon Basin S. Patiño sanpatiga@gmail.com J. Lloyd R. Paiva T. R. Baker C. A. Quesada L. M. Mercado J. Schmerler M. Schwarz A. J. B. Santos A. Aguilar C. I. Czimczik J. Gallo V. Horna E. J. Hoyos E. M. Jimenez W. Palomino J. Peacock A. Peña-Cruz C. Sarmiento A. Sota J. D. Turriago B. Villanueva P. Vitzthum E. Alvarez L. Arroyo C. Baraloto D. Bonal J. Chave A. C. L. Costa R. Herrera N. Higuchi T. Killeen E. Leal F. Luizão P. Meir A. Monteagudo D. Neil P. Núñez-Vargas M. C. Peñuela N. Pitman N. Priante Filho A. Prieto S. N. Panfil A. Rudas R. Salomão N. Silva M. Silveira S. Soares deAlmeida A. Torres-Lezama R. Vásquez-Martínez I. Vieira Y. Malhi O. L. Phillips Grupo de Ecología de Ecosistemas Terrestres Tropicales, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Sede Amazonia, Instituto Amazónico de Investigaciones-Imani, km. 2, vía Tarapacá, Leticia, Amazonas, Colombia Earth and Biosphere Institute, School of Geography, University of Leeds, LS2 9JT, England, UK Institito National de Pesquisas Amazônicas, Manaus, Brazil Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, Wallingford, England, UK Fieldwork Assistance, Postfach 101022, 07710 Jena, Germany Departamento de Ecologia, Universidade de Brasília, Brazil Department of Earth System Science, University of California, Irvine, USA Departamento de Biología, Universidad Distrital, Bogotá, Colombia Abteilung Ökologie und Ökosystemforschung, Albrecht-von-Haller-Institut für Pflanzenwissenschaften, Universität Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany Departamento de Ciencias Forestales, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Medellín, Colombia Herbario Vargas, Universidad Nacional San Antonio Abad del Cusco, Cusco, Perú Proyecto Flora del Perú, Jardín Botánico de Missouri, Oxapampa, Perú UMR-ECOFOG, INRA, 97310 Kourou, French Guiana Equipo de Gestión Ambiental, Interconexión Eléctrica S.A. ISA., Medellín, Colombia Museo Noel Kempff Mercado, Santa Cruz, Bolivia Lab. Evolution et Diversité' Biologique CNRS, Univ. Paul Sabatier Bâtiment 4R3, 31062, Toulouse cedex 4, France Universidade Federal de Pará, Belem, Brazil Center for Applied Biodiversity Science, Conservation International, Washington, DC, USA Museu Paraense Emilio Goeldi, Belem, Brazil School of Geography, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, Scotland, UK Herbario Nacional del Ecuador, Quito, Ecuador Center for Tropical Conservation, Duke University, Durham, USA Universidade Federal do Mato Grosso, Cuiaba, Brazil Instituto de Investigación de Recursos Biológicos Alexander von Humboldt. Diagonal 27 No. 15-09, Bogotá D.C, Colombia Department of Botany, University of Georgia, Athens, USA Instituto de Ciencias Naturales, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Bogotá, Colombia CIFOR, Tapajos, Brazil EMBRAPA Amazonia Oriental, Belem, Brazil Departamento de Ciências da Natureza, Universidade Federal do Acre, Rio Branco, Brazil Facultad de Ciencias Forestales y Ambiental, Universidad de Los Andes, Mérida, Venezuela Oxford University, Centre for the Environment, Oxford, England, United Kingdom deceased formerly at: Max-Planck-Institut für Biogeochemie, Jena, Germany now at: Secretária Municipal de Desenvolvimento e Meio Ammbiente ma Prefeturia Municipal de Maués, Maués, Brazil Authors are listed according to their contribution to the work. Xylem density is a physical property of wood that varies between individuals, species and environments. It reflects the physiological strategies of trees that lead to growth, survival and reproduction. Measurements of branch xylem density, ρx, were made for 1653 trees representing 598 species, sampled from 87 sites across the Amazon basin. Measured values ranged from 218 kg m−3 for a Cordia sagotii (Boraginaceae) from Mountagne de Tortue, French Guiana to 1130 kg m−3 for an Aiouea sp. (Lauraceae) from Caxiuana, Central Pará, Brazil. Analysis of variance showed significant differences in average ρx across regions and sampled plots as well as significant differences between families, genera and species. A partitioning of the total variance in the dataset showed that species identity (family, genera and species) accounted for 33% with environment (geographic location and plot) accounting for an additional 26%; the remaining "residual" variance accounted for 41% of the total variance. Variations in plot means, were, however, not only accountable by differences in species composition because xylem density of the most widely distributed species in our dataset varied systematically from plot to plot. Thus, as well as having a genetic component, branch xylem density is a plastic trait that, for any given species, varies according to where the tree is growing in a predictable manner. Within the analysed taxa, exceptions to this general rule seem to be pioneer species belonging for example to the Urticaceae whose branch xylem density is more constrained than most species sampled in this study. These patterns of variation of branch xylem density across Amazonia suggest a large functional diversity amongst Amazonian trees which is not well understood. % vor jede Referenz Ackerly, D. D.: Community assembly, niche conservatism and adaptive evolution in changing environments. Int. J. Plant Sci., 164, S165–S184, 2003. Asner, G. 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