Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia, INPA, Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil.
Forest Ecology and Forest Management Group, Wageningen University & Research, WUR, Wageningen, The Netherlands.
PLoS One. 2019 Feb 15;14(2):e0212232. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0212232. eCollection 2019.
Habitat heterogeneity of tropical forests is thought to lead to specialization in plants and contribute to the high diversity of tree species in Amazonia. One prediction of habitat specialization is that species specialized for resource-rich habitats will have traits associated with high resource acquisition and fast growth while species specialized for resource-poor habitats will have traits associated with high resource conservation and persistence but slow growth. We tested this idea for seven genera and for twelve families from nutrient-rich white-water floodplain forest (várzea) and nutrient-poor black-water (igapó) floodplain forest. We measured 11 traits that are important for the carbon and nutrient balance of the trees, and compared trait variation between habitat types (white- and black-water forests), and the effect of habitat and genus/family on trait divergence. Functional traits of congeneric species differed between habitat types, where white-water forest species invested in resource acquisition and productive tissues, whereas black-water forest species invested in resource conservation and persistent tissues. Habitat specialization is leading to the differentiation of floodplain tree species of white-water and black-water forests, thus contributing to a high diversity of plant species in floodplain forests.
热带雨林的生境异质性被认为导致了植物的特化，并促成了亚马逊地区树种的高度多样性。生境特化的一个预测是，专门适应资源丰富生境的物种将具有与高资源获取和快速生长相关的特征，而专门适应资源贫瘠生境的物种将具有与高资源保护和持久但生长缓慢相关的特征。我们针对七个属和十二个科进行了测试，这些属和科来自养分丰富的白水洪泛森林（várzea）和养分贫瘠的黑水（igapó）洪泛森林。我们测量了 11 个对树木碳氮平衡很重要的特征，并比较了不同生境类型（白水和黑水森林）之间的特征变化，以及生境和属/科对特征差异的影响。同种物种的功能特征在生境类型之间存在差异，其中白水森林物种投资于资源获取和生产组织，而黑水森林物种投资于资源保护和持久组织。生境特化导致了白水和黑水森林洪泛区树种的分化，从而促成了洪泛区森林中高度多样化的植物物种。
