Phylogenetic classification of the world's tropical forests.
Slik JWF., Franklin J., Arroyo-Rodríguez V., Field R., Aguilar S., Aguirre N., Ahumada J., Aiba S-I., Alves LF., K A., Avella A., Mora F., Aymard C GA., Báez S., Balvanera P., Bastian ML., Bastin J-F., Bellingham PJ., van den Berg E., da Conceição Bispo P., Boeckx P., Boehning-Gaese K., Bongers F., Boyle B., Brambach F., Brearley FQ., Brown S., Chai S-L., Chazdon RL., Chen S., Chhang P., Chuyong G., Ewango C., Coronado IM., Cristóbal-Azkarate J., Culmsee H., Damas K., Dattaraja HS., Davidar P., DeWalt SJ., Din H., Drake DR., Duque A., Durigan G., Eichhorn K., Eler ES., Enoki T., Ensslin A., Fandohan AB., Farwig N., Feeley KJ., Fischer M., Forshed O., Garcia QS., Garkoti SC., Gillespie TW., Gillet J-F., Gonmadje C., Granzow-de la Cerda I., Griffith DM., Grogan J., Hakeem KR., Harris DJ., Harrison RD., Hector A., Hemp A., Homeier J., Hussain MS., Ibarra-Manríquez G., Hanum IF., Imai N., Jansen PA., Joly CA., Joseph S., Kartawinata K., Kearsley E., Kelly DL., Kessler M., Killeen TJ., Kooyman RM., Laumonier Y., Laurance SG., Laurance WF., Lawes MJ., Letcher SG., Lindsell J., Lovett J., Lozada J., Lu X., Lykke AM., Mahmud KB., Mahayani NPD., Mansor A., Marshall AR., Martin EH., Calderado Leal Matos D., Meave JA., Melo FPL., Mendoza ZHA., Metali F., Medjibe VP., Metzger JP., Metzker T., Mohandass D., Munguía-Rosas MA., Muñoz R., Nurtjahy E., de Oliveira EL., Onrizal None., Parolin P., Parren M., Parthasarathy N., Paudel E., Perez R., Pérez-García EA., Pommer U., Poorter L., Qie L., Piedade MTF., Pinto JRR., Poulsen AD., Poulsen JR., Powers JS., Prasad RC., Puyravaud J-P., Rangel O., Reitsma J., Rocha DSB., Rolim S., Rovero F., Rozak A., Ruokolainen K., Rutishauser E., Rutten G., Mohd Said MN., Saiter FZ., Saner P., Santos B., Dos Santos JR., Sarker SK., Schmitt CB., Schoengart J., Schulze M., Sheil D., Sist P., Souza AF., Spironello WR., Sposito T., Steinmetz R., Stevart T., Suganuma MS., Sukri R., Sultana A., Sukumar R., Sunderland T., Supriyadi None., Suresh HS., Suzuki E., Tabarelli M., Tang J., Tanner EVJ., Targhetta N., Theilade I., Thomas D., Timberlake J., de Morisson Valeriano M., van Valkenburg J., Van Do T., Van Sam H., Vandermeer JH., Verbeeck H., Vetaas OR., Adekunle V., Vieira SA., Webb CO., Webb EL., Whitfeld T., Wich S., Williams J., Wiser S., Wittmann F., Yang X., Adou Yao CY., Yap SL., Zahawi RA., Zakaria R., Zang R.
Knowledge about the biogeographic affinities of the world's tropical forests helps to better understand regional differences in forest structure, diversity, composition, and dynamics. Such understanding will enable anticipation of region-specific responses to global environmental change. Modern phylogenies, in combination with broad coverage of species inventory data, now allow for global biogeographic analyses that take species evolutionary distance into account. Here we present a classification of the world's tropical forests based on their phylogenetic similarity. We identify five principal floristic regions and their floristic relationships: (i) Indo-Pacific, (ii) Subtropical, (iii) African, (iv) American, and (v) Dry forests. Our results do not support the traditional neo- versus paleotropical forest division but instead separate the combined American and African forests from their Indo-Pacific counterparts. We also find indications for the existence of a global dry forest region, with representatives in America, Africa, Madagascar, and India. Additionally, a northern-hemisphere Subtropical forest region was identified with representatives in Asia and America, providing support for a link between Asian and American northern-hemisphere forests.