Tree species hyperdominance and rarity in the South American Cerrado
Abstract The South American Cerrado, the largest savanna of the Americas and the world's most tree-biodiverse, is critically endangered, with just 8% protected and more than half deforested. However, the extent of its tree diversity and abundance remains poorly quantified. Using a unique biome-...
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Nature Portfolio
2025-05-01
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| Series: | Communications Biology |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s42003-025-07623-w |
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| author | Facundo Alvarez Ben Hur Marimon-Junior Beatriz S. Marimon Hans ter Steege Oliver L. Phillips Renata Dias Françoso Brandão Eraldo A. Trondoli Matricardi José Roberto Rodrigues Pinto Frederico Augusto Guimarães Guilherme Marcelo Leandro Bueno Sabrina Miranda Bruno Machado Teles Walter Cássia B. Rodrigues Munhoz Edson de Souza Lima Fabiana de Góis Aquino Henrique Augusto Mews José Felipe Ribeiro Maria Antônia Carniello Mercedes Maria da Cunha Bustamante Ricardo Haidar Paulo Sérgio Morandi Edmar Almeida de Oliveira Zenésio Finger Eder Carvalho das Neves Fernando Elias Immaculada Oliveras Menor Ana Lyz Machado Parreira Eddie Lenza de Oliveira Eduardo Queiróz Marques Reginal Exavier Carla Heloísa Luz de Oliveira Nayane Cristina Candida dos Santos Prestes Simone Matias de Almeida Reis Wesley Jonatar Alves da Cruz Ted R. Feldpausch |
| author_facet | Facundo Alvarez Ben Hur Marimon-Junior Beatriz S. Marimon Hans ter Steege Oliver L. Phillips Renata Dias Françoso Brandão Eraldo A. Trondoli Matricardi José Roberto Rodrigues Pinto Frederico Augusto Guimarães Guilherme Marcelo Leandro Bueno Sabrina Miranda Bruno Machado Teles Walter Cássia B. Rodrigues Munhoz Edson de Souza Lima Fabiana de Góis Aquino Henrique Augusto Mews José Felipe Ribeiro Maria Antônia Carniello Mercedes Maria da Cunha Bustamante Ricardo Haidar Paulo Sérgio Morandi Edmar Almeida de Oliveira Zenésio Finger Eder Carvalho das Neves Fernando Elias Immaculada Oliveras Menor Ana Lyz Machado Parreira Eddie Lenza de Oliveira Eduardo Queiróz Marques Reginal Exavier Carla Heloísa Luz de Oliveira Nayane Cristina Candida dos Santos Prestes Simone Matias de Almeida Reis Wesley Jonatar Alves da Cruz Ted R. Feldpausch |
| author_sort | Facundo Alvarez |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract The South American Cerrado, the largest savanna of the Americas and the world's most tree-biodiverse, is critically endangered, with just 8% protected and more than half deforested. However, the extent of its tree diversity and abundance remains poorly quantified. Using a unique biome-wide eco-floristic dataset with 222 one-hectare plots, we estimate the Cerrado has ~1605 tree species and has extreme hyperdominance, with fewer than 2% (30 species) accounting for half of all trees. A single family, Vochysiaceae, represents 17% of all trees, and the most abundant species, Qualea parviflora, accounts for 1 in 14 trees. In contrast, 63% of the species are rare, with fewer than 100 trees across all plots. Remote sensing and spatial modelling suggest the Cerrado has lost 24 billion trees since 1985, equivalent to three times the Earth's human population. We estimate up to 800 tree species may remain undetected in Cerrado ecosystems and could face extinction in a few decades due to deforestation. This hyperdominance parallels patterns in Amazonian forests and highlights risks both biomes face for species loss due to fragmentation, deforestation, and land-use change. Our findings highlight the Cerrado’s critical but undervalued role in global biodiversity, its vulnerabilities, and the urgent need for conservation to avoid irreversible species and biome loss. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-cbb89f887bb0483eb0bfe90ab313b6c6 |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 2399-3642 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-05-01 |
| publisher | Nature Portfolio |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Communications Biology |
| spelling | doaj-art-cbb89f887bb0483eb0bfe90ab313b6c62025-08-20T02:55:23ZengNature PortfolioCommunications Biology2399-36422025-05-01811910.1038/s42003-025-07623-wTree species hyperdominance and rarity in the South American CerradoFacundo Alvarez0Ben Hur Marimon-Junior1Beatriz S. Marimon2Hans ter Steege3Oliver L. Phillips4Renata Dias Françoso Brandão5Eraldo A. Trondoli Matricardi6José Roberto Rodrigues Pinto7Frederico Augusto Guimarães Guilherme8Marcelo Leandro Bueno9Sabrina Miranda10Bruno Machado Teles Walter11Cássia B. Rodrigues Munhoz12Edson de Souza Lima13Fabiana de Góis Aquino14Henrique Augusto Mews15José Felipe Ribeiro16Maria Antônia Carniello17Mercedes Maria da Cunha Bustamante18Ricardo Haidar19Paulo Sérgio Morandi20Edmar Almeida de Oliveira21Zenésio Finger22Eder Carvalho das Neves23Fernando Elias24Immaculada Oliveras Menor25Ana Lyz Machado Parreira26Eddie Lenza de Oliveira27Eduardo Queiróz Marques28Reginal Exavier29Carla Heloísa Luz de Oliveira30Nayane Cristina Candida dos Santos Prestes31Simone Matias de Almeida Reis32Wesley Jonatar Alves da Cruz33Ted R. Feldpausch34Universidade do Estado de Mato Grosso; Campus de Nova Xavantina, PPG Ecologia e Conservação, Nova XavantinaUniversidade do Estado de Mato Grosso; Campus de Nova Xavantina, PPG Ecologia e Conservação, Nova XavantinaUniversidade do Estado de Mato Grosso; Campus de Nova Xavantina, PPG Ecologia e Conservação, Nova XavantinaNaturalis Biodiversity CenterUniversity of Leeds; School of GeographyUniversidade Federal de Lavras; Departamento de Ciências FlorestaisUniversidade de Brasília; Departamento de Engenharia FlorestalUniversidade de Brasília; Departamento de Engenharia FlorestalUniversidade Federal de Jataí; Instituto de BiociênciasUniversidade do Estado de Mato Grosso do Sul; Laboratório de Macroecologia e EvoluçãoUniversidade Estadual de Goiás; Unidade Universitária de Palmeiras de GoiásEmbrapa Recursos Genéticos e Biotecnologia; CEN HerbariumUniversidade de Brasília; Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Departamento de BotânicaUniversidade do Estado de Mato Grosso; Campus de Nova Xavantina, PPG Ecologia e Conservação, Nova XavantinaEmbrapa CerradosUniversidade Federal de Rondonópolis; Instituto de Ciências Exatas e NaturaisEmbrapa CerradosUniversidade do Estado de Mato Grosso; Campus de CáceresUniversidade de Brasília; Departamento de EcologiaUniversidade Federal do Tocantins; Departamento de Engenharia AmbientalUniversidade do Estado de Mato Grosso; Campus de Nova Xavantina, PPG Ecologia e Conservação, Nova XavantinaUniversidade do Estado de Mato Grosso; Campus de Nova Xavantina, PPG Ecologia e Conservação, Nova XavantinaUniversidade Federal de Mato Grosso; Faculdade Engenharia FlorestalUniversidade do Estado de Mato Grosso; Campus de Nova Xavantina, PPG Ecologia e Conservação, Nova XavantinaUniversidade do Estado de Mato Grosso; Campus de Nova Xavantina, PPG Ecologia e Conservação, Nova XavantinaAMAP, University of Montpellier, CIRAD, IRD, CNRS, INRAEUniversidade do Estado de Mato Grosso; Campus de Nova Xavantina, PPG Ecologia e Conservação, Nova XavantinaUniversidade do Estado de Mato Grosso; Campus de Nova Xavantina, PPG Ecologia e Conservação, Nova XavantinaUniversidade do Estado de Mato Grosso; Campus de Nova Xavantina, PPG Ecologia e Conservação, Nova XavantinaUniversidade de São PauloUniversidade do Estado de Mato Grosso; Campus de Nova Xavantina, PPG Ecologia e Conservação, Nova XavantinaUniversidade do Estado de Mato Grosso; Campus de Nova Xavantina, PPG Ecologia e Conservação, Nova XavantinaUniversidade do Estado de Mato Grosso; Campus de Nova Xavantina, PPG Ecologia e Conservação, Nova XavantinaUniversidade do Estado de Mato Grosso; Campus de Nova Xavantina, PPG Ecologia e Conservação, Nova XavantinaUniversidade do Estado de Mato Grosso; Campus de Nova Xavantina, PPG Ecologia e Conservação, Nova XavantinaAbstract The South American Cerrado, the largest savanna of the Americas and the world's most tree-biodiverse, is critically endangered, with just 8% protected and more than half deforested. However, the extent of its tree diversity and abundance remains poorly quantified. Using a unique biome-wide eco-floristic dataset with 222 one-hectare plots, we estimate the Cerrado has ~1605 tree species and has extreme hyperdominance, with fewer than 2% (30 species) accounting for half of all trees. A single family, Vochysiaceae, represents 17% of all trees, and the most abundant species, Qualea parviflora, accounts for 1 in 14 trees. In contrast, 63% of the species are rare, with fewer than 100 trees across all plots. Remote sensing and spatial modelling suggest the Cerrado has lost 24 billion trees since 1985, equivalent to three times the Earth's human population. We estimate up to 800 tree species may remain undetected in Cerrado ecosystems and could face extinction in a few decades due to deforestation. This hyperdominance parallels patterns in Amazonian forests and highlights risks both biomes face for species loss due to fragmentation, deforestation, and land-use change. Our findings highlight the Cerrado’s critical but undervalued role in global biodiversity, its vulnerabilities, and the urgent need for conservation to avoid irreversible species and biome loss.https://doi.org/10.1038/s42003-025-07623-w |
| spellingShingle | Facundo Alvarez Ben Hur Marimon-Junior Beatriz S. Marimon Hans ter Steege Oliver L. Phillips Renata Dias Françoso Brandão Eraldo A. Trondoli Matricardi José Roberto Rodrigues Pinto Frederico Augusto Guimarães Guilherme Marcelo Leandro Bueno Sabrina Miranda Bruno Machado Teles Walter Cássia B. Rodrigues Munhoz Edson de Souza Lima Fabiana de Góis Aquino Henrique Augusto Mews José Felipe Ribeiro Maria Antônia Carniello Mercedes Maria da Cunha Bustamante Ricardo Haidar Paulo Sérgio Morandi Edmar Almeida de Oliveira Zenésio Finger Eder Carvalho das Neves Fernando Elias Immaculada Oliveras Menor Ana Lyz Machado Parreira Eddie Lenza de Oliveira Eduardo Queiróz Marques Reginal Exavier Carla Heloísa Luz de Oliveira Nayane Cristina Candida dos Santos Prestes Simone Matias de Almeida Reis Wesley Jonatar Alves da Cruz Ted R. Feldpausch Tree species hyperdominance and rarity in the South American Cerrado Communications Biology |
| title | Tree species hyperdominance and rarity in the South American Cerrado |
| title_full | Tree species hyperdominance and rarity in the South American Cerrado |
| title_fullStr | Tree species hyperdominance and rarity in the South American Cerrado |
| title_full_unstemmed | Tree species hyperdominance and rarity in the South American Cerrado |
| title_short | Tree species hyperdominance and rarity in the South American Cerrado |
| title_sort | tree species hyperdominance and rarity in the south american cerrado |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1038/s42003-025-07623-w |
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