TY  - JOUR
AU  - Fortunel, C.
AU  - Paine, C.E.T.
AU  - Fine, P.V.A.
AU  - Mesones, I.
AU  - Goret, J.
AU  - Burban, B.
AU  - Cazal, J.
AU  - Baraloto, C.
AU  - Comita, L.
PY  - 2016//
TI  - There's no place like home: seedling mortality contributes to the habitat specialisation of tree species across Amazonia
T2  - Ecology Letters
JO  - Ecology Letters
SP  - 1256
EP  - 1266
VL  - 19
IS  - 10
KW  - Amazon basin
KW  - forests habitats
KW  - habitat association
KW  - herbivory
KW  - light availability
KW  - plant lineages
KW  - rainfall temporal variation
KW  - seedling performance
KW  - soil fertility
KW  - tropical trees
N2  - Understanding the mechanisms generating species distributions remains a challenge, especially in hyperdiverse tropical forests. We evaluated the role of rainfall variation, soil gradients and herbivory on seedling mortality, and how variation in seedling performance along these gradients contributes to habitat specialisation. In a 4-year experiment, replicated at the two extremes of the Amazon basin, we reciprocally transplanted 4638 tree seedlings of 41 habitat-specialist species from seven phylogenetic lineages among the three most important forest habitats of lowland Amazonia. Rainfall variation, flooding and soil gradients strongly influenced seedling mortality, whereas herbivory had negligible impact. Seedling mortality varied strongly among habitats, consistent with predictions for habitat specialists in most lineages. This suggests that seedling performance is a primary determinant of the habitat associations of adult trees across Amazonia. It further suggests that tree diversity, currently mostly harboured in terra firme forests, may be strongly impacted by the predicted climate changes in Amazonia. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd/CNRS
UR  - https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-84991240035&partnerID=40&md5=c60a93125618527ce785a0c6ee516534
L1  - http://php.ecofog.gf/refbase/files/fortunel/2016/698_Fortunel_etal2016.pdf
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/ele.12661
N1  - Export Date: 27 October 2016
ID  - Fortunel_etal2016
ER  -