Scientists name the commonest tropical tree species for the first time

2024-01-10

(Press-News.org) UCL Press Release + table
Under embargo until Wednesday 10 January 2024, 16:00 UK time / 11:00 US Eastern time

A major international collaboration of 356 scientists led by UCL researchers has found almost identical patterns of tree diversity across the world’s tropical forests.

The study of over one million trees across 1,568 locations, published in Nature, found that just 2.2% of tree species make up 50% of the total number of trees in tropical forests across Africa, the Amazon, and Southeast Asia. Each continent consists of the same proportion of a few common species and many rare species.

While tropical forests are famous for their diversity, this is the first time that scientists have studied the commonest trees in the world’s tropical forests.

The scientists estimate that just 1,053 species account for half of the planet’s 800 billion tropical forest trees. The other half are comprised of 46,000 tree species. The number of rare species is extreme, with the rarest 39,500 species accounting for just 10% of trees.

Lead author Dr Declan Cooper (UCL Geography and UCL Centre for Biodiversity and Environment Research) said: “Our findings have profound implications for understanding tropical forests. If we focus on understanding the commonest tree species, we can probably predict how the whole forest will respond to today’s rapid environmental changes. This is especially important because tropical forests contain a tremendous amount of stored carbon, and are a globally important carbon sink.”

He continued: “Identifying the prevalence of the most common species gives scientists a new way of looking at tropical forests. Tracking these common species may provide a new way to characterise these forests and in the future possibly gauge a forest’s health more easily.”

The researchers found strikingly similar patterns in the proportion of tree species that are common, at close to 2.2%, despite the tropical forests of the Amazon, Africa and Southeast Asia each having a unique history and differing contemporary environments.

The Amazon consists of a large region of connected forest, while Southeast Asia is a region of mostly disconnected islands. People only arrived in the Amazon around 20,000 years ago, but people have been living in African and Southeast Asian forests for more than twice that length of time. In terms of the contemporary environment, African forests experience a drier and cooler climate than the other two tropical forest regions.

Given these striking differences, the near-identical patterns of tree diversity suggests that a fundamental mechanism may govern the assembly of tree communities across all the world’s tropical forests. The researchers are not yet able to say what that mechanism might be and it will focus future work on identifying it.

The estimates of common species derive from statistical analyses, which does not provide the names of the common trees. To overcome this, the scientists used a technique known as resampling to estimate which are the most likely names of the common species. Their list of 1,119 tree species names, the first list of common species of the world’s tropical forests, will allow researchers to focus their efforts on understanding the ecology of these species, which in turn can give scientists a short-cut to understand the whole forest.

See table below for a list of the most common tropical tree species.

Senior author, Professor Simon Lewis (UCL Geography and University of Leeds) said: “We wanted to look at tropical forests in a new way. Focusing on a few hundred common tree species on each continent, rather than the many thousands of species that we know almost nothing about, can open new ways to understand these precious forests. This focus on the commonest species should not take away from the importance of rare species. Rare species need special attention to protect them, but quick and important gains in knowledge will come from a scientific focus on the commonest tree species.”

The researchers assembled forest inventory data from intact tropical forests that hadn’t been affected by logging or fire. In each of 1,568 locations, teams identified and recorded every tree with a trunk greater than 10 centimetres in diameter, in a patch of forest, usually one hectare, which is a square of forest measuring 100 metres on each side.

Professor Lewis has been collecting and collating this data for 20 years. The effort is a collaboration of the largest plot networks across the Amazon (Amazon Tree Diversity Network; RAINFOR), Africa (African Tropical Rainforest Observatory Network, AfriTRON; Central African Plot Network), and Southeast Asia (Slik Diversity Network; T-FORCES), brought together for the first time for the published analysis.

This collaboration across hundreds of researchers, field assistants, and local communities resulted in a total of 1,003,805 trees sampled, which included 8,493 tree species, across 2,048 hectares, equivalent to almost eight square miles of forest. The teams inventoried 1,097 plots in the Amazon totalling 1,434 hectares, 368 plots in Africa totalling 450 hectares, and 103 plots in Southeast Asia totalling 164 hectares.

This research was supported by the Natural Environmental Research Council.

Most common tropical forest tree species:

Continent

Scientific name

Local Names

Africa

Gilbertiodendron dewevrei

Limbali, otabo, agbabu, ekpagoi-eze

Africa

Greenwayodendron suaveolens

Africa Teak, atorewa, ẹ́wáé, nchua, eleku, agudugbu

Africa

Anonidium mannii

Junglesop, imido, asumpa, ọ̀ghẹ́dẹ́gbó

Africa

Petersianthus macrocarpus

Stinkwood tree; soap tree abalé, tun-tue, pèh, ésiv, kpa

Africa

Santiria trimera

adjouaba à racines aériennes, damzin, an-thanjka, kafe, poh, gólógóló.

Africa

Strombosia pustulata

itako, afina, poé, mba esogo

Africa

Tabernaemontana crassa

Adam's-apple flower, k-poŋgbo, opuko, patié patié, pete-pete

Africa

Staudtia kamerunensis

Niové, ichala, ọbara-okisi, íyìp ókōyò

Africa

Strombosiopsis tetrandra

Bwika, Mbazoo

Africa

Dichostemma glaucescens

Mangamba, Mongamba

Amazonia

Oenocarpus bacaba

Bacaba, Turu Palm

Amazonia

Eschweilera coriacea

matamatá

Amazonia

Iriartea deltoidea

bombona

Amazonia

Pentaclethra macroloba

pracaxi

Amazonia

Euterpe oleracea

açaí palm

Amazonia

Astrocaryum murumuru

murumuru

Amazonia

Geissospermum sericeum

quina-quina branca, pao pereira

Amazonia

Eperua falcata

bootlace tree, bi udu, wapa

Amazonia

Euterpe precatoria

mountain cabbage; açai, açaizeiro, açaí-do-amazonas, palmiche, wassaï, huasaí, manaca

Amazonia

Rinorea racemosa

branquinha

Southeast Asia

Shorea multiflora

yellow meranti

Southeast Asia

Tristaniopsis merguensis

Hill Tristania

Southeast Asia

Cotylelobium melanoxylon

Resak hitam; Khiam khaao; Resak tempurong; Giam tembaga

Southeast Asia

Dehaasia caesia

Magasil, Medang

Southeast Asia

Streblus ilicifolius

Jungle Holly, Merlimau

Southeast Asia

Shorea xanthophylla

seraya kuning barun

Southeast Asia

Shorea parvifolia

light red meranti, white lauan

Southeast Asia

Elateriospermum tapos

Perah, Buah Perah, Pogoh Nut, Tapos

Southeast Asia

Ixonanthes reticulata

Pagar Anak, Ten Men Tree, Inggir Burong, Nyiran Burong

Southeast Asia

Gluta oba

Rengas

Notes to Editors

For more information or to speak to the researchers involved, please contact Michael Lucibella, UCL Media Relations. T: +44 (0)75 3941 0389, E: m.lucibella@ucl.ac.uk

Declan Cooper, Simon Lewis, et. al, ‘Consistent patterns of common species across tropical tree communities’ will be published in Nature on Wednesday 10 January 2024, 16:00 UK time, 11:00 US Eastern Time, and is under a strict embargo until this time.

The DOI for this paper will be 10.1038/s41586-023-06820-z

Upon publication, the paper will be available at: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-023-06820-z

Additional material

Declan Cooper’s academic profile Professor Simon Lewis’ academic profile UCL Geography UCL Faculty of Social & Historical Sciences About UCL – London’s Global University

UCL is a diverse global community of world-class academics, students, industry links, external partners, and alumni. Our powerful collective of individuals and institutions work together to explore new possibilities.

Since 1826, we have championed independent thought by attracting and nurturing the world's best minds. Our community of more than 50,000 students from 150 countries and over 16,000 staff pursues academic excellence, breaks boundaries and makes a positive impact on real world problems.

The Times and Sunday Times University of the Year 2024, we are consistently ranked among the top 10 universities in the world and are one of only a handful of institutions rated as having the strongest academic reputation and the broadest research impact.

We have a progressive and integrated approach to our teaching and research – championing innovation, creativity and cross-disciplinary working. We teach our students how to think, not what to think, and see them as partners, collaborators and contributors.

For almost 200 years, we are proud to have opened higher education to students from a wide range of backgrounds and to change the way we create and share knowledge.

We were the first in England to welcome women to university education and that courageous attitude and disruptive spirit is still alive today. We are UCL.

www.ucl.ac.uk | Follow @uclnews on Twitter | Read news at www.ucl.ac.uk/news/ | Listen to UCL podcasts on SoundCloud | View images on Flickr | Find out what’s on at UCL Minds

END

ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Global prevalence of adolescent use of nonprescription weight-loss products

2024-01-10

About The Study: This meta-analysis that included 90 studies with 604,000 participants found that use of weight-loss products occurs at high levels in adolescents, especially girls. These findings suggest that, given the ineffectiveness of these products for weight loss coupled with their harmful long-term health consequences, interventions are required to reduce use of weight-loss products in this group. Authors: Natasha Yvonne Hall, Pharm.B., M.H.E., of Deakin University in Melbourne, Australia, is the corresponding author. To access the embargoed study: Visit our For ...

Early prediction of autistic spectrum disorder using developmental surveillance data

2024-01-10

About The Study: In this study of nearly 1.2 million children, prediction models achieved high performance in predicting the likelihood of autistic spectrum disorder, using information from routine developmental assessments. This tool may be seamlessly integrated in the clinical workflow to improve early identification of children who may benefit from timely interventions. Authors: Guy Amit, Ph.D., of the KI Research Institute in Kfar Malal, Israel, is the corresponding author. To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website at this link https://media.jamanetwork.com/ (doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2023.51052) Editor’s ...

Epic of a molecular ion: With eyes of electrons

2024-01-10

Ions are everywhere, from our daily surroundings to the cosmic expanse. As common table salt (NaCl) dissolves into sodium (Na+) and chloride (Cl-) ions in water, it imparts a salty taste. Once absorbed by the body, these ions regulate nerve impulses and muscle movements. In the sun, plasma—a gathering of ions in the gaseous state—undergoes nuclear fusion reactions, transmitting light and energy to Earth. One of the most noteworthy usage ions in everyday life is found in lithium-ion batteries, ...

Scientists find “key” to potential breast cancer prevention, treatment

2024-01-10

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – Every time a cancer cell divides, it sustains damage to its own DNA molecules. Researchers, including Gaorav Gupta, MD, PhD, associate professor in the Department of Radiation Oncology at the UNC School of Medicine, have long wondered how cancers are able to evade detection by the body’s own defenses, despite the immune system being on constant watch for cells displaying DNA damage. New findings by Gupta’s lab, which were published in Nature, shows how the cGAS-STING pathway – a pathway inside cells essential for activating the inflammatory immune response – is unleashed to prevent cancer formation by detecting DNA damage within ...

Almost 1:10 adolescents non-prescription weight loss products globally

2024-01-10

One in ten adolescents globally have used ineffective and potentially harmful non prescribed weight loss products in their lifetime, with 2% using them in the previous week. A review, of over 90 studies of 600,000+ participants, headed by Ms Natasha Hall fro0m Monash University's School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine and published in the Journal of the American Medical Association has found that adolescent use of non prescription weight loss products is 5.5% overall, 2% in the past week; 4.4% in the past month, 6.2% in the past year and 8.9% in their lifetime. The authors caution against the long term consequences of these ineffective treatments. END ...

How ‘pioneers’ blaze the one trail that determines cell fate

2024-01-10

One of the important breakthroughs that made it possible to program or reprogram cell fate more efficiently and with higher fidelity in a dish was discovering how to make use of a small set of molecular cowboys called pioneer transcription factors (TFs). Every cell in our bodies has more than 200 transcription factors expressed inside, riding along the DNA helix instructing specific genes to activate and deactivate. During the early stages of fetal development, a small subset of “pioneer” TFs act inside ...

General A-site alloying strategy helps to prepare noble metal-occupied MAX phases

2024-01-10

Researchers led by Prof. HUANG Qing from the Ningbo Institute of Materials Technology and Engineering (NIMTE) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, in collaboration with researchers from the Zhejiang Institute of Tianjin University, and Linköping University, Sweden, has proposed a general A-site alloying strategy for the preparation of noble metal-occupied MAX phases. This work was published in Matter. MAX phases are a family of ternary layered transition metal carbides that have attracted great attention ...

Architectures, opportunities, and challenges of Internet-of-batteries for electric Vehicles

2024-01-10

A paper describing the architectures, opportunities, and challenges of the IoB was published in the journal Green Energy and Intelligent Transportation on September 7th, 2023. The present battery technology employed in electric vehicles (EVs) faces several critical challenges. Firstly, the limited operation range of EVs remains a major concern for potential users, as it affects their ability to travel long distances without the need for frequent recharging. Additionally, long charging times are inconvenient ...

Observing macroscopic quantum effects in the dark

2024-01-10

The boundary between everyday reality and the quantum world remains unclear. The more massive an object, the more localized it becomes when being made quantum through cooling down its motion to the absolute zero. Researchers, led by Oriol Romero-Isart from the Institute for Quantum Optics and Quantum Information (IQOQI) of the Austrian Academy of Sciences (ÖAW) and the Department of Theoretical Physics at the University of Innsbruck, propose an experiment in which an optically levitated nanoparticle, cooled to its ground state, evolves in a non-optical (“dark”) potential created by electrostatic or magnetic forces. This evolution in the dark potential ...

AI discovers that not every fingerprint is unique

2024-01-10

Columbia engineers have built a new AI that shatters a long-held belief in forensics–that fingerprints from different fingers of the same person are unique. It turns out they are similar, only we’ve been comparing fingerprints the wrong way! New York, NY—January 12, 2024—From “Law and Order” to “CSI,” not to mention real life, investigators have used fingerprints as the gold standard for linking criminals to a crime. But if a perpetrator leaves prints from different fingers in two different crime scenes, these scenes are very difficult to link, and the trace can go ...

Scientists name the commonest tropical tree species for the first time

ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES: