Estructura de las comunidades de árboles en el límite sur de la Amazonia occidental: Manu y Madidi

Patterns of tree distribution in the western Amazon remain controversial. Are forest communities broadly similar across vast expanses of the Amazon, or are they marked by high beta diversity and changeable from site to site? What is the pattern of diversity decrease with latitude, and how does species composition change across the diversity gradient? Here we compare a well-characterized network of tree plots—those of Manu National Park—with a hectare at Chalalan on the Rio Tuichi in Madidi National Park. Diversity decreased 32% over the ~4 degrees of latitude separating the plots, similar to the change in diversity among western Amazonian tree plots from the equator to