A Synthesis of Patterns and Mechanisms of Diversity and Forest Change in the Andes: A Global Biodiversity Hotspot

The Andean mountains of South America are the most species-rich global biodiversity hotspot. In only 1% of the planet’s land surface, the tropical Andes contain 15% of the World’s plant species (>45,000 species). In addition to harboring extreme levels biodiversity, the Andes also provide ecosystem services, such as food production, hydropower, irrigation and water purification, to more than 50 million people across the region. However, global environmental change—including, deforestation, human population growth and climate change—is endangering Andean biodiversity and ecosystem services. Two key knowledge gaps limit our ability to understand and predict effects of environmental change across the Andes. First, geographic variation in the basic ecology of Andean forests is poorly understood, which complicates the development and implementation of conservation plans across the region. Second, few collaborative research efforts exist for the study of Andean biodiversity. To bridge these gaps, our working group will bring together leading experts in forest ecology from around the world to synthesize existing knowledge, analyze biodiversity data from across the Andes, and develop new research collaborations. We will also bridge key knowledge gaps by synthesizing existing research on forest biodiversity and addressing new research questions using forest datasets from across the region. By bringing together researchers working across the Andes, our working group will tackle key unanswered questions about Andean forest diversity and dynamics at the large spatial and temporal scales most germane to regional conservation.

Publications

Báez, Selene, Luis Cayuela, Manuel J. Macía, Esteban Álvarez-Dávila, Amira Apaza-Quevedo, Itziar Arnelas, Natalia Baca-Cortes, Guillermo Bañares de Dios, Marijn Bauters, Celina Ben Saadi, Cecilia Blundo, Marian Cabrera, Felipe Castaño, Leslie Cayola, Julia G. de Aledo, Carlos Iván Espinosa, Belén Fadrique, William Farfán-Rios, Alfredo Fuentes, Claudia Garnica-Díaz, Mailyn González, Diego González, Isabell Hensen, Ana Belén Hurtado, Oswaldo Jadán, Denis Lippok, M. Isabel Loza, Carla Maldonado, Lucio Malizia, Laura Matas-Granados, Jonathan A. Myers, Natalia Norden, Imma Oliveras Menor, Kerstin Pierick, Hirma Ramírez-Angulo, Beatriz Salgado-Negret, Matthias Schleuning, Miles Silman, María Elena Solarte-Cruz , J. Sebastián Tello, Hans Verbeeck, Emilio Vilanova, Greta Weithmann & Jürgen Homeier. (2022). FunAndes – A functional trait database of Andean plants. Scientific Data 9, 511. doi: 10.1038/s41597-022-01626-6

Duque, Alvaro, Miguel A. Peña, Francisco Cuesta, Sebastián González-Caro, Peter Kennedy, Oliver L. Phillips, Marco Calderón, Cecilia Blundo, Julieta Carilla, Leslie Cayola, William Farfán-Ríos, Alfredo Fuentes, Ricardo Grau, Jürgen Homeier, María I. Loza-Rivera, Yadvinder Malhi, Agustina Malizia, Lucio Malizia, Johanna A. Martínez-Villa, Jonathan A. Myers, Oriana Osinaga-Acosta, Manuel Peralvo, Esteban Pinto, Sassan Saatchi, Miles Silman, J. Sebastián Tello, Andrea Terrán-Váldez & Kenneth J. Feeley. (2021). Mature Andean forests as globally important carbon sinks and future carbon refuges. Nature Communications 12: 2138. doi: 10.1038/s41467-021-22459-8

González-Caro, Sebastián, J. Sebastián Tello, Jonathan A. Myers, Kenneth Feeley, Cecilia Blundo, Marco Calderón-Loor, Julieta Carilla, Leslie Cayola, Francisco Cuesta, William Farfán, and et al. (2023). Historical Assembly of Andean Tree Communities. Plants 12, 20: 3546. doi: 10.3390/plants12203546

Linan, Alexander G., Jonathan A. Myers, Christine E. Edwards, Amy E. Zanne, Stephen A. Smith, Gabriel Arellano, Leslie Cayola, William Farfan-Ríos, Alfredo F. Fuentes, Karina Garcia-Cabrera, Sebastián Gonzales-Caro, M. Isabel Loza, Manuel J. Macía, Yadvinder Malhi, Beatriz Nieto-Ariza, Norma Salinas Revilla, Miles Silman & J. Sebastián Tello. (2021). The evolutionary assembly of forest communities along environmental gradients: recent diversification or sorting of pre-adapted clades? New Phytologist 232: 2506-2519. doi: 10.1111/nph.17674

Muñoz, Miguel, J. Sebastián Tello, Manuel J. Macía, Jonathan A. Myers, Peter M. Jørgensen, Victoria Cala, Alfredo F. Fuentes, Vania W. Torrez & Gabriel Arellano. (2021). Mechanisms of community assembly explaining beta-diversity patterns across biogeographic regions. Journal of Vegetation Science 32: e13032. doi: 10.1111/jvs.13032

Vela Díaz, Dilys M., Leslie Cayola, Alfredo F. Fuentes, Lucio R. Malizia, Cecilia Blundo & Jonathan A. Myers. (2020). Untangling the importance of niche breadth and niche position as drivers of tree species abundance and occupancy across biogeographic regions. Global Ecology and Biogeography 29: 1542-1553. doi:10.1111/geb.13139

Research Team

J. Sebastian Tello, Missouri Botanical Garden
Jonathan Myers, WashU (Biology)
Selene Baez, Escuela Politécnica Nacional del Ecuador