A forest type dominated by Peltogyne gracilipes Ducke (Caesalpiniaceae) occurs on Maraca Island on a range of soil types. Maraca is located in Roraima State (Brazil) in the Rio Uraricoera and has an area of about 100,000 ha. This study compares the structure and floristic composition of the Peltogyne forest with the most widespread lowland forest type on Maraca and investigates some factors tha...

Condit et al. (1) and Duivenvoorden et al. (2) discussed beta-diversity of tropical rainforest trees and came to some conclusions that we find problematic. Condit et al. argued that betadiversity of lowland rainforest trees is higher in Panama than in western Amazonia, based on observation of a steeper distance-decay of floristic similarity in 34 Panamanian tree plots compared with 16 Ecuadoria...

The factors responsible for maintaining diverse groundcover plant communities of high conservation value in frequently burned wet pine savannas are poorly understood. While most management involves manipulating extrinsic factors important in maintaining species diversity (e.g., fire regimes), most ecological theory (e.g., niche theory and neutral theory) examines how traits exhibited by the spe...

The Deciduous Complex that occurs in northern Minas Gerais State, Brazil, raises questions about the floristic affinities of these formations in relation to neighboring phytogeographical domains. Little is known about the identity of the seasonal forest formations that comprise this complex, or about its relationships to abiotic components, such as soils, topography and climate. This study aime...

The flora of Xishuangbanna in southern Yunnan, southwestern China, consists of 3340 native seed plant species belonging to 1176 genera and 182 families. Tropical floristic elements at the generic level form a major contribution (78.3%) to the total flora of southern Yunnan, of which the dominant geographic elements are those of tropical Asian distribution. The tropical Asian flora of Xishuangba...