Flavia Costa

Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia | inpa · Coordenação de Biodiversidade (CBIO)

The tropical forest carbon sink is known to be drought sensitive, but it is unclear which forests are the most vulnerable to extreme events. Forests with hotter and drier baseline conditions may be protected by prior adaptation, or more vulnerable because they operate closer to physiological limits. Here we report that forests in drier South Americ...

Graphical abstract Highlights d Ecological metadata were compiled for 7,694 sites across the Brazilian Amazon d Accessibility and proximity to research facilities influenced research probability d Knowledge gaps are greater in uplands than in wetlands and aquatic habitats d Undersampled areas overlap predicted hotspots of climate change and defores...

• As pesquisas ecológicas e a compilação e curadoria de dados científicos são atividades fundamentais para a compreensão das mudanças na biodiversidade da Amazônia; • As pesquisas ecológicas ainda estão concentradas em locais mais acessíveis e próximos às instituições de pesquisa; • A Amazônia é a região do país que menos recebe investimento para p...

In a time of rapid global change, the question of what determines patterns in species abundance distribution remains a priority for understanding the complex dynamics of ecosystems. The constrained maximization of information entropy provides a framework for the understanding of such complex systems dynamics by a quantitative analysis of important...

Lianas are increasing in relative abundance and biomass, mainly in seasonally dry forests, but it is unclear if this is associated with their hydraulic strategy. Here, we ask whether liana of seasonally dry forests are safer and more efficient in water transport than those of rainforest, which could explain liana distribution patterns and their rec...

Aim To investigate the geographic patterns and ecological correlates in the geographic distribution of the most common tree dispersal modes in Amazonia (endozoochory, synzoochory, anemochory and hydrochory). We examined if the proportional abundance of these dispersal modes could be explained by the availability of dispersal agents (disperser‐avail...

Soil hydrology, nutrient availability, and forest disturbance determine the variation of tropical tree species composition locally. However, most habitat filtering is explained by tree species' hydraulic traits along the hydrological gradient. We asked whether these patterns apply to lianas. At the community level, we investigated whether hydrologi...

Plant distribution patterns may indicate habitat specialization either by closely related species with conserved traits or by phylogenetically distant species with converging traits. Lianas represent a large proportion of the overall tropical species diversity and abundance. Despite their importance, little is known about the relationship between h...

Amazonia is extremely biodiverse, but the mechanisms for the origin of this diversity are still under debate. We propose a diversification model for Amazonia based on the interplay of intrinsic clade functional traits, habitat associations and past geological events, using as a model group the species-rich Neotropical family Marantaceae. Our result...

Tropical forest function is of global significance to climate change responses, and critically determined by water availability patterns. Groundwater is tightly related to soil water through the water table depth (WT), but historically neglected in ecological studies. Shallow WT forests (WT < 5 m) are underrepresented in forest research networks an...

Amazonia is extremely biodiverse, but the mechanisms for the origin of this diversity are still under debate. We propose a diversification model for Amazonia based on the interplay of intrinsic clade functional traits, habitat associations and past geological events, using as a model group the species-rich Neotropical family Marantaceae. Our result...

To determine the effect of rivers, environmental conditions, and isolation by distance on the distribution of species in Amazonia. Location: Brazilian Amazonia. Time period: Current. Major taxa studied: Birds, fishes, bats, ants, termites, butterflies, ferns ? lyco-phytes, gingers and palms. We compiled a unique dataset of biotic and abiotic inform...

Soil hydrology, nutrient availability and forest disturbance determine the variation of tropical tree species composition locally. However, most habitat filtering is explained by tree species' hydraulic traits along the hydrological gradient. We asked whether these patterns apply to lianas. At the community level, we investigated: (i) whether the h...

Addressing intraspecific variability of functional traits helps understand how climate change might influence the distribution of organismal traits across environments, but is notably understudied in the Amazon, especially for plant-hydraulic traits that are often used to project drought responses. We quantified intraspecific trait variability of l...

The study of plant species and trait distributions can provide answers to many of the ecological challenges of our times, from climate change to the biodiversity crisis. Although traits are classically measured at the species level, understanding intraspecific variation is necessary to determine the type of response species will have to climate cha...

The forests of Amazonia are among the most biodiverse plant communities on Earth. Given the immediate threats posed by climate and land-use change, an improved understanding of how this extraordinary biodiversity is spatially organized is urgently required to develop effective conservation strategies. Most Amazonian tree species are extremely rare...

Tropical forests are the most diverse and productive ecosystems on Earth. While better understanding of these forests is critical for our collective future, until quite recently efforts to measure and monitor them have been largely disconnected. Networking is essential to discover the answers to questions that transcend borders and the horizons of...

Tropical forests are the most diverse and productive ecosystems on Earth. While better understanding of these forests is critical for our collective future, until quite recently efforts to measure and monitor them have been largely disconnected. Networking is essential to discover the answers to questions that transcend borders and the horizons of...

In a time of rapid global change, the question of what determines patterns in species abundance distribution remains a priority for understanding the complex dynamics of ecosystems. The constrained maximization of information entropy provides a framework for the understanding of such complex systems dynamics by a quantitative analysis of important...

1. The Balbina hydropower dam in the Central Amazon basin, established in the Uatumã River in the 1980s, is emblematic for its socio-environmental disaster. Its environmental impacts go far beyond the reservoir and dam, however, affecting the floodplain forests (igapó) in the downstream area (dam shadow), which have been assessed using a transdisci...

Climate change is a major threat to biodiversity. Rainfall patterns over recent decades have changed and extreme events are intensifying. These are expected to affect the hydrological dynamics and structure of forest streams in the Amazon basin, which strongly depend on the local rainfall regime, with potential consequences for local fish assemblag...

To determine the effect of rivers, environmental conditions, and isolation by distance on the distribution of species in Amazonia. Location: Brazilian Amazonia. Time period: Current. Major taxa studied: Birds, fishes, bats, ants, termites, butterflies, ferns ? lyco-phytes, gingers and palms. We compiled a unique dataset of biotic and abiotic inform...

There is a consensus about negative impacts of droughts in Amazonia. Yet, extreme wet episodes, which are becoming as severe and frequent as droughts, are overlooked and their impacts remain poorly understood. Moreover, drought reports are mostly based on forests over a deep water table (DWT), which may be particularly sensitive to dry conditions....

Tropical biomes are the most diverse plant communities on Earth, and quantifying this diversity at large spatial scales is vital for many purposes. As macroecological approaches proliferate, the taxonomic uncertainties in species occurrence data are easily neglected and can lead to spurious findings in downstream analyses. Here, we argue that techn...

Aim Palms are an iconic, diverse and often abundant component of tropical ecosystems that provide many ecosystem services. Being monocots, tree palms are evolutionarily, morphologically and physiologically distinct from other trees, and these differences have important consequences for ecosystem services (e.g., carbon sequestration and storage) and...

Aim: Palms are an iconic, diverse and often abundant component of tropical ecosystems that provide many ecosystem services. Being monocots, tree palms are evolutionarily, morphologically and physiologically distinct from other trees, and these differences have important consequences for ecosystem services (e.g., carbon sequestration and storage) an...

Amazonian forests are extraordinarily diverse, but the estimated species richness is very much debated. Here, we apply an ensemble of parametric estimators and a novel technique that includes conspecific spatial aggregation to an extended database of forest plots with up-to-date taxonomy. We show that the species abundance distribution of Amazonia...

Amazonian forests are extraordinarily diverse, but the estimated species richness is very much debated. Here, we apply an ensemble of parametric estimators and a novel technique that includes conspecific spatial aggregation to an extended database of forest plots with up-to-date taxonomy. We show that the species abundance distribution of Amazonia...

Amazonian forests are extraordinarily diverse, but the estimated species richness is very much debated. Here, we apply an ensemble of parametric estimators and a novel technique that includes conspecific spatial aggregation to an extended database of forest plots with up-to-date taxonomy. We show that the species abundance distribution of Amazonia...

Amazonian forests are extraordinarily diverse, but the estimated species richness is very much debated. Here, we apply an ensemble of parametric estimators and a novel technique that includes conspecific spatial aggregation to an extended database of forest plots with up-to-date taxonomy. We show that the species abundance distribution of Amazonia...

Amazonian forests are extraordinarily diverse, but the estimated species richness is very much debated. Here, we apply an ensemble of parametric estimators and a novel technique that includes conspecific spatial aggregation to an extended database of forest plots with up-to-date taxonomy. We show that the species abundance distribution of Amazonia...

Central Amazon has been subjected to a higher frequency of extreme climatic events, such as very dry or very wet years, in the last decades. Here, we report a 20-year monitoring of 6 biological groups over 100 km2 of typical terra-firme forest at Ducke Forest Reserve, Manaus. Most assemblages had a decrease in abundance (9 – 35 %) and richness (8 –...

The sensitivity of tropical forest carbon to climate is a key uncertainty in predicting global climate change. Although short-term drying and warming are known to affect forests, it is unknown if such effects translate into long-term responses. Here, we analyze 590 permanent plots measured across the tropics to derive the equilibrium climate contro...

The sensitivity of tropical forest carbon to climate is a key uncertainty in predicting global climate change. Although short-term drying and warming are known to affect forests, it is unknown if such effects translate into long-term responses. Here, we analyze 590 permanent plots measured across the tropics to derive the equilibrium climate contro...

Aims Assessment of the future of biodiversity under climate change has been based on climate-only models. We investigated the effects of including soil information when predicting future suitable areas for selected plant species in Amazonia. Methods We modelled current and future suitable habitats for 35 plant species and compared results of clima...

Mega hydroelectric dams cause loss of habitat for many species and lead to local or regional extinction. Despite these dire facts, little is known about the impact of these mega-dams on Amazonia. Using palms as a model, we investigated this question by sampling 26 1-ha plots distributed in the influence areas of the Jirau mega-dam in southwestern B...

AimsThe extent and persistence of pre-Columbian human legacies in old-growth Amazonian forests are still controversial, partly because modern societies re-occupied old settlements, challenging the distinction between pre- and post-Columbian legacies. Here, we compared the effects of pre-Columbian vs. recent landscape domestication processes on soil...

The intensity and frequency of severe droughts in the Amazon region have increased in the recent decades. These extreme events are associated with changes in forest dynamics, biomass and floristic composition. However, most studies of drought response have focused on upland forests with deep water tables, which may be especially sensitive to drough...

Amazonian forests are extraordinarily diverse, but the estimated species richness is very much debated. Here, we apply an ensemble of parametric estimators and a novel technique that includes conspecific spatial aggregation to an extended database of forest plots with up-to-date taxonomy. We show that the species abundance distribution of Amazonia...

Tropical forests are known for their high diversity. Yet, forest patches do occur in the tropics where a single tree species is dominant. Such “monodominant” forests are known from all of the main tropical regions. For Amazonia, we sampled the occurrence of monodominance in a massive, basin-wide database of forest-inventory plots from the Amazon Tr...

Tropical forests are known for their high diversity. Yet, forest patches do occur in the tropics where a single tree species is dominant. Such “monodominant” forests are known from all of the main tropical regions. For Amazonia, we sampled the occurrence of monodominance in a massive, basin-wide database of forest-inventory plots from the Amazon Tr...

Tropical forests are known for their high diversity. Yet, forest patches do occur in the tropics where a single tree species is dominant. Such “monodominant” forests are known from all of the main tropical regions. For Amazonia, we sampled the occurrence of monodominance in a massive, basin-wide database of forest-inventory plots from the Amazon Tr...

Tropical forests are known for their high diversity. Yet, forest patches do occur in the tropics where a single tree species is dominant. Such “monodominant” forests are known from all of the main tropical regions. For Amazonia, we sampled the occurrence of monodominance in a massive, basin-wide database of forest-inventory plots from the Amazon Tr...

Tropical forests are known for their high diversity. Yet, forest patches do occur in the tropics where a single tree species is dominant. Such “monodominant” forests are known from all of the main tropical regions. For Amazonia, we sampled the occurrence of monodominance in a massive, basin-wide database of forest-inventory plots from the Amazon Tr...

Tropical forests are known for their high diversity. Yet, forest patches do occur in the tropics where a single tree species is dominant. Such “monodominant” forests are known from all of the main tropical regions. For Amazonia, we sampled the occurrence of monodominance in a massive, basin-wide database of forest-inventory plots from the Amazon Tr...

Tropical forests are known for their high diversity. Yet, forest patches do occur in the tropics where a single tree species is dominant. Such "monodominant" forests are known from all of the main tropical regions. For Amazonia, we sampled the occurrence of monodominance in a massive, basin-wide database of forest-inventory plots from the Amazon Tr...

Tropical forests are known for their high diversity. Yet, forest patches do occur in the tropics where a single tree species is dominant. Such "monodominant" forests are known from all of the main tropical regions. For Amazonia, we sampled the occurrence of monodominance in a massive, basin-wide database of forest-inventory plots from the Amazon Tr...

Forest responses to changes in drought frequency is a critical matter for the future of Amazon forests under climate change, but equally important is the much less studied response to large floods, which may also increase tree mortality and change forest functionality. Further, forest vulnerability to flood is being exacerbated by large hydroelectr...

Past human modification of forests has been documented in central, southwestern, and eastern Amazonia, especially near large rivers. Northwestern Amazonia, and interfluvial forests there in particular, are assumed to exhibit little past human impact. We analyzed soils and floristic structure and composition of interfluvial forests located in the Iç...

Past human modification of forests has been documented in central, southwestern, and eastern Amazonia, especially near large rivers. Northwestern Amazonia, and interfluvial forests there in particular, are assumed to exhibit little past human impact. We analyzed soils and floristic structure and composition of interfluvial forests located in the Iç...

Past human modification of forests has been documented in central, southwestern, and eastern Amazonia, especially near large rivers. Northwestern Amazonia, and interfluvial forests there in particular, are assumed to exhibit little past human impact. We analyzed soils and floristic structure and composition of interfluvial forests located in the Iç...

The recovery capacity and the successional pathways of tropical forests after anthropogenic disturbance vary considerably and may depend on prior land‐use type and intensity. It is still unclear if forests subjected to high intensity impact, such as periodically burned pastures, are capable of restoring their original functional properties. This st...

Understanding hydraulic strategies of Amazonian trees enables the prediction of their resilience to drought. Vulnerability to xylem embolism (P50) is a functional trait that indicates species tolerance to drought and help to explain species distribution patterns across environmental gradients. Here we evaluate how distinct precipitation regimes and...

Selective logging is one of the most prominent land uses in tropical forests and although it involves harvesting a limited number of trees, the impact on forest structure, composition and aboveground biomass can be significant. Although these impacts are well documented, what is little known is the extent to which selective logging affects tree flo...

Tree mortality appears to be increasing in moist tropical forests¹, with potentially important implications for global carbon and water cycles². Little is known about the drivers of tree mortality in these diverse forests, partly because long-term data are lacking³. The relative importance of climatic factors and species functional traits as driver...

Maps of environmental characteristics are needed to improve our understanding of species distributions and ecosystem dynamics. Despite the growing demand for digital environmental maps, scarcity of environmental field samples to be used as input data often constrains the accuracy of such maps, especially for soils. We developed and tested a method...