title: Plant diversity patterns in neotropical dry forests and their conservation implications.
abstract: Seasonally dry tropical forests are distributed across Latin America and the Caribbean and are highly threatened, with less than 10% of their original extent remaining in many countries. Using 835 inventories covering 4660 species of woody plants, we show marked floristic turnover among inventories and regions, which may be higher than in other neotropical biomes, such as savanna. Such high floristic turnover indicates that numerous conservation areas across many countries will be needed to protect the full diversity of tropical dry forests. Our results provide a scientific framework within which national decision-makers can contextualize the floristic significance of their dry forest at a regional and continental scale.
authors.affiliation: Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, 20a Inverleith Row, EH3 5LR, Edinburgh, UK. Fundación Ecosistemas Secos de Colombia, Calle 5 A No. 70 C-31, Bogotá, Colombia.
authors.forename: Karina
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Banda-R
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Botánica, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, México D.F., México.
authors.forename: Alfonso
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authors.lastname: Delgado-Salinas
authors.affiliation: Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, 20a Inverleith Row, EH3 5LR, Edinburgh, UK. School of GeoSciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK.
authors.forename: Kyle G
authors.initials: KG
authors.lastname: Dexter
authors.affiliation: Universidad Nacional Agraria La Molina, Avenida La Molina, Lima, Perú. Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute, Los Libertadores 215, San Isidro, Lima, Perú.
authors.forename: Reynaldo
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Linares-Palomino
authors.affiliation: Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais (UFMG), Instituto de Ciências Biológicas (ICB), Departamento de Botânica, Avenida Antônio. Carlos, 6627-Pampulha, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil.
authors.forename: Ary
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authors.affiliation: Cátedra de Botánica, IICAR-CONICET, Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias, Universidad Nacional de Rosario, C.C. Nº 14, S2125ZAA Zavalla, Argentina.
authors.forename: Darién
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authors.lastname: Prado
authors.affiliation: Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, 20a Inverleith Row, EH3 5LR, Edinburgh, UK.
authors.forename: Martin
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authors.lastname: Pullan
authors.affiliation: Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas, Escuela de Biología, Avenida 12 de Octubre 1076 y Roca, Quito, Ecuador.
authors.forename: Catalina
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authors.forename: Ricarda
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authors.affiliation: Fundación Ecosistemas Secos de Colombia, Calle 5 A No. 70 C-31, Bogotá, Colombia.
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authors.affiliation: Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, 20a Inverleith Row, EH3 5LR, Edinburgh, UK.
authors.forename: Julia
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authors.affiliation: Parque Regional "El Vínculo"-INCIVA, El Vínculo-Kilometro 3 al sur de Buga sobre la Carretera Panamericana, Valle del Cauca, Colombia.
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authors.forename: Anairamiz
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authors.affiliation: Herbario SURCO, Universidad Surcolombiana, Neiva, Colombia.
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mesh_terms: D044822:Biodiversity; D017691:Caribbean Region; D003247:Conservation of Natural Resources / Q000379:methods*; D003657:Decision Making; D065928:Forests; D065948:Grassland; D007843:Latin America; D012621:Seasons; D014197:Trees; D014329:Tropical Climate; D014934:Wood