Maria Jose Endara

Abstract We describe the geographical variation in tree species composition across Amazonian forests and show how environmental conditions are associated with species turnover. Our analyses are based on 2023 forest inventory plots (1 ha) that provide abundance data for a total of 5188 tree species. Within-plot species composition reflected both local environmental conditions (especially soil nutrients and hydrology) and geographical regions.

At a news conference on February 17, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro claimed that his administration has “20 years of evidence against Leopoldo Lopez for all of his crimes, conspiracies and his fascism.” Except that the purported conspiracies and criminal accusations against Lopez are distortions and falsehoods that rights groups and an academic review have said are politically charged. National Police members during clashes in an anti-government protest in Caracas, on March 22, 2014.

In nature, plants engage in a never-ending battle to avoid being eaten. Unable to run away, plant species have evolved defenses to deter herbivores; they have spines, produce nasty chemicals, or grow tough leaves that are difficult to chew. For years, scientists have assumed that herbivores and plants are locked into evolutionary competition in which a plant evolves a defense, the herbivore evolves a workaround, and so on.