Positive feedbacks and alternative stable states in forest leaf types
Nature Communications, vol. 15, pp. 4658
Abstract
The emergence of alternative stable states in forest systems has significant implications for the functioning and structure of the terrestrial biosphere, yet empirical evidence remains scarce. Here, we combine global forest biodiversity observations and simulations to test for alternative stable states in the presence of evergreen and deciduous forest types. We reveal a bimodal distribution of forest leaf types across temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere that cannot be explained by the environment alone, suggesting signatures of alternative forest states. Moreover, we empirically demonstrate the existence of positive feedbacks in tree growth, recruitment and mortality, with trees having 4-43% higher growth rates, 14-17% higher survival rates and 4-7 times higher recruitment rates when they are surrounded by trees of their own leaf type. Simulations show that the observed positive feedbacks are necessary and sufficient to generate alternative forest states, which also lead to dependency on history (hysteresis) during ecosystem transition from evergreen to deciduous forests and vice versa. We identify hotspots of bistable forest types in evergreen-deciduous ecotones, which are likely driven by soil-related positive feedbacks. These findings are integral to predicting the distribution of forest biomes, and aid to our understanding of biodiversity, carbon turnover, and terrestrial climate feedbacks.
Authors 100
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Yibiao Zou corresponding
ETH Zurich · Institute of Integrative Biology
Affiliation as printed
Institute of Integrative Biology, ETH Zurich (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology), Universitätsstrasse 16, 8092, Zurich, Switzerland. yibiao.zou@usys.ethz.ch
Institute of Integrative Biology, ETH Zurich (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology), Universitätsstrasse 16, 8092, Zurich, Switzerland
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ETH Zurich · Institute of Integrative Biology
Affiliation as printed
Institute of Integrative Biology, ETH Zurich (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology), Universitätsstrasse 16, 8092, Zurich, Switzerland
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ETH Zurich · Institute of Integrative Biology
Affiliation as printed
Institute of Integrative Biology, ETH Zurich (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology), Universitätsstrasse 16, 8092, Zurich, Switzerland
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ETH Zurich · Institute of Integrative Biology
Affiliation as printed
Institute of Integrative Biology, ETH Zurich (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology), Universitätsstrasse 16, 8092, Zurich, Switzerland
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Carnegie Institution for Science
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Department of Global Ecology, Carnegie Institution for Science, Stanford, CA, USA
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ETH Zurich · Institute of Integrative Biology
Affiliation as printed
Institute of Integrative Biology, ETH Zurich (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology), Universitätsstrasse 16, 8092, Zurich, Switzerland
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ETH Zurich · Institute of Integrative Biology
Affiliation as printed
Institute of Integrative Biology, ETH Zurich (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology), Universitätsstrasse 16, 8092, Zurich, Switzerland
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ETH Zurich · Institute of Integrative Biology
Affiliation as printed
Institute of Integrative Biology, ETH Zurich (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology), Universitätsstrasse 16, 8092, Zurich, Switzerland
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Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research
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Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research WSL, 8903, Birmensdorf, Switzerland
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Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research
Affiliation as printed
Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research WSL, 8903, Birmensdorf, Switzerland
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Purdue University West Lafayette
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Department of Forestry and Natural Resources, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, USA
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Universitat de Lleida · Forest Science and Technology Centre of Catalonia
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Department of Agricultural and Forest Sciences and Engineering, University of Lleida, Lleida, Spain
Forest Science and Technology Centre of Catalonia (CTFC), Solsona, Spain
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Wageningen University & Research
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Wageningen University and Research, Wageningen, The Netherlands
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University of Minnesota · University of Michigan · Western Sydney University
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Department of Forest Resources, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN, USA
Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment, Western Sydney University, Penrith, NSW, Australia
Institute for Global Change Biology, and School for Environment and Sustainability, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
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Estonian University of Life Sciences
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Plant Physiology work group, Estonian University of Life Sciences, Tartu, Estonia
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Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
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Department of Forest Resource Management, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Umeå, Sweden
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Forstliche Versuchs- und Forschungsanstalt Baden-Württemberg
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Forstliche Versuchs- und Forschungsanstalt Baden-Württemberg, Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany
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National Biodiversity Network Trust
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NBN Trust, Nottingham, UK
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Universidad de Alcalá, Alcala de Henares, Spain
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Universidad de Alcalá, Alcala de Henares, Spain
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Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research
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Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research WSL, 8903, Birmensdorf, Switzerland
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Université Félix Houphouët-Boigny
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UFR Biosciences, University Félix Houphouët-Boigny, Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire
UFR Biosciences, University Félix Houphouët-Boigny, Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire
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University of Udine · Free University of Bozen-Bolzano
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Department of Agricultural, Food, Environmental and Animal Sciences, University of Udine, Udine, Italy
Faculty of Science and Technology, Free University of Bolzano, Bolzano, Italy
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Affiliation as printed
Spatial Ecology and Conservation Laboratory, Department of Tourism, Recreation and Sport Management, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, 32611, USA
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Instituto Tecnológico de Costa Rica
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Forestry School, Tecnológico de Costa Rica TEC, Cartago, Costa Rica
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Universidad Nacional Abierta y a Distancia
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Fundacion ConVida, Universidad Nacional Abierta y a Distancia, UNAD, Medellin, Colombia
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Field Museum of Natural History
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Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago, USA
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University of California, Los Angeles
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Center for Tropical Research, Institute of the Environment and Sustainability, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, USA
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Silviculture and Forest Ecology of the Temperate Zones, University of Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany
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Norwegian Institute of Bioeconomy Research
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Division of Forest and Forest Resources, Norwegian Institute of Bioeconomy Research (NIBIO), Ås, Norway
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Museo de Historia Natural Noel Kempff Mercado
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Museo de Historia natural Noel kempff Mercado, Santa Cruz, Bolivia
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Museo de Historia Natural Noel Kempff Mercado
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Museo de Historia natural Noel kempff Mercado, Santa Cruz, Bolivia
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European Commission, Joint Research Center, Ispra, Italy
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Universidad Nacional Experimental de los Llanos Occidentales Ezequiel Zamora
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Compensation International S. A. Ci Progress-GreenLife, Bogotá, DC, Colombia
UNELLEZ-Guanare, Programa de Ciencias del Agro y el Mar, Herbario Universitario (PORT), Portuguesa, Venezuela
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Affiliation as printed
School of Geography, University of Leeds, Leeds, UK
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Department of Geomatics, Forest Research Institute, Raszyn, Poland
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Naturalis Biodiversity Center, Leiden, The Netherlands
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Centro Multidisciplinar, Universidade Federal do Acre, Rio Branco, Brazil
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National Academy of Sciences · Duke University
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Department of Evolutionary Anthropology, Duke University, Durham, NC, 27708, USA
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Washington, DC, USA
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University of Liège · Gembloux Agro-Bio Tech
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TERRA Teach and Research Centre, Gembloux Agro Bio-Tech, University of Liege, Liege, Belgium
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Forestry Consultant, Via Unione Sovietica 105, 58100, Grosseto, Italy
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Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique · Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement · Université de Montpellier · Institut National de Recherche pour l'Agriculture, l'Alimentation et l'Environnement · UMR Botanique et Modélisation de l’Architecture des Plantes et des végétations · Institut de Recherche pour le Développement
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AMAP, Univ Montpellier, Montpellier, France
CIRAD, CNRS, INRAE, IRD, Montpellier, France
Institut Agronomique néo-Calédonien (IAC), Nouméa, New Caledonia
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Mbarara University of Science and Technology
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Institute of Tropical Forest Conservation, Mbarara University of Sciences and Technology, Mbarara, Uganda
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Isotope Bioscience Laboratory - ISOFYS, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
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Wageningen University & Research
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Wageningen University and Research, Wageningen, The Netherlands
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Ştefan cel Mare University of Suceava
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Integrated Center for Research, Development and Innovation in Advanced Materials, Nanotechnologies, and Distributed Systems for Fabrication and Control (MANSiD), Stefan cel Mare University of Suceava, Suceava, Romania
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Department of Forest Sciences, Luiz de Queiroz College of Agriculture, University of São Paulo, Piracicaba, Brazil
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Bavarian State Institute of Forestry, Freising, Germany
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Manchester Metropolitan University
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Department of Natural Sciences, Manchester Metropolitan University, Manchester, UK
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School of Geography, University of Leeds, Leeds, UK
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Spatial Ecology and Conservation Laboratory, School of Forest Resources and Conservation, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, 32611, USA
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German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research · Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg
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German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany
Institute of Biology, Geobotany and Botanical Garden, Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, Halle-, Wittenberg, Germany
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Department of Agriculture, Food, Environment and Forest (DAGRI), University of Firenze, Florence, Italy
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Department of Biological, Geological, and Environmental Sciences, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy
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Department of Forest Sciences, Luiz de Queiroz College of Agriculture, University of São Paulo, Piracicaba, Brazil
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Department of Spatial Regulation, GIS and Forest Policy, Institute of Forestry, Belgrade, Serbia
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University of Connecticut · University of the Sunshine Coast
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Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT, USA
Forest Research Institute, University of the Sunshine Coast, Sippy Downs, Queensland, QLD, Australia
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Faculty of Natural Resources Management, Lakehead University, Thunder Bay, ON, Canada
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ETH Zurich · Institute of Integrative Biology
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Institute of Integrative Biology, ETH Zurich (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology), Universitätsstrasse 16, 8092, Zurich, Switzerland
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Affiliation as printed
Division of Forest Resources Information, Korea Forest Promotion Institute, Seoul, South Korea
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Czech Academy of Sciences, Global Change Research Institute · Institute of Forest Ecosystem Research
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Global Change Research Institute CAS, Brno, Czech Republic
IFER - Institute of Forest Ecosystem Research, Jilove u Prahy, Czech Republic
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Nicholas School of the Environment, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA
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University of Missouri–St. Louis
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Department of Biology, University of Missouri-St Louis, St. Louis, MO, USA
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Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP)
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Programa de Pós-graduação em Biologia Vegetal, Instituto de Biologia, Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Campinas, Brazil
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Department of Plant Sciences and Conservation Research Institute, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
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Andes to Amazon Biodiversity Program, Madre de Dios, Peru
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Universidad Juárez del Estado de Durango
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Facultad de Ciencias Forestales y Ambientales, Universidad Juárez del Estado de Durango, Durango, Mexico
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College of Saint Rose · West Virginia University
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Department of Biology, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV, USA
Department of Physical and Biological Sciences, The College of Saint Rose, Albany, NY, USA
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Department of Biology, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV, USA
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Biology Department, Centre for Structural and Functional Genomics, Concordia University, Montreal, QC, Canada
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Universidade Regional de Blumenau
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Natural Science Department, Universidade Regional de Blumenau, Blumenau, Brazil
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World Agroforestry (ICRAF), P.O. Box 30677, 00100, Nairobi, Kenya
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Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique · AgroParisTech · Institut National de Recherche pour l'Agriculture, l'Alimentation et l'Environnement · Ecologie des Forêts de Guyane
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Cirad, UMR EcoFoG (AgroParisTech, CNRS, INRAE, Université des Antilles, Université de la Guyane), Campus Agronomique, Kourou, French Guiana
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University of Maryland, College Park
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Department of Geographical Sciences, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA
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Institute of Forestry, Belgrade, Serbia
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Czech Academy of Sciences · University of South Bohemia in České Budějovice · Czech Academy of Sciences, Institute of Botany
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Department of Botany, Faculty of Science, University of South Bohemia, České Budějovice, Czech Republic
Institute of Botany, The Czech Academy of Sciences, Třeboň, Czech Republic
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Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique · AgroParisTech · Institut National de Recherche pour l'Agriculture, l'Alimentation et l'Environnement · Ecologie des Forêts de Guyane
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Cirad, UMR EcoFoG (AgroParisTech, CNRS, INRAE, Université des Antilles, Université de la Guyane), Campus Agronomique, Kourou, French Guiana
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IRET, Herbier National du Gabon (CENAREST), Libreville, Gabon
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Santa Fe Institute · University of Arizona
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Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA
The Santa Fe Institute, Santa Fe, NM, USA
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Queensland Department of Environment and Science
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Queensland Herbarium, Department of Environment and Science, Toowong, QLD, Australia
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Université d'Agriculture de Kétou · Université Nationale d'Agriculture
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Ecole de Foresterie et Ingénierie du Bois, Université Nationale d’Agriculture, Kétou, Benin
Ecole de Foresterie et Ingénierie du Bois, Université Nationale d'Agriculture, Kétou, Benin
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Queen Mary University of London · Institute of Entomology · Czech Academy of Sciences, Biology Centre
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Biology Centre of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Institute of Entomology, Ceske Budejovice, Czech Republic
School of Biological and Behavioural Sciences, Queen Mary University of London, London, UK
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Geography, College of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Exeter, Exeter, UK
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Museu Paraense Emílio Goeldi. Coordenação de Ciências da Terra e Ecologia, Belém, Pará, Brasil
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Natural Resources Institute Finland
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Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke), Joensuu, Finland
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Institute of Plant Sciences, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
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Forest Research Institute Malaysia
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Forest Research Institute Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
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Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
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Department of Forest Resource Management, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences SLU, Umea, Sweden
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Research and Innovation Center, Fondazione Edmund Mach, San Michele All’adige, Italy
Research and Innovation Center, Fondazione Edmund Mach, San Michele All'adige, Italy
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Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
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Forestry Division, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Rome, Italy
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Research and Innovation Center, Fondazione Edmund Mach, San Michele All’adige, Italy
Research and Innovation Center, Fondazione Edmund Mach, San Michele All'adige, Italy
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Glick Designs LLC, Hadley, MA, USA
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Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh
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Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK
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Department of Plant Sciences, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
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Department of Plant Systematics, University of Bayreuth, Bayreuth, Germany
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Wageningen University & Research
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Wageningen University and Research, Wageningen, The Netherlands
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Université de Montpellier · Forests and Societies · Institut National Polytechnique Félix Houphouët-Boigny
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Cirad, UPR Forêts et Sociétés, University of Montpellier, Montpellier, France
Department of Forestry and Environment, National Polytechnic Institute (INP-HB), Yamoussoukro, Côte d’Ivoire
Department of Forestry and Environment, National Polytechnic Institute (INP-HB), Yamoussoukro, Côte d'Ivoire
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University of the Sunshine Coast
Affiliation as printed
Forest Research Institute, University of the Sunshine Coast, Sippy Downs, Queensland, QLD, Australia
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GFZ Helmholtz Centre for Geosciences
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Helmholtz GeoResearch Center (GFZ), Potsdam, Germany
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Royal Society for the Protection of Birds
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Centre for Conservation Science, The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, Sandy, UK
Wild Chimpanzee Foundation, Liberia Office, Monrovia, Liberia
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