Diversity of palm communities at different spatial scales in a recently fragmented tropical landscape

Habitat loss and landscape fragmentation are often associated with changes in biological communities at different spatial scales. Our goal in this study was to identify fragment characteristics and environmental variables linked to palm species richness, abundance and community similarity at local and landscape spatial scales and to contrast these patterns between adults and juveniles. We sampled palm communities in 22 fragments of Choco rainforest in and around the Mache-Chindul Ecological Reserve in north-western Ecuador, where we recorded 9991 individuals of 23 palm species. At the landscape scale, fragment size and surrounding forest cover were not associated with species richness or abundance for either adults or juveniles. However, community similarity of juveniles was related to surrounding forest cover and the abundance of juveniles and adults increased with elevation. At the local scale, adults and juveniles differed in their relationships to environmental variables and distance to fragment edge: juveniles showed reduced species richness and different community composition near fragment edges compared with interior habitat, but adults did not. These results provide baseline information on palm communities in a poorly studied conservation hotspot and highlight the importance of considering multiple spatial scales and life stages in studies of habitat fragmentation. (C) 2016 The Linnean Society of London.