FUTURE-ORIENTED MAPPING OF BIODIVERSITY IN AMAZONIA

The study of Amazonian plants leads to a comprehensive morphochemical concept of biodiversity. The latitudinal gradients from poles to equator for increasing richness run in the opposite direction for metabolic features. This is due to the fact that the production of both major macromolecular plant products, cellulose and lignins, is light-intensity dependent. High solar energy input around the equator conditions rapid metabolic turnover, while low energy input results in smaller rates of carbon now through metabolic cycles with consequent micromolecular diversification potential. Crash programs for the investigation of Amazonian morpho-chemical biogeography would acquire predictive value if the usual count of species in restricted areas was replaced by surveys across broad geographic transects. Novel methodology, needed for the investigation of such mostly longitudinal trends, should help assign the regions of highest biodiversity, as well as the corridors leading up to them. Further work along these lines will clarify the fascinating question if morphological and chemical evolutionary or spacial gradients consistently point in the same direction, whatever the plant groups under scrutiny.