Study: Just 227 tree species dominate Amazon landscape

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-24567421


Researchers were surprised to find that such a small proportion of species dominated the Amazon

Despite being home to about 16,000 tree species, just 227 "hyperdominant" species account for half of Amazonia's total trees, a study suggests.

An international team of researchers found that the region was, in total, home to an estimated 390 billion trees.

Writing in Science, they added that the rarest 11,000 species made up only 0.12% of tree cover.

However, they added that the new data could help unlock ecological secrets held by the biodiversity hotspot.