Is there a species swarm paradox? Spatial segregation of related species in the understory of a tropical plant community

In tropical forests, some highly diverse angiosperm families occur in aggregates of related species that constitute a species swarm. This spatial aggregation seems paradoxical since related species should segregate in space due to expected ecological similarities. We found that Rubiaceae species segregate from each other. The swarm is not paradoxical because species occupy different microhabitats in the forest understory. (Published in Journal Vegetation Science; Funded by Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa e Inovação do Espírito Santo, FAPES).

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