Published in

American Association for the Advancement of Science, Science, 6006(330), p. 927-931, 2010

DOI: 10.1126/science.1194585

Links

Tools

Export citation

Search in Google Scholar

Amazonia through time: Andean uplift, climate change, landscape evolution and biodiversity

Journal article published in 2010 by H. ter Steege, C. Hoorn, Wesselingh Fp, F. P. Wesselingh, H. ter Steege ORCID, Bermudez Ma, M. A. Bermudez, A. Mora, J. Sevink, I. Sanmartín, A. Sanchez-Meseguer, C. L. Anderson, Anderson Cl, J. P. Figueiredo, Figueiredo Jp and other authors.
This paper is available in a repository.
This paper is available in a repository.

Full text: Download

Green circle
Preprint: archiving allowed
Upload
Green circle
Postprint: archiving allowed
Upload
Red circle
Published version: archiving forbidden
Policy details
Data provided by SHERPA/RoMEO

Abstract

The Making of Amazonian Diversity The biodiversity of the Amazon Basin is legendary, but the processes by which it has been generated have been debated. In the late 20th century the prevalent view was that the engine of diversity was repeated contraction and expansion of forest refugia during the past 3 million years or so. Hoorn et al. (p. 927 ) analyze findings from a diverse range of disciplines, including molecular phylogeny, ecology, sedimentology, structural geology, and palaeontology, to offer an overview of the entire history of this region during the Cenozoic era (66 million years ago). The uplift of the Andes was a pivotal event in the evolution of Amazonian landscapes because it continually altered river drainage patterns, which in turn put a variety of pressures on organisms to adapt to changing conditions in a multiplicity of ways. Hence, the diversity of the modern biota of the Amazon has more ancient origins than previously thought.