Vegetation transition in the central Brazilian Cerrado is better explained by structure than tree composition differences

The Cerrado biome encompasses different vegetation types, ranging from savanna-like vegetation to forest-like vegetation, represented by a vegetational continuum from Cerrado Típico, Cerrado Denso and Cerradão, respectively. Nevertheless, there are still uncertainties on whether these different vegetation types do not only differ in their vegetation structure, but also in their species compositions. Based on vegetation surveys from 167 plots in the central Brazilian Cerrado, we addressed two questions: (i) How variable is the vegetation structure and species between different Cerrado vegetation types? Second, (ii) how strongly are vegetation structure and species composition linked? To answer these questions, we performed hierarchical clustering for species composition and vegetation structure. Our results showed that for species composition only 18% of the variance was explained by hierarchical clustering, while for vegetation structure 82% of variance was explained. Additionally, there was a significant difference in the structure metrics between clusters, showing that it is possible to clearly identify different Cerrado vegetation types based on vegetation structures, but not by species composition. Finally, we suggest that trait plasticity in Cerrado trees should drive structural differences among vegetation types, which could be the focus of future studies.