PALMS

Data in this study come from western Ecuador's Choco tropical forest, including \textit{Fundación para la Conservación de los Andes Tropicales Reserve and adjacent Reserva Ecológica Mache-Chindul park} (FCAT; 00°23'28'' N, 79°41'05'' W), \textit{Jama-Coaque Ecological Reserve} (00°06'57'' S, 80°07'29'' W), \textit{Canande Reserve} (0°31'34'' N 79°12'47'' W), and \textit{Tesoro Escondido Reserve} (0°33'16'' N 79°10'31'' W). FCAT is a high diversity humid tropical forest at elevation ∼500m, receiving ∼3000 mm yr⁻¹ precipitation with persistent fog during drier period. Jama-Coaque ranges from the boundary of the tropical moist deciduous/tropical moist evergreen forest at the lower elevations (∼1000 mm precipitation yr⁻¹, ∼250 m asl) to fog-inundated wet evergreen forests above 580m to 800m. Canande (350–500 m elevation) and Tesoro Escondido (∼200 m elevation) are lowland everwet Choco forests, both receiving 4000–5000 mm yr⁻¹ precipitation with no month experiencing drought stress or precipitation below 100 mm. These forests host several palm species with exposed canopy crowns, including the economically important \textit{Iriartea deltoidea}, \textit{Socratea exorrhiza}, and \textit{Oenocarpus bataua}, with lesser amounts of \textit{Attalea colenda} and \textit{Astrocaryum standleyanum}, and species composition varying across study sites