J. Mt. Sci. (2024) 21(4): 1259-1271 e-mail: jms@imde.ac.cn http://jms.imde.ac.cn https://doi.org/10.1007/s11629-023-7921-0 1259 Abstract: Environmental conditions can change markedly over geographical distances along elevation gradients, making them natural laboratories to study the processes that structure communities. This work aimed to assess the influences of elevation on Tropical Montane Cloud Forest plant communities in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest, a historically neglected ecoregion. We evaluated the phylogenetic structure, forest structure (tree basal area and tree density) and species richness along an elevation gradient, as well as the evolutionary fingerprints of elevation-success on phylogenetic lineages from the tree communities. To do so, we assessed nine communities along an elevation gradient from 1210 to 2310 m a.s.l. without large elevation gaps. The relationships between elevation and phylogenetic structure, forest structure and species richness were investigated through Linear Models. The occurrence of evolutionary fingerprint on phylogenetic lineages was investigated by quantifying Evolutionary fingerprint, phylogenetic and forest structure of tropical montane Atlantic cloud forests along an elevation gradient Received: 23-Jan-2023 Revised: 12-Nov-2023 Accepted: 29-Feb-2024 Original Article Ravi Fernandes MARIANO 1,2 * https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9467-7615; e-mail: ravimariano@hotmail.com Vanessa Leite REZENDE 3 https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3032-8472; e-mail: vanessa.leite.rezende@gmail.com Cléber Rodrigo de SOUZA 1 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4122-2748; e-mail: crdesouza@hotmail.com Patrícia Vieira POMPEU 4 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3140-3457; e-mail: patricia.pompeu@uems.br Rubens Manoel dos SANTOS 1 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4075-462X; e-mail: rubensmanoel@ufla.br Carolina Njaime MENDES 1 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2377-7600; e-mail: carolina.nmendes@yahoo.com.br Aloysio Souza de MOURA 5 https://orcid.org/ 0000-0002-9081-9460; e-mail: thraupidaelo@yahoo.com.br Felipe Santana MACHADO 1 https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4402-6520; e-mail: epilefsama@hotmail.com Warley Augusto Caldas CARVALHO 6 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1524-1531; e-mail: wacaldas@yahoo.com.br Marco Aurélio Leite FONTES 1 https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8467-4667; e-mail: fontes@ufla.br * Corresponding author 1 Department of Forest Sciences, Federal University of Lavras, Lavras 37200-900, Brazil 2Environmental Defence Association of Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte 30360-110, Brazil 3 Department of Ecology and Conservation, Federal University of Lavras, Lavras 37200-900, Brazil 4 Department of Forest Sciences, State University of Mato Grosso do Sul, Aquidauana 79200-000, Brazil 5 Agência Zetta, Federal University of Lavras, Lavras 37200-900, Brazil. 6 Department of Natural Sciences, Federal University of São João del-Rei, São João del-Rei 36307-352, Brazil. Citation: Mariano RF, Rezende VL, de Souza CR, et al. (2024) Evolutionary fingerprint, phylogenetic and forest structure of tropical montane Atlantic cloud forests along an elevation gradient. Journal of Mountain Science 21(4). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11629-023-7921-0 © Science Press, Institute of Mountain Hazards and Environment, CAS and Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2024