Using the species-rich genus, Machaerium (Fabaceae), our research team asked the following questions:

• Do these closely-related tree and liana species sort differentially into seasonal vs. aseasonal environments?
• Does annual precipitation correlate with high richness of tree OR with high richness of liana species of Machaerium?
• Do cross-growing species (those growing as both tree & liana) have broader geographic ranges than related species represented by a single life form?

From gathering and anaylzing our data, we concluded several things about Machaerium lifeforms. First of all, Machaerium liana species do not prosper more than trees in seasonally dry habitats, and these species are most common in areas of higher precipitation and trees in lower ppt. Additionally, cross-growing Machaerium species have the broadest range among the life-forms in the genus, and other cross-growing neotropical species are also widespread.