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; 0023'28'' N, 7941'05'' W), \textit{Jama-Coaque Ecological Reserve} (0006'57'' S, 8007'29'' W), \textit{Canande Reserve} (031'34'' N 7912'47'' W), and \textit{Tesoro Escondido Reserve} (033'16'' N 7910'31'' W). FCAT is a high diversity humid tropical forest at elevation 500m, receiving 3000 mm yr 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, 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 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