Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Contributors
- Preface
- 1 Introduction: islands and plants
- 2 The reproductive biology of island plants
- 3 Spatial methodologies in historical biogeography of islands
- 4 Origin and evolution of Hawaiian endemics: new patterns revealed by molecular phylogenetic studies
- 5 Origins and evolution of Galapagos endemic vascular plants
- 6 The plants of the Caribbean islands: a review of the biogeography, diversity and conservation of a storm-battered biodiversity hotspot
- 7 The biogeography of Madagascar palms
- 8 Evolution and biogeography of the flora of the Socotra archipelago (Yemen)
- 9 Biogeography and conservation of the flora of New Caledonia
- 10 Phytogeography and relationships of the Pitcairn Islands flora
- 11 Chromosomes and evolution in New Zealand endemic angiosperms and gymnosperms
- 12 Jesters, red queens, boomerangs and surfers: a molecular outlook on the diversity of the Canarian endemic flora
- 13 Endemism and evolution in Macaronesian and Mediterranean Limonium taxa
- 14 Dispersal, diversity and evolution of the Macaronesian cryptogamic floras
- 15 Invasive alien species and islands
- 16 Ecology, demography and conservation in the Galapagos Islands flora
- 17 New directions and challenges for the conservation of the flora of Madagascar
- 18 Climate change and island floras
- 19 Conservation status of endemic plants on Isla del Coco, Costa Rica: applying IUCN Red List criteria on a small island
- 20 Botanic gardens and the conservation of island floras
- 21 The hazardous future of island floras
- Index
Preface
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 07 October 2011
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Contributors
- Preface
- 1 Introduction: islands and plants
- 2 The reproductive biology of island plants
- 3 Spatial methodologies in historical biogeography of islands
- 4 Origin and evolution of Hawaiian endemics: new patterns revealed by molecular phylogenetic studies
- 5 Origins and evolution of Galapagos endemic vascular plants
- 6 The plants of the Caribbean islands: a review of the biogeography, diversity and conservation of a storm-battered biodiversity hotspot
- 7 The biogeography of Madagascar palms
- 8 Evolution and biogeography of the flora of the Socotra archipelago (Yemen)
- 9 Biogeography and conservation of the flora of New Caledonia
- 10 Phytogeography and relationships of the Pitcairn Islands flora
- 11 Chromosomes and evolution in New Zealand endemic angiosperms and gymnosperms
- 12 Jesters, red queens, boomerangs and surfers: a molecular outlook on the diversity of the Canarian endemic flora
- 13 Endemism and evolution in Macaronesian and Mediterranean Limonium taxa
- 14 Dispersal, diversity and evolution of the Macaronesian cryptogamic floras
- 15 Invasive alien species and islands
- 16 Ecology, demography and conservation in the Galapagos Islands flora
- 17 New directions and challenges for the conservation of the flora of Madagascar
- 18 Climate change and island floras
- 19 Conservation status of endemic plants on Isla del Coco, Costa Rica: applying IUCN Red List criteria on a small island
- 20 Botanic gardens and the conservation of island floras
- 21 The hazardous future of island floras
- Index
Summary
The diversity of island endemic floras always reminds us of the importance of these enclaves in understanding the origins and evolution of life on our planet. Islands represent roughly 5% of the Earth’s land surface, but their plant endemics have unique characteristics which have arisen (mainly) through isolation, and make up about one-quarter of all extant terrestrial plant species. Island floras are thus not only distinctive, but also strikingly prolific.
Despite centuries of botanical exploration, constant new findings remind us how much we still have to learn about plant biodiversity on islands. In some archipelagos, palaeo-botanical data convincingly show that the vegetation makeup may have been radically different barely a few thousand years ago, new insular species are frequently discovered, and some others that were feared extinct reappear.
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- Information
- The Biology of Island Floras , pp. xiii - xviPublisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2011