The plants of the Caribbean islands: a review of the biogeography, diversity and conservation of a storm-battered biodiversity hotspot

doi:10.1017/CBO9780511844270.007

6 - The plants of the Caribbean islands: a review of the biogeography, diversity and conservation of a storm-battered biodiversity hotspot

Published online by Cambridge University Press: 07 October 2011

Eugenio Santiago-Valentín ,

Brett Jestrow and

Javier Francisco-Ortega

Edited by

David Bramwell and

Juli Caujapé-Castells

Show author details

Michael Maunder: Affiliation:
Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden, Florida
Melissa Abdo: Affiliation:
Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden, Florida
Rosalina Berazain: Affiliation:
Jardín Botánico Nacional, Cuba
Colin Clubbe: Affiliation:
Royal Botanic Gardens, UK
Francisco Jiménez: Affiliation:
Jardín Botánico Nacional, Dominican Republic
Ángela Leiva: Affiliation:
Jardín Botánico Nacional, Cuba
Eugenio Santiago-Valentín: Affiliation:
Universidad de Puerto Rico
Brett Jestrow: Affiliation:
Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden, USA
Javier Francisco-Ortega: Affiliation:
Florida International University
David Bramwell: Affiliation:
Jardín Botánico Canario 'Viera y Clavijo' - Unidad Asociada CSIC
Juli Caujapé-Castells: Affiliation:
Jardín Botánico Canario 'Viera y Clavijo' - Unidad Asociada CSIC

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Summary

The Caribbean islands, despite centuries of large-scale habitat loss, still contain habitats of amazing beauty and, importantly, these habitats provide an integral foundation for the islands’ sustainable development. These surviving habitats contain unique plant diversity found nowhere else on the planet and for some families, most notably the Asteraceae, globally unique lineages. Despite the Caribbean being one of the first contact zones between Western science and tropical biodiversity, much remains to be discovered and to be conserved.

Type: Chapter
Information: The Biology of Island Floras , pp. 154 - 178

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511844270.007 [Opens in a new window]

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Print publication year: 2011

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