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
- References
3 - Spatial methodologies in historical biogeography of islands
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
- References
Summary
The study of insular biotas has influenced biology for a considerable period of time. The uniqueness of many biotic assemblages on islands or isolated ecosystems (e.g. mountaintops, caves or lakes), which act as habitat islands has prompted the development of biological fields such as evolutionary biology and ecology.
It is well known that the ideas of Darwin and Wallace on evolution were rooted in a historical approach to the geographical distribution of organisms (Crisci & Katinas, 2009). As Darwin himself put it: ‘In considering the distribution of organic beings over the face of the globe, the first great fact which strikes us is, that neither the similarity nor the dissimilarity of the inhabitants of various regions can be accounted for by their climatal and other physical conditions’ (Darwin, 1859: 346, quoted in Crisci & Katinas, 2009).
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- Information
- The Biology of Island Floras , pp. 37 - 56Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2011
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