The ghost of competition past in the phylogeny of island endemic plants

Silvertown, Jonathan (2004). The ghost of competition past in the phylogeny of island endemic plants. Journal of Ecology, 92(1) pp. 168–173.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2745.2004.00853.x

Abstract

1 Large endemic plant taxa found on oceanic archipelagos are frequently monophyletic, indicating that they originate from a single colonization event. 2 Colonization is a two-stage process requiring both dispersal and establishment to be successful. Accordingly, once-only colonization may be explained either by dispersal barriers limiting colonization, or by the first successful colonization of an island inhibiting the establishment of later arrivals through niche pre-emption and interspecific competition. 3 Using the endemic flora of the Canaries and Macaronesia as a test case, I argue that barriers to dispersal are low and that niche pre-emption is therefore the more likely explanation for the monophyly of large endemic groups in these islands.

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