Island plants like this flowering herbaceous plant, called “tower of jewels” (Echium wildpretii) show interesting adjustments to their living and non-living environment. Medium-sized, slow-growing, woody shrubs control Tenerifes flora, the research study reveals. Credit: José María Fernández-Palacios
The researchers recorded about 80% of Tenerifes native seed plants and surveyed eight plant characteristics: plant size, specific wood density, leaf thickness, particular and outright leaf location, leaf dry matter, nitrogen concentration in leaf tissue, and seed weight. They compared their data with data on more than 2,000 plant species found on the mainland.
” Our research study reveals, for the first time and contrary to all expectations, that types groups that developed on the Canary Islands do not contribute to the expansion of the breadth of various qualities. This means they do not result in more functional variety,” describes the lead of the study, Professor Holger Kreft, and Göttingen Universitys Biodiversity, Macroecology and Biogeography research study group.
First author Dr Paola Barajas Barbosa throughout field research study on Tenerife. Credit: Paola Barajas Barbosa
Previous contrasts reveal that species occurring on islands can vary significantly from their loved ones on the mainland. A well-known example is supplied by the Galapagos giant tortoise: the species is just found on the Galapagos Islands and, as an outcome of adjustment to its ecological conditions, is much bigger than tortoises from the mainland.
The research group anticipated similar differences in between island and mainland plants, but this was not the case. “Rather, we see that many species follow the constraints of the island environment. The high functional diversity is generally due to the types that are widespread on the island and the neighboring mainland,” explains Kreft.
” At the beginning of our research, we presumed that island plants would reveal fundamental distinctions and would be identified by rather limited diversity in terms of function due to their geographical isolation,” describes very first author Dr. Paola Barajas Barbosa. The results are part of her doctoral thesis, which she did at the University of Göttingen. She now researches at the German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research in Leipzig (iDiv). “We were all the more stunned to find that the plants of Tenerife have a relatively high practical variety.”
Reference: “Assembly of functional variety in an oceanic island plants” by Martha Paola Barajas Barbosa, Dylan Craven, Patrick Weigelt, Pierre Denelle, Rüdiger Otto, Sandra Díaz, Jonathan Price, José María Fernández-Palacios and Holger Kreft, 12 July 2023, Nature.DOI: 10.1038/ s41586-023-06305-z.
The findings were unexpected: the islands plant life exhibits a remarkable diversity of forms. The researchers investigated how the plants of Tenerife differ in functional terms from plants from other parts of the world. Island plants like this flowering herbaceous plant, known as “tower of jewels” (Echium wildpretii) reveal remarkable adjustments to their living and non-living environment. The research study team anticipated similar differences in between island and mainland plants, but this was not the case.” At the start of our research, we assumed that island plants would show basic distinctions and would be characterized by rather minimal variety in terms of function due to their geographical isolation,” explains very first author Dr. Paola Barajas Barbosa.
Tenerifes flora has a remarkably high variety in terms of forms and functions. In the background: Pico del Teide, Spains greatest mountain at 3715 meters. Credit: Holger Kreft
Göttingen University-led research team takes a look at differences in form and function of island and mainland plants.
Oceanic islands function as valuable platforms for studies in ecology, biogeography, and evolution. Many revolutionary discoveries, consisting of Darwins theory of advancement, have actually been obtained from examining species interactions on these islands with their biotic and abiotic surroundings. Recently, a global group of researchers, led by the University of Göttingen, looked into the plant life of Tenerife in the Canary Islands.
The findings were unforeseen: the islands plant life shows an amazing diversity of forms. Yet, in regards to performance, these plants dont substantially differ from their mainland counterparts. However, unlike the plants of the mainland, the flora of Tenerife is dominated by slow-growing, woody shrubs with a “low-risk” life method. The outcomes were recently published in the journal Nature.
The researchers examined how the plants of Tenerife vary in practical terms from plants from other parts of the world. They conducted comprehensive field research and measurements at over 500 websites utilizing the most current techniques of functional ecology. The sites were spread all over the island at elevations ranging from sea level to mountainous regions above 3,300 meters.
