The Biology of Island Floras

Oceanic islands offer biologists unparalleled opportunities to study evolutionary processes and ecological phenomena. However, human activity threatens to alter or destroy many of these fragile ecosystems, with recent estimates suggesting that nearly half of the world's insular endemics are threatened with extinction. Bringing together researchers from around the world, this book illustrates how modern research methods and new concepts have challenged accepted theories and changed our understanding of island flora. Particular attention is given to the impact of molecular studies and the insights that they provide into topics such as colonisation, radiation, diversification and hybridisation. Examples are drawn from around the world, including the Hawaiian archipelago, Galapagos Islands, Madagascar and the Macronesian region. Conservation issues are also highlighted, with coverage of alien species and the role of ex situ conservation providing valuable information that will aid the formulation of management strategies and genetic rescue programmes.

List of contributors; Preface Juli Caujapé-Castells; 1. Introduction, islands and plants David Bramwell; 2. The reproductive biology of island plants Daniel J. Crawford, Gregory J. Anderson and Gabriel Bernardello; 3. Spatial methodology in historic biogeography of islands Paula Posadas, Jorge V. Crisci and Liliana Katinas; 4. Origin and evolution of Hawaiian endemics: new patterns revealed by molecular studies Sterling C. Keeley and Vicky A. Funk; 5. Origins and evolution of Galapagos endemic vascular plants Alan Tye and Javier Francisco-Ortega; 6. The plants of the Caribbean Islands: a review of the biogeography, diversity and conservation of a storm-battered biodiversity hot-spot Michael Maunder, Melissa Abdo, Rosalina Berazain, Colin Clubbe, Francisco Jiménez, Ángela Leiva, Eugenio Santiago-Valentín, Brett Jestrow and Javier Francisco-Ortega; 7. The biogeography of Madagascar palms John Dransfield and Mijoro Racotoarinivo; 8. Evolution and biogeography of the flora of the Socotra Archipelago (Yemen) Lisa M. Banfield, Kay Van Damme and Anthony G. Miller; 9. Biogeography and conservation of the flora of New Caledonia David Bramwell; 10. Phytogeography and relationships of the Pitcairn Islands flora Steve Waldren and Naomi Kingston; 11. Chromosomes and evolution in New Zealand endemic Angiosperms and Gymnosperms Brian G. Murray and Peter J. de Lange; 12. Jesters, red queens, boomerangs and surfers: a molecular outlook to the diversity of the Canarian endemic flora Juli Caujapé-Castells; 13. Endemism and evolution in Macaronesian and Mediterranean Limonium taxa M. Dolores Lledó, Per O. Karis, Manuel B. Crespo, Michael F. Fay and Mark W. Chase; 14. Dispersal, diversity and evolution in the Macaronesian Cryptogamic floras Alain Vanderpoorten, Ben Laenen, Rosalina Gabriel, Juana M. González-Mancebo, Fred J. Rumsey and Mark A. Carine; 15. Invasive alien species and islands Michael Kiehn; 16. Ecology, demography and conservation in the Galapagos Islands flora Ole Hamann; 17. New directions and challenges for the conservation of the flora of Madagascar Stuart Cable; 18. Climate change and island floras David Bramwell; 19. Conservation status of endemic plants on Isla de Coco, Costa Rica: applying IUCN red list criteria on a small island Jennifer L. Trusty, Herbert C. Kesler, Jorge Rodríguez and Javier Francisco-Ortega; 20. Botanical gardens and the conservation of island floras Sara Oldfield; 21. The hazardous future of island floras Vernon H. Heywood; Index.

David Bramwell is Director of the Jardín Botánico Canario 'Viera y Clavijo'- Unidad Asociada CSIC. His current research interests include the monitoring and mapping of wild populations of threatened species, the preparation of a Flora of the Macaronesia, mapping species decline worldwide, molecular studies of genetic diversity in small populations and the effects of climate change on island plants.
Juli Caujapé-Castells is Head of the Department of Molecular Biodiversity and DNA bank at the Jardín Botánico Canario 'Viera y Clavijo'- Unidad Asociada CSIC. His research uses molecular data to investigate problems related to the origins, taxonomic identification, microevolution and conservation of terrestrial vascular plants endemic to, or occurring in, Macaronesia.