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Plant Ecol (2017) 218:139150 DOI 10.1007/s11258-016-0673-y
http://crossmark.crossref.org/dialog/?doi=10.1007/s11258-016-0673-y&domain=pdf
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Web End = Endemics and their common congener plant species on an East Mediterranean island: a comparative functional trait approach
Ralf Hand . Anita Grossmann . Daniel Lauterbach
Received: 30 March 2016 / Accepted: 31 October 2016 / Published online: 9 November 2016 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2016
Abstract Understanding evolution and ecology of endemic plants is of great importance for conservation of those rare and endangered species. Pairwise comparisons of plant functional traits could be an adequate method to get insights in evolutionary and ecological processes. We examined whether morphological traits representing competitive ability and habitat specicity differ between endemics and common plants. Therefore, we performed pairwise comparison analyses of 9 plant functional traits in 36 congeneric pairs of endemics and their common congeners on the East Mediterranean island of Cyprus, i.e., the rst such study conducted on a Mediterranean island. We found
that endemic species prefer higher elevations and more extreme habitats. Endemics were smaller and they had smaller owers than their common congeners. Common species had higher chromosome numbers than endemic ones. Endemic and common species showed no signicant differences in canopy height, inorescence height, leaf length and width, and owering period. Our study showed that the situation on a large oceanic island does not differ from results in mainland research areas.
Keywords Biodiversity hotspot Mediterranean
Basin Cyprus Endemism Rare common
comparison
Introduction
Endemic richness is critical to our understanding, e.g., as regards its distribution patterns and its history. The Mediterranean region is considered to be one of the earths 25 biodiversity hotspots (Myers et al. 2000), including about 24,000 plant species of which ca. 60% are endemics (Greuter 1991). This richness is attributed to a number of factors including palaeogeologic and palaeoclimatic history, ecogeographical heterogeneity, human inuence and a high percentage of stenoendemic species (Humphries et al. 1999; Thompson 2005; Blondel et al. 2010; Nieto Feliner 2014). Special edaphic systems (i.e., ultrabasic and
Communicated by Timothy Bell.
R. HandBotanic Garden and Botanical Museum Berlin-Dahlem, Freie Universitat Berlin, Knigin-Luise-Str. 68, 14195 Berlin, Germany
A. GrossmannTechnical University of Berlin, Strae des 17. Juni 135, 10623 Berlin, Germany
D. Lauterbach (&)
Botanical Garden, University of Potsdam, Maulbeerallee 3, 14469 Potsdam, Germanye-mail: [email protected]
D....