Island woodiness underpins accelerated disparification in plant radiations.

ABSTRACT: The evolution of secondary (insular) woodiness and the rapid disparification of plant growth forms associated with island radiations show intriguing parallels between oceanic islands and tropical alpine sky islands. However, the evolutionary significance of these phenomena remains poorly understood and the focus of debate. We explore the evolutionary dynamics of species diversification and trait disparification across evolutionary radiations in contrasting island systems compared with their nonisland relatives. We estimate rates of species diversification, growth form evolution and phenotypic space saturation for the classical oceanic island plant radiations - the Hawaiian silverswords and Macaronesian Echium - and the well-studied sky island radiations of Lupinus and Hypericum in the Ande

SUBMITTER: Nurk NM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6766886 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature