Area, isolation and climate explain the diversity of mammals on islands worldwide.

ABSTRACT: Insular biodiversity is expected to be regulated differently than continental biota, but their determinants remain to be quantified at a global scale. We evaluated the importance of physical, environmental and historical factors on mammal richness and endemism across 5592 islands worldwide. We fitted generalized linear and mixed models to accommodate variation among biogeographic realms and performed analyses separately for bats and non-volants. Richness on islands ranged from one to 234 species, with up to 177 single island endemics. Diversity patterns were most consistently influenced by the islands' physical characteristics. Area positively affected mammal diversity, in particular the number of non-volant endemics. Island isolation, both current and past, was associated with lower richn

SUBMITTER: Barreto E 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8670959 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature