Geography and dispersal of galapagos islands vascular plants

ABSTRACT NEARLY every naturalist who has dealt, with the Galapagos Islands since Darwin1 has pointed out the flora's obvious geographical affinities with tropical America, stressing

relationships with South America, Mexico, Central America and the West Indies. But as the tropical American flora has become better known, most Galapagos species once thought to be only

Mexican, Central American or West Indian in their extra-Galapagean distributions also have been found to occur in northern and western tropical South America (for example, the widespread

_Zanthoxylum fagara_ (L.) Sarg., Rutaceae) or to have been incorrectly identified (for example, the endemic _Chamaesyce viminea_ (Hook, f.) Burch, Euphorbiaceae). Svenson2 first indicated

the flora's lack of affinity with Mexico and Central America. The study reported here is the first to present evidence that West Indian relationships do not exist. After publication of

the _Flora of the Galapagos Islands_3 and several subsequent papers4–12, it is now also possible to quantify the geographical relationships of the vascular flora and to study the

plants' dispersal mechanisms. This study shows the flora's relationships to be with adjacent South America and and that birds have had the most important role in plant dispersal to

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customer support SIMILAR CONTENT BEING VIEWED BY OTHERS MYCORRHIZAL TYPES INFLUENCE ISLAND BIOGEOGRAPHY OF PLANTS Article Open access 24 September 2021 ISLANDS ARE KEY FOR PROTECTING THE

WORLD’S PLANT ENDEMISM Article 16 October 2024 THE GLOBAL LOSS OF FLORISTIC UNIQUENESS Article Open access 15 December 2021 REFERENCES * Darwin, C., _Narrative of the Surveying Voyages of

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Download references AUTHOR INFORMATION AUTHORS AND AFFILIATIONS * Department of Biology, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, Virginia, 24061 DUNCAN M. PORTER

Authors * DUNCAN M. PORTER View author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar RIGHTS AND PERMISSIONS Reprints and permissions ABOUT THIS ARTICLE CITE THIS

ARTICLE PORTER, D. Geography and dispersal of Galapagos Islands vascular plants. _Nature_ 264, 745–746 (1976). https://doi.org/10.1038/264745a0 Download citation * Received: 20 September

1976 * Accepted: 09 November 1976 * Issue Date: 23 December 1976 * DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/264745a0 SHARE THIS ARTICLE Anyone you share the following link with will be able to read this

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