Insular environmental change; climate-forced and system-driven
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Date Uploaded:
27 November 2022
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Vegetation dynamics since the last glacial maximum in small oceanic islands and in
continental settings are compared. We selected the islands of Minorca (Western Mediterranean), Tenerife (Eastern Atlantic), the Azores (Central Atlantic) and Mauritius (Indian
Ocean) and compared pollen-based dynamics with selected continental areas of southern
Italy, the Atlas mountains, northwest Africa, and the East African mountains. We identified
potential areas where plant diversity is conserved during unfavourable periods serving as
refugial areas. Most pollen records from small oceanic islands with a low topography show,
as far as the pollen records reach, stable forest compositions suggesting floral diversity
is lodged within a mosaic-like structure. In mountainous islands data point to an altitudinal distribution of plant diversity and to altitudinal migration of plants as a response
to climate change. In Mauritius we registered at 11.4 cal. ka a climate-forced change in
forest composition which triggered a cascade of species turnover events considered as
system-driven. In the small islands discussed we identified areas with a high potential to
provide on a long-term shelter to insular floral diversity, thus serving as a refugium: 1)
gallery forest located along the drainage system (topography constrained), 2) cloud forest
located at the elevation where atmospheric moisture condensates and cloud formation
takes place (sea surface temperature and atmospheric lapse rate constrained), 3) and
deeply incised valleys, connecting diversity between all available elevations, where relatively
humid conditions prevail such as the barrancos in Tenerife and the deeply incised valleys
in Mauritius (geomorphology and sea-level constrained).
Language
English
Publisher
Servicio de Publicaciones, Universidad de La Laguna
