RT info:eu-repo/semantics/article
T1 Quantifying surface-area changes of volcanic islands driven by Pleistocene sea-level cycles: biogeographical implications for the Macaronesian archipelagos
A1 Rijsdijk, Kenneth F.
A1 Hengl, Tomislav
A1 Norder, Sietze J.
A1 Otto, Rüdiger
A1 Emerson, Brent C.
A1 Ávila, Sergio P.
A1 López, Heriberto
A1 Loon, E. Emiel van
A1 Tjørve, Even
A1 Fernández-Palacios, José María
K1 Canary islands
K1 Connectivity
K1 Extinction
K1 Island biogeography
K1 Macaronesia
K1 Multiple-island endemics
K1 Pleistocene sea level
K1 Sea-level changes
K1 Target-area effect
K1 Volcanic island
AB Aim We assessed the biogeographical implications of Pleistocene sea-level fluctuationson the surface area of Macaronesian volcanic oceanic islands. Wequantified the effects of sea-level cycles on surface area over 1000-year intervals.Using data from the Canarian archipelago, we tested whether changes in islandconfiguration since the late Pleistocene explain species distribution patterns.Location Thirty-one islands of four Macaronesian archipelagos (the Azores,Madeira, the Canary Islands and Cape Verde).Methods We present a model that quantifies the surface-area change of volcanicislands driven by fluctuations in mean sea level (MSL). We assessed statisticallywhether Canarian islands that were merged during sea-level lowstandsexhibit a significantly higher percentage of shared (endemic) species than othercomparable neighbouring islands that remained isolated, using multimodelcomparisons evaluated using the Akaike information criterion (AIC).Results Each Macaronesian island exhibited a unique area-change history. Thepreviously connected islands of Lanzarote and Fuerteventura share significantlymore species of Insecta than the similarly geographically proximate island pairof La Gomera and Tenerife, which have never been connected. Additionally,Lanzarote and Fuerteventura contain the highest percentage of two-islandendemic Plantae species compared with all other neighbouring island pairswithin the Canaries. The multimodel comparison showed that past connectednessprovides improved explanatory models of shared island endemics.Main conclusions Pleistocene sea-level changes resulted in abrupt alterationsin island surface areas, coastal habitats and geographical isolation, often withintwo millennia. The merging of currently isolated islands during marine lowstandsmay explain both shared species richness and patterns of endemism onvolcanic islands. Currently, the islands are close to their long-term minimumsurface areas and most isolated configurations, suggesting that insular biota areparticularly vulnerable to increasing human impact.
YR 2014
FD 2014
LK http://riull.ull.es/xmlui/handle/915/16996
UL http://riull.ull.es/xmlui/handle/915/16996
LA en
DS Repositorio institucional de la Universidad de La Laguna
RD 20-abr-2024