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Science 2 March 1973:
Vol. 179. no. 4076, pp. 893 - 895
DOI: 10.1126/science.179.4076.893
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Articles

Species Number and Endemism: The Galápagos Archipelago Revisited

Michael P. Johnson 1 and Peter H. Raven 2

1 Department of Biological Science, Florida State University, Tallahassee 32306
2 Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis 63110

Regression analyses to determine plant species number are repeated for the Galápagos Islands with new data. The multiple curvilinear regression gives the best prediction of species number, with island area making the only significant contribution. The proportion of species endemic to the Galápagos is highest in the arid, transition zone and on small islands, and lowest in the littoral and mesic zones. This is explained in terms of zone-specific immigration and extinction rates and the very recent appearance of moist upland climates in the archipelago.


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Supersaturated Island Faunas: A Species-Age Relationship for Lizards on Post-Pleistocene Land-Bridge Islands.
B. A. Wilcox and B. A. WILCOX (1978)
Science 199, 996-998
   Abstract »    PDF »
Biogeography.
D.R. Stoddart (1977)
Progress in Physical Geography 1, 537-543
   PDF »
Glacial Migrations of Plants: Island Biogeographical Evidence.
B. B. Simpson (1974)
Science 185, 698-700
   Abstract »    PDF »


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Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)