30.03.2016 | sDiv, Research

Sea level changes since the last ice age impacts plant diversity

The isolation of oceanic islands promotes the development of unique species, like here Aeonium glandulosum from the Madeira Island. Photo: Juliano Sarmento Cabral, iDiv

Note for the media: Use of the pictures provided by iDiv is permitted for reports related to this media release only, and under the condition that credit is given to the picture originator.

Göttingen. An international team led by scientists of the University of Göttingen has studied the influence of glacial climate and sea level fluctuations on biodiversity of islands. The results of the study show the importance of historical environmental characteristics to today's expression of communities and their diversity. The results are arguments for a stronger consideration of historical factors in biodiversity research. The global study on diversity of plants on oceanic islands has been published in the journal Nature. Researcher of the Danish University of Aarhus and the German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) were also involved. Dr. Juliano Sarmento Cabral of iDiv is an expert for island biogeography and worked during the last months as postdoc at the Synthesis Centre sDiv in Leipzig.
Read more about the new paper in the press release of the University of Göttingen in German at http://www.uni-goettingen.de/de/3240.html?cid=5456 & https://idw-online.de/en/news648536
Publication:
Patrick Weigelt et al. (2016): Late Quaternary climate change shapes island biodiversity. Nature. http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nature17443
News & Views:
José María Fernández-Palacios (2016): Island biogeography: Shaped by sea-level shifts. Nature. http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nature17880

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