Volcanic ash deposition as a selection mechanism towards woodiness

The high proportion of woody plant species on oceanic islands has hitherto been explained mainly by gradual adaptation to climatic conditions. Here, we present a novel hypothesis that such woodiness is adaptative to volcanic ash (tephra) deposition. Oceanic islands are subject to frequent eruptions...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Npj Biodiversity 2023-07, Vol.2 (1), p.14, Article 14
Main Authors: Beierkuhnlein, Carl, Nogales, Manuel, Field, Richard, Vetaas, Ole R, Walentowitz, Anna, Weiser, Frank, Stahlmann, Reinhold, Guerrero-Campos, María, Jentsch, Anke, Medina, Félix M, Chiarucci, Alessandro
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Biodiversity
Biogeography
Dispersal
Endemic species
Geology
Herbivory
Islands
Laboratory tests
Landslides & mudslides
Morphology
Oceanic islands
Petrography
Plant reproduction
Pollination
Pollinators
Predation
Seed dispersal
Topography
Vegetation
Volcanic activity
Volcanic ash
Volcanoes
Woody plants
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Summary:The high proportion of woody plant species on oceanic islands has hitherto been explained mainly by gradual adaptation to climatic conditions. Here, we present a novel hypothesis that such woodiness is adaptative to volcanic ash (tephra) deposition. Oceanic islands are subject to frequent eruptions with substantial and widespread ash deposition on evolutionary time scales. We postulate that this selects for woodiness through an increased ability to avoid burial of plant organs by ash, and to re-emerge above the new land surface. We sense-checked using observations of plant occurrences and distributions on La Palma (Canary Islands) in April 2022, 4 months after the end of the eruptions of the Tajogaite volcano (Cumbre Vieja ridge). In contrast to herbs and grasses, most woody plants persisted and were already in full flower in areas with 10+ cm ash deposition. Remarkably, these persisting woody plants were almost exclusively endemics.
ISSN:2731-4243
2731-4243
DOI:10.1038/s44185-023-00018-2