Restructuring of the ‘Macaronesia’ biogeographic unit: A marine multi-taxon biogeographical approach

The Azores, Madeira, Selvagens, Canary Islands and Cabo Verde are commonly united under the term “Macaronesia”. This study investigates the coherency and validity of Macaronesia as a biogeographic unit using six marine groups with very different dispersal abilities: coastal fishes, echinoderms, gast...

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Published in:Scientific reports 2019-11, Vol.9 (1), p.15792-18, Article 15792
Main Authors: Freitas, Rui, Romeiras, Maria, Silva, Luís, Cordeiro, Ricardo, Madeira, Patrícia, González, José Antonio, Wirtz, Peter, Falcón, Jesús M., Brito, Alberto, Floeter, Sergio R., Afonso, Pedro, Porteiro, Filipe, Viera-Rodríguez, María Ascensión, Neto, Ana Isabel, Haroun, Ricardo, Farminhão, João N. M., Rebelo, Ana Cristina, Baptista, Lara, Melo, Carlos S., Martínez, Alejandro, Núñez, Jorge, Berning, Björn, Johnson, Markes E., Ávila, Sérgio P.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
101/28
631/181/2468
631/553/1833
631/553/2712
Algae
Archipelagoes
Biogeography
Crustaceans
Dispersal
Humanities and Social Sciences
Islands
Mollusks
multidisciplinary
Science
Science (multidisciplinary)
Seaweeds
Shellfish
Upwelling
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Summary:The Azores, Madeira, Selvagens, Canary Islands and Cabo Verde are commonly united under the term “Macaronesia”. This study investigates the coherency and validity of Macaronesia as a biogeographic unit using six marine groups with very different dispersal abilities: coastal fishes, echinoderms, gastropod molluscs, brachyuran decapod crustaceans, polychaete annelids, and macroalgae. We found no support for the current concept of Macaronesia as a coherent marine biogeographic unit. All marine groups studied suggest the exclusion of Cabo Verde from the remaining Macaronesian archipelagos and thus, Cabo Verde should be given the status of a biogeographic subprovince within the West African Transition province. We propose to redefine the Lusitanian biogeographical province, in which we include four ecoregions: the South European Atlantic Shelf, the Saharan Upwelling, the Azores, and a new ecoregion herein named Webbnesia, which comprises the archipelagos of Madeira, Selvagens and the Canary Islands.
ISSN:2045-2322
2045-2322
DOI:10.1038/s41598-019-51786-6