[Taxacom] Seed plants of Fiji

[John Grehan]

Some recent molecular dispersalist papers have asserted words to the
effect that even if vicariance rule the continents, casual dispersal
still rule the waves (sorry about the really bad allusion to Rule
Britannia) when it comes to 'oceanic islands'. Of course such assertions
are only sustainable by ignoring the extensive vicariism present in
oceanic settings, and it will be all the harder in light of what Heads
brings to light in his latest account on the "Seed Plants of Fiji: An
ecological analysis". Theorists have talked about the false dichotomy
between ecology and history, but here it is put into practice. This
article may be accessed at:
http://www.sciencebuff.org/heads_publications.php

 

Some may find his conclusion that the "Flora of Fiji and the Pacific in
general has not been derived from immigrants from Asia or Australia, but
has evolved more or less in situ" to be challenging, but the challenge
lies in the empirical evidence of biogeography. He notes that "Taxa have
survived as metapopulations on the ephemeral volcanic islands which
characterize oceanic subduction zones, hot spots, and crack spots
[please refrain from the obvious allusion], and on the atolls which
characterize areas of subsidence. Thus, a widespread central pacific
species pool, including regional and local endemics and their ancestors,
has survived and evolved in the region for tens of millions of years,
and probably existed there even before the formation of the Pacific
basin".

 

On ecology he ends with the observation that "Whether or not geological
history has been important in every case, it seems unrealistic to
discuss altitudinal anomalies and the altitudinal range of communities
and taxa in general without reference to the geological changes of
altitude caused by uplift, subsidence, and erosion.

 

If nothing else the meta-population theorist should be happy to see
their ecological perspective given such a key role in the evolution of
global biota.

 

John Grehan

 

 

Dr. John R. Grehan

Director of Science and Collections

Buffalo Museum of Science1020 Humboldt Parkway

Buffalo, NY 14211-1193

email: jgrehan at sciencebuff.org

Phone: (716) 896-5200 ext 372

 

Panbiogeography

http://www.sciencebuff.org/biogeography_and_evolutionary_biology.php

Ghost moth research

http://www.sciencebuff.org/systematics_and_evolution_of_hepialdiae.php

Human evolution and the great apes

http://www.sciencebuff.org/human_origin_and_the_great_apes.php