Climate Change Data Portal
DOI | 10.1016/j.quascirev.2019.106058 |
Plant diversity of Holocene dune landscapes in the Cape Floristic Region: The legacy of Pleistocene sea-level dynamics | |
Grobler B.A.; Cawthra H.C.; Potts A.J.; Cowling R.M. | |
发表日期 | 2020 |
ISSN | 0277-3791 |
卷号 | 235 |
英文摘要 | Coastal dune landscapes are subject to harsh environmental conditions and, owing to Pleistocene sea-level fluctuations, comprise small, fragmented features. These environments present several challenges for plant colonization and persistence, and dune floras are therefore likely to be species-poor but endemic-rich. Here, we explore an explicitly historical hypothesis — the Pleistocene disturbance hypothesis — to explain patterns of plant diversity on Holocene dunes of the Cape Floristic Region (CFR). This hypothesis predicts that: (1) dunes would not show the west–east decline in diversity evident in inland habitats as the unique selective regime of the dune environment would override the evolutionary diversity patterns evident elsewhere in the CFR; (2) dune diversity would be lower than in adjacent, inland habitats that were not exposed to extreme disturbance regimes during the Pleistocene. We tested this by compiling regional-scale plant species diversity data from dune and interior lowland habitats of the southwestern and southeastern CFR and subjecting the data to species–area analysis. Our results were consistent with the Pleistocene disturbance hypothesis: diversity patterns of dunes did not differ between the southwestern and southeastern subregions, and interior sites were richer in species than dune sites. However, the difference in diversity between interior and dune sites (1.42×) was remarkably marginal. We propose that this is a consequence of the CFR's glacial physiography, where a large expanse of dune habitat was exposed at length along the Palaeo-Agulhas Plain during Pleistocene sea-level lowstands. This vast habitat area would have facilitated the development of a species-rich dune flora. © 2019 Elsevier Ltd |
英文关键词 | Age and area; Cape Floristic Region; Coastal dunes; Diversity macro-gradients; Mediterranean-Climate Ecosystem; Palaeo-Agulhas Plain; Plant diversity; Pleistocene; Sea-level changes; Species–area relationship |
语种 | 英语 |
scopus关键词 | Ecosystems; Plants (botany); Age and area; Cape Floristic Region; Coastal dune; Diversity macro-gradients; Mediterranean climates; Palaeo-Agulhas Plain; Plant diversity; Pleistocene; Sealevel change; Sea level; Cape Floristic Region; disturbance; dune; environmental conditions; Holocene; landscape ecology; paleobotany; Pleistocene; sea level change; species diversity; species-area relationship; Agulhas Plain; South Africa; Western Cape |
来源期刊 | Quaternary Science Reviews
![]() |
文献类型 | 期刊论文 |
条目标识符 | http://gcip.llas.ac.cn/handle/2XKMVOVA/151508 |
作者单位 | African Centre for Coastal Palaeoscience, Nelson Mandela University, PO Box 77000, Port Elizabeth, Eastern Cape 6031, South Africa; Geophysics and Remote Sensing Unit, Council for Geoscience, PO Box 572, Bellville, 7535, South Africa |
推荐引用方式 GB/T 7714 | Grobler B.A.,Cawthra H.C.,Potts A.J.,et al. Plant diversity of Holocene dune landscapes in the Cape Floristic Region: The legacy of Pleistocene sea-level dynamics[J],2020,235. |
APA | Grobler B.A.,Cawthra H.C.,Potts A.J.,&Cowling R.M..(2020).Plant diversity of Holocene dune landscapes in the Cape Floristic Region: The legacy of Pleistocene sea-level dynamics.Quaternary Science Reviews,235. |
MLA | Grobler B.A.,et al."Plant diversity of Holocene dune landscapes in the Cape Floristic Region: The legacy of Pleistocene sea-level dynamics".Quaternary Science Reviews 235(2020). |
条目包含的文件 | 条目无相关文件。 |
除非特别说明,本系统中所有内容都受版权保护,并保留所有权利。