Network Biogeography of a Complex Island System: the Aegean
Journal of Biogeography (J. Biogeogr.) (2016) ORIGINAL Network biogeography of a complex ARTICLE island system: the Aegean Archipelago revisited Konstantinos Kougioumoutzis1,2*, Anna Thalassini Valli1, Elisavet Georgopoulou3, Stylianos Michail Simaiakis4, Kostas A. Triantis2 and Panayiotis Trigas1 1Laboratory of Systematic Botany, Faculty of ABSTRACT Crop Science, Agricultural University of Aim The Aegean Archipelago has been the focal research area for identifying Athens, GR-118 55 Athens, Greece, 2 and testing several ecological and evolutionary patterns, yet its biogeographical Department of Ecology & Systematics, Faculty of Biology, National & Kapodistrian subdivision has been somewhat overlooked, with the processes driving the University of Athens, GR-157 03 Athens, assembly of the Aegean island plant communities still remaining largely Greece, 3Geological-Paleontological unclear. To bridge this gap, we identify the biogeographical modules (highly Department, Natural History Museum, 1010 linked subgroups of islands and plant taxa) within the Aegean Archipelago. 4 Vienna, Austria, Natural History Museum of Location The Aegean Archipelago, Greece. Crete, University of Crete, Heraklion GR- 71409 Crete, Greece Methods We used a network approach to detect island biogeographical roles and modules, based on a large and detailed database including 1498 Aegean endemic and subendemic plant taxa distributed on 59 Aegean Islands and five adjacent mainland areas. Results The Aegean was divided into six biogeographical modules; the net- work was significantly modular. None of the modules displayed all four possi- ble biogeographical roles (connectors, module hubs, network hubs, peripherals). Six new biogeographical regions in the Aegean were identified. Main conclusions The borders of the six biogeographical regions in the Aegean correspond well to the region’s palaeogeographical evolution from the middle Miocene to the end of the Pleistocene.
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