Endemism: a botanical perspective

Abstract

A taxon is endemic if confined to a particular area through historical, ecological or physiological reasons. Endemics can be old or new, and the endemic taxon can be of any rank, though is usually at or below family level. This chapter defines and illustrates the range of endemism in vascular plants. Endemism has a multifactorial dependency and it is important to evaluate the several axes of variation which may operate separately or in concert. These relate to size and age of areas, extermination and reinvasion of the biota of glaciated areas, island isolation, age and degree of splitting up of land masses, presence of land bridges, ages of floras and habitats, latitudinal, altitudinal and humidity variation, and differences in soil parent materials. -from Author