Past changes in species diversity: A view from the mountains

doi:10.22498/pages.28.1.18

Abstract

Highlights

Mountains host a spectacular diversity of species
Like the Kohala Mountains of Hawaii, USA, cover a small geographic area, while others like the Himalayas are immense and stretch across several countries and thousands of kilometers. As diverse as they are (Gordon 2018), all these mountains share a common characteristic: they host a spectacular diversity of species, of which many are endemic, and contribute disproportionately to the terrestrial biodiversity on Earth (Rahbek et al 2019a)
The Cape Fold belt of South Africa alone has 68% endemism across the 9000 plant species known to science (IPBES 2018), the Andes are home to an approximate 45,000 plant species (Myers et al 2000), and more than half of the world's "biodiversity hotspots" are entirely or partly in mountainous areas (Körner and Ohsawa 2005)

Summary

Introduction

Current species distribution is only a snapshot in time that bears the memory of past geomorphological and climatic changes. Understanding past changes is key to interpret current patterns and inform mountain biodiversity conservation and management in the future.

Results

Conclusion