The evolution of insular woodiness

The repeated evolution of woody growth form in herbaceous lineages of flowering plants on islands—insular woodiness—has long been recognized as an iconic island phenomenon. Here I present a recently published global synthesis on insular woodiness. Specifically, I explore the fraction of derived woody species in the flora of oceanic islands globally and relate it to island characteristics including island age and isolation, climate, and herbivore presence. The results show a large difference in importance of derived woodiness across islands and illustrate different trajectories leading to rampant convergent evolution towards insular woodiness.