Functional island biogeography of the flora of the Canary Islands

Island biogeography has traditionally focused on species diversity and endemism in describing drivers of diversity on islands. However, species have been usually treated as functionally equivalent in island biogeography, although island biota have evolved a remarkable array of unique functional traits and life forms. Using the flora of the Canary Islands – an enigmatic archipelago with about equal shares of endemic, non-endemic native and non-native plant species – as a model system, this talk will address i) the functional trait space of different biogeographic groups, ii) how climate drives the distribution of individual functional traits and plant life forms, and iii) the impact of climate change on the distribution of functional traits in the native flora. Trait space of endemic and non-endemic native species overlapped considerably, while alien species added novel trait combinations, expanding the overall functional space of the Canary Islands. Climate-driven patterns in the distribution of plant life forms emerge. Interestingly, species expressing insular woodiness are less strongly affected by climate change than non-woody, herbaceous species. As climate is a major driver of functional diversity and individual functional traits, climate change will alter the distribution of different functional traits on the Canary Islands. We show that using functional island biogeography as a tool, expands our understanding of the fundamental processes governing diversity on islands, and likely also beyond.

Functionally diverse flora on the north coast of La Palma, Canary Islands