Although reptile colonization likely occurred via land bridges for islands that were connected to the mainland in the Pleistocene, a long time relaxation (species extinction by island habitat loss after disconnection and new colonization by over sea dispersal or human-assisted introductions) equilibrated the faunas according to island area.
Multidimensional Scaling, cluster analyses, species-area relationships, Mantel tests and co-occurrence statistics were used to investigate the influence of current geography and Pleistocene connections with the mainland on the structure of insular communities. The herpetofauna of the Tuscan Islands (Central Italy) is well known and represents an ideal subject to understand the role of current and historical factors responsible for biogeographical patterns in a complex archipelago.
0 kommentar(er)
