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Floristic homogenization of South Pacific islands commenced with human arrival

Floristic homogenization of South Pacific islands commenced with human arrival
Floristic homogenization of South Pacific islands commenced with human arrival
The increasing similarity of plant species composition among distinct areas is leading to the homogenization of ecosystems globally. Human actions such as ecosystem modification, the introduction of non-native plant species and the extinction or extirpation of endemic and native plant species are considered the main drivers of this trend. However, little is known about when floristic homogenization began or about pre-human patterns of floristic similarity. Here we investigate vegetation trends during the past 5,000 years across the tropical, sub-tropical and warm temperate South Pacific using fossil pollen records from 15 sites on 13 islands within the biogeographical realm of Oceania. The site comparisons show that floristic homogenization has increased over the past 5,000 years. Pairwise Bray–Curtis similarity results also show that when two islands were settled by people in a given time interval, their floristic similarity is greater than when one or neither of the islands were settled. Importantly, higher elevation sites, which are less likely to have experienced human impacts, tended to show less floristic homogenization. While biotic homogenization is often referred to as a contemporary issue, we have identified a much earlier trend, likely driven by human colonization of the islands and subsequent impacts.
0028-0836
511-518
Strandberg, Nichola A.
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Steinbauer, Manuel J.
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Walentowitz, Anna
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Gosling, William D.
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Fall, Patricia L.
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Prebble, Matiu
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Stevenson, Janelle
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Wilmshurst, Janet M.
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Sear, David
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Langdon, Peter G.
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Edwards, Mary E.
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Nogué, Sandra
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Strandberg, Nichola A.
a583f84b-1ba7-48dc-9c12-28d6ad279d1f
Steinbauer, Manuel J.
52d28c16-67aa-405a-a658-1a0ff18f5e73
Walentowitz, Anna
3216e232-e48b-4c11-9806-b59d4398dbc9
Gosling, William D.
75de50b1-a15e-4dda-8d84-0c14b8ab9a2d
Fall, Patricia L.
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Prebble, Matiu
6590315e-c58c-4bb7-8543-6c4a40cb7799
Stevenson, Janelle
8f55423c-e12f-4835-9e63-b2ad8fd7db88
Wilmshurst, Janet M.
3738ab11-0f7b-4550-b8d3-f63198b3394e
Sear, David
ccd892ab-a93d-4073-a11c-b8bca42ecfd3
Langdon, Peter G.
95b97671-f9fe-4884-aca6-9aa3cd1a6d7f
Edwards, Mary E.
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Nogué, Sandra
7e0d6d85-09b7-4dad-be61-3b95ca365287

Strandberg, Nichola A., Steinbauer, Manuel J., Walentowitz, Anna, Gosling, William D., Fall, Patricia L., Prebble, Matiu, Stevenson, Janelle, Wilmshurst, Janet M., Sear, David, Langdon, Peter G., Edwards, Mary E. and Nogué, Sandra (2024) Floristic homogenization of South Pacific islands commenced with human arrival. Nature, 8 (3), 511-518. (doi:10.1038/s41559-023-02306-3).

Record type: Article

Abstract

The increasing similarity of plant species composition among distinct areas is leading to the homogenization of ecosystems globally. Human actions such as ecosystem modification, the introduction of non-native plant species and the extinction or extirpation of endemic and native plant species are considered the main drivers of this trend. However, little is known about when floristic homogenization began or about pre-human patterns of floristic similarity. Here we investigate vegetation trends during the past 5,000 years across the tropical, sub-tropical and warm temperate South Pacific using fossil pollen records from 15 sites on 13 islands within the biogeographical realm of Oceania. The site comparisons show that floristic homogenization has increased over the past 5,000 years. Pairwise Bray–Curtis similarity results also show that when two islands were settled by people in a given time interval, their floristic similarity is greater than when one or neither of the islands were settled. Importantly, higher elevation sites, which are less likely to have experienced human impacts, tended to show less floristic homogenization. While biotic homogenization is often referred to as a contemporary issue, we have identified a much earlier trend, likely driven by human colonization of the islands and subsequent impacts.

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Accepted/In Press date: 7 December 2023
e-pub ahead of print date: 15 January 2024
Published date: March 2024
Additional Information: Publisher Copyright: © The Author(s) 2024.

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 490277
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/490277
ISSN: 0028-0836
PURE UUID: 8a8bd738-2e8c-4537-8c63-cd8e75e43993
ORCID for Nichola A. Strandberg: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0003-1268-2080
ORCID for David Sear: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0003-0191-6179
ORCID for Peter G. Langdon: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0003-2724-2643
ORCID for Mary E. Edwards: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-3490-6682

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Date deposited: 22 May 2024 17:14
Last modified: 08 Jun 2024 01:38

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Contributors

Author: Manuel J. Steinbauer
Author: Anna Walentowitz
Author: William D. Gosling
Author: Patricia L. Fall
Author: Matiu Prebble
Author: Janelle Stevenson
Author: Janet M. Wilmshurst
Author: David Sear ORCID iD
Author: Mary E. Edwards ORCID iD
Author: Sandra Nogué

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