Plant colonization across the Galápagos Islands: success of the sea dispersal syndrome

Species with sea-drifting diaspores are significantly more successful at colonizing multiple islands within the Galápagos archipelago, contrary to expectations. This finding emerges from a novel analysis of 289 lowland plant species across 12 islands, combining floristic and syndrome trait assessments. Researchers inferred colonization events and categorized dispersal syndromes (sea, wind, animal interior, or exterior) to evaluate their association with island distribution success. Surprisingly, while most species lacked specialized dispersal traits, those with sea-dispersal adaptations exhibited the broadest distributions. The study challenges the assumption of a net loss in dispersability from non-endemic to endemic species, providing critical insights into plant colonization dynamics in oceanic archipelagos.

Vargas, P., Nogales, M., Jaramillo, P., Olesen, J. M., Traveset, A., & Heleno, R. (2014). Plant colonization across the Galápagos Islands: success of the sea dispersal syndrome. Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society, 174(3), 349–358. https://doi.org/10.1111/boj.12142