Volcanic ash deposition as a selection mechanism towards woodiness

Beierkuhnlein, Carl; Nogales, Manuel; Field, Richard; Vetaas, Ole R.; Walentowitz, Anna; Weiser, Frank; Stahlmann, Reinhold; Guerrero-Campos, María; Jentsch, Anke; Medina, Félix M.; Chiarucci, Alessandro

Abstract

The high proportion of woody plant species on oceanic islands has hitherto been explained mainly by gradual adaptation to climatic conditions. Here, we present a novel hypothesis that such woodiness is adaptative to volcanic ash (tephra) deposition. Oceanic islands are subject to frequent eruptions with substantial and widespread ash deposition on evolutionary time scales. We postulate that this selects for woodiness through an increased ability to avoid burial of plant organs by ash, and to re-emerge above the new land surface. We sense-checked using observations of plant occurrences and distributions on La Palma (Canary Islands) in April 2022, 4 months after the end of the eruptions of the Tajogaite volcano (Cumbre Vieja ridge). In contrast to herbs and grasses, most woody plants persisted and were already in full flower in areas with 10+ cm ash deposition. Remarkably, these persisting woody plants were almost exclusively endemics.

Citation

Beierkuhnlein, C., Nogales, M., Field, R., Vetaas, O. R., Walentowitz, A., Weiser, F., Stahlmann, R., Guerrero-Campos, M., Jentsch, A., Medina, F. M., & Chiarucci, A. (2023). Volcanic ash deposition as a selection mechanism towards woodiness. npj Biodiversity, 2(1), Article 14. https://doi.org/10.1038/s44185-023-00018-2

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: May 18, 2023
• Online Publication Date: Jul 1, 2023
• Publication Date: Jul 1, 2023
• Deposit Date: Oct 11, 2023
• Publicly Available Date: Oct 19, 2023
• Journal: npj Biodiversity
• Electronic ISSN: 2731-4243
• Publisher: Springer Nature
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 2
• Issue: 1
• Article Number: 14
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s44185-023-00018-2
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/22714000
• Publisher URL: https://www.nature.com/articles/s44185-023-00018-2
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