Regresar

The plants of the Caribbean islands: A review of the biogeography, diversity and conservation of a storm-battered biodiversity hotspot

Abstract:

The Caribbean islands, despite centuries of large-scale habitat loss, still contain habitats of amazing beauty and, importantly, these habitats provide an integral foundation for the islands’ sustainable development. These surviving habitats contain unique plant diversity found nowhere else on the planet and for some families, most notably the Asteraceae, globally unique lineages. Despite the Caribbean being one of the first contact zones between Western science and tropical biodiversity, much remains to be discovered and to be conserved.