NEOENDEMISM IN MADAGASCAN SCALY TREE FERNS RESULTS FROM RECENT, COINCIDENT DIVERSIFICATION BURSTS

The evolution of Madagascan tree ferns as a rainforest-specific model family, integrating results from bioclimatic niche analysis with a dated phylogenetic framework, and proposal of an evolutionary scenario of large island endemic clades. Showing that Madagascar’s extant tree fern diversity springs from three distinct ancestors independently colonising Madagascar during the Miocene.

Janssen, J.; Bystriakova, N.; Rakotondrainibe, F.; Coomes, D.; Labat, J.; Schneider H.
2008
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Scaling of xylem vessels and veins within oak leaves

An examination of the scaling of the leaf xylem in ten temperate oak species to test general models of plant vascular architecture, based on scaling of pipe diameters in order to minimize hydraulic resistance within the xylem, which have neglected to consider the variations in leaf hydraulic properties.

Coomes, D.A.; Heathcote, S.; Godfrey, E.R.; Shepherd, J.J.; Sack, L.
2008
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Mortality and tree-size distributions in natural mixed-age forests

Use of a classic conceptual framework – the shifting mosaic of patches model – to explore the ways in which competitive thinning and disturbance influence tree-size distributions, and to consider the effects of temporal variability in disturbance frequency on the size structure of forests.

Coomes, D.A.; Allen, R.B.
2007
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