Altitudinal ecotypes in Hawaiian Metrosideros

Author:

Corn, Carolyn A., iesey, William M.

Title:

Altitudinal ecotypes in Hawaiian Metrosideros

Year:

1973

Pages:

iii, 19

Subject:

Altitude influence of Metrosideros

Summary:

Hawaiian Metrosideros distribution extends from tropical to cool-temperature climates with average annual rainfalls from 30 to 450 inches and at elevations from sea-level to 8500 feet, and in diverse pedological and topographical habitats, throughout the six major islands of the Hawaiian Island chain. All of those plants are probably derived from one or a very small number of ancestral introductions that arrived within the last 20 million years by long-distance dispersal. Seeds collected from diverse altitudinal sites on the islands of Hawaii and Maui show evidence of ecotypic differentiation along altitudinal gradients. The seedlings, although from islands separated by 50 miles of ocean, show a parallelism in their altitudinal intra-population variation. Although Metrosideros is successful in disturbed habitats such as recent lava flows and landslides, it rarely prospers in areas markedly disturbed by man. Within the last 200 years since Captain Cook's arrival the taxon's extensive range appears to be receding most rapidly where there has been extensive animal grazing and biotic competition from introduced plant species.

URL:

https://scholarspace.manoa.hawaii.edu/handle/10125/25939

Collection:

Monographs