Restructuring of the 'Macaronesia' biogeographic unit: A marine multitaxon biogeographical approach

The Azores, Madeira, Selvagens, Canary Islands and Cabo Verde are commonly united under the term "Macaronesia". This study investigates the coherency and validity of Macaronesia as a biogeographic unit using six marine groups with very different dispersal abilities: coastal fishes, echinod...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Scientific Reports
Main Authors: Freitas, Rui, Romeiras, Maria, Silva, Luis, Cordeiro, Ricardo, Madeira, Patricia, González, José Antonio, Wirtz, Peter, Falcon, Jesus M., Brito, Alberto, Floeter, Sergio R., Afonso, Pedro, Porteiro, Filipe, Viera Rodríguez, María Ascensión, Isabel Neto, Ana, Haroun, Ricardo, Farminhao, Joao N. M., Rebelo, Ana Cristina, Baptista, Lara, Melo, Carlos S., Martinez, Alejandro, Fraga Núñez,Jorge, Berning, Bjoern, Johnson, Markes E., Avila, Sergio P.
Other Authors: 15126706000, 15842082800, 35604493100, 53877159200, 24177193700, 7404494448, 7006702046, 7006519233, 7005411351, 6603097724, 6604053080, 7801419205, 6504450075, 57191893178, 6603827643, 56856795500, 36911091800, 57203527660, 56536159500, 57104191600, 7201854598, 16243968000, 7406607334, 7004943655, 3306181, 2027876, 917800, 3490740, 2946060, 32369147, 1163132, 2313347, 541955, 515729, 536584, 1014210, 5298452, 318925, 29952750, 13472984, 31448326, 27775465, 28411586, 1893268, 4126996, 1707208, 295785, 1028901, WOS:Freitas, R, WOS:Romeiras, M
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: 2019
Subjects:
250501 Biogeografía
Cape-Verde Islands
Integrative Taxonomic Revision
Biodiversity Hotspots
Northeast Atlantic
Cone Snails
Azores
Paleoecology
Evolution
Patterns
Records
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/10553/58310
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-51786-6
Description
Summary:The Azores, Madeira, Selvagens, Canary Islands and Cabo Verde are commonly united under the term "Macaronesia". This study investigates the coherency and validity of Macaronesia as a biogeographic unit using six marine groups with very different dispersal abilities: coastal fishes, echinoderms, gastropod molluscs, brachyuran decapod crustaceans, polychaete annelids, and macroalgae. We found no support for the current concept of Macaronesia as a coherent marine biogeographic unit. All marine groups studied suggest the exclusion of Cabo Verde from the remaining Macaronesian archipelagos and thus, Cabo Verde should be given the status of a biogeographic subprovince within the West African Transition province. We propose to redefine the Lusitanian biogeographical province, in which we include four ecoregions: the South European Atlantic Shelf, the Saharan Upwelling, the Azores, and a new ecoregion herein named Webbnesia, which comprises the archipelagos of Madeira, Selvagens and the Canary Islands.

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