Evidence map›Paper›PMID 31418009›Full record

ArticleAnnals of botany2019

Islands in the desert: environmental distribution modelling of endemic flora reveals the extent of Pleistocene tropical relict vegetation in southern Arabia.

James S Borrell, Ghudaina Al Issaey, Darach A Lupton, Thomas Starnes, Abdulrahman Al Hinai, Saif Al Hatmi, Rebecca A Senior, Tim Wilkinson, Jo L H Milborrow, Andrew Stokes-Rees and 1 more

Open access · greenAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Annals of botany, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
2citing papers in PubMed
1.3field-weighted citation impact, top 18% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

2 citing papers in PubMed, 12 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Article
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

11 authors at 4 institutions in 2 countries.

James S BorrellJodrell Laboratory, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Richmond, Surrey, UK.
Ghudaina Al IssaeyOman Botanic Garden, Muscat, Oman.
Darach A LuptonOman Botanic Garden, Muscat, Oman.
Thomas StarnesRSPB Centre for Conservation Science, Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, The Lodge, Sandy, Bedfordshire, UK.
Abdulrahman Al HinaiOman Botanic Garden, Muscat, Oman.
Saif Al HatmiOman Botanic Garden, Muscat, Oman.
Rebecca A SeniorDepartment of Animal and Plant Sciences, Alfred Denny Building, University of Sheffield, Western Bank, Sheffield, UK.
Tim WilkinsonJodrell Laboratory, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Richmond, Surrey, UK.
Jo L H MilborrowBiodiversity Information Service, Bulwark, Brecon, Powys, UK.
Andrew Stokes-ReesOutward Bound Canada, Toronto, ON, Canada.
Annette PatzeltOman Botanic Garden, Muscat, Oman.
Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew · GBEngineers Without Borders Canada · CARoyal Society for the Protection of Birds · GBUniversity of Sheffield · GB

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

BACKGROUND AND

aimsSouthern Arabia is a global biodiversity hotspot with a high proportion of endemic desert-adapted plants. Here we examine evidence for a Pleistocene climate refugium in the southern Central Desert of Oman, and its role in driving biogeographical patterns of endemism.

methodsDistribution data for seven narrow-range endemic plants were collected systematically across 195 quadrats, together with incidental and historic records. Important environmental variables relevant to arid coastal areas, including night-time fog and cloud cover, were developed for the study area. Environmental niche models using presence/absence data were built and tuned for each species, and spatial overlap was examined. KEY

resultsA region of the Jiddat Al Arkad reported independent high model suitability for all species. Examination of environmental data across southern Oman indicates that the Jiddat Al Arkad displays a regionally unique climate with higher intra-annual stability, due in part to the influence of the southern monsoon. Despite this, the relative importance of environmental variables was highly differentiated among species, suggesting that characteristic variables such as coastal fog are not major cross-species predictors at this scale.

conclusionsThe co-occurrence of a high number of endemic study species within a narrow monsoon-influenced region is indicative of a refugium with low climate change velocity. Combined with climate analysis, our findings provide strong evidence for a southern Arabian Pleistocene refugium in Oman's Central Desert. We suggest that this refugium has acted as an isolated temperate and mesic island in the desert, resulting in the evolution of these narrow-range endemic flora. Based on the composition of species, this system may represent the northernmost remnant of a continuous belt of mesic vegetation formerly ranging from Africa to Asia, with close links to the flora of East Africa. This has significant implications for future conservation of endemic plants in an arid biodiversity hotspot.

Indexed as

PhylogenyPlantsAfricaAfrica, EasternArabiaAsiaIslandsTropical ClimateArabian PeninsulaCentral Desertcoastal fog desertdesert endemicecological niche modellingimportant plant areasOmanPleistocenerefugia

Identifiers

PMID31418009
PMCPMC6798844
OpenAlexW2968569342

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.