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1 April 2013 Vegetation of Alejandro Selkirk Island (Isla Masafuera), Juan Fernández Archipelago, Chile
Josef Greimler, Patricio López-Sepulveda, Karl Reiter, Carlos Baeza, Patricio Peñailillo, Eduardo Ruiz, Patricio Novoa, Alejandro Gatica, Tod Stuessy
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Abstract

We analyzed the vegetation of Alejandro Selkirk Island using the Zürich-Montpellier approach for taking relevés and subsequent classification by a multivariate approach and manual refinement. The resulting vegetation table demonstrates patterns of dominance and variation and the resulting vegetation units that were mapped onto aerial photographs to produce a vegetation map. Additional observations of several inaccessible sectors were gained from photos taken during a boat trip around the island. These results are combined in a colored map that shows the following vegetation units: (1) Dicksonia externa Tree Fern Community (upper montane forest); (2) Lophosoria quadripinnata Fern Community; (3) Fern-Grassland Mosaic; (4) Myrceugenia schulzei Forest (lower montane forest); (5) Anthoxanthum-Nassella Grassland; (6) Coastal Grassland with Juncus procerus; (7) Open Grassland (including Coastal Herb Communities); (8) Rocks, Erosional Zones; and (9) Cultivated and Escaped Plants Near the Settlement. In some cases these units consist of several communities together, often forming mosaic patterns where detailed resolution is not practicable. Unit 7, Open Grassland, has been applied to all areas with a plant cover below 40%, and unit 8, Rocks, Erosional Zones, indicates no or scarce vegetation (cover notably below 10%). Some plant assemblages cannot be shown on the map: (a) the small clusters of Drimys confertifolia; (b) the mostly linearly or patchily arranged Gunnera masafuerae community; (c) several plant assemblages found in the canyons; and (d) the Histiopteris incisa clusters between the tree ferns and tall ferns. We discuss composition of the observed plant communities, especially regarding alien impact, and compare our findings with those on Robinson Crusoe, the largest island of the archipelago.

© 2013 by University of Hawai‘i Press
Josef Greimler, Patricio López-Sepulveda, Karl Reiter, Carlos Baeza, Patricio Peñailillo, Eduardo Ruiz, Patricio Novoa, Alejandro Gatica, and Tod Stuessy "Vegetation of Alejandro Selkirk Island (Isla Masafuera), Juan Fernández Archipelago, Chile," Pacific Science 67(2), 267-282, (1 April 2013). https://doi.org/10.2984/67.2.9
Accepted: 31 August 2012; Published: 1 April 2013
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