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Drivers of diversity in Macaronesian spiders and the role of species extinctions

Cardoso, P., Arnedo, M., Triantis, K.A., Borges, P.A.V. (2010). Drivers of diversity in Macaronesian spiders and the role of species extinctions. Journal of Biogeography, 37: 1034-1046.

Main conclusions In Macaronesia as a whole, area, island age, the large distance that separates the Azores from the mainland, and the recent disappearance of native habitats with subsequent unrecorded extinctions seem to be the most probable explanations for the current observed richness. In the Canary Islands, the GDM model is strongly supported by many genera that radiated early, reached a peak at intermediate island ages, and have gone extinct on older, eroded islands. In the Azores, the unrecorded extinctions of many species in the oldest, most disturbed islands seem to be one of the main drivers of the current richness patterns. Spiders, the most important terrestrial predators on these islands, may be acting as early indicators for the future disappearance of other insular taxa

http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/123271846/abstract