Oceanic islands provide useful models for ecology, biogeography and evolutionary research. Many ground-breaking findings - including Darwin’s theory of evolution - have emerged from the study of species on islands and their interplay with their living and non-living environment. Now, an international research team led by the University of Göttingen has investigated the flora of the Canary Island of Tenerife. The results were surprising: the island’s plant-life exhibits a remarkable diversity of forms. But the plants differ little from mainland plants in functional terms. ...
