biogeography
Biogeography is the study of how and why plant species are distributed across geographic regions and have shifted their ranges over geological time. Understanding these patterns helps researchers identify the evolutionary origins of plant lineages, predict how flora will respond to climate change, and explain why certain plant communities are found only in specific habitats or continents.
open_in_new WikipediaEurope PMC · 2026-04-08
A global study of mountain plants found that energy availability — sunlight and temperature — is a stronger predictor of where rare, mountain-only species concentrate than the physical ruggedness of terrain. The exception is low-growing herbs, where landscape complexity matters more.
Energy availability explains ~69% of variation in tree endemic richness vs. ~59% for topographic heterogeneity, making it the stronger global predictor for woody plants.
For endemic herb plants, the pattern flips: topographic heterogeneity is more explanatory (76.70% ± 14.34%), suggesting landscape complexity drives diversity for low-growing flora.
In regions with unusually stable energy supplies, such as the Cape of Good Hope, terrain complexity becomes the dominant driver of plant richness — highlighting that the energy-vs-topography balance is context-dependent.