Island Biogeography

Islands have figured prominently in many of the greatest scientific advances in what Darwin termed the mystery of mysteries, the appearance of life in geologically recent environments. The islands of the Gulf of California, Mexico are a powerful test bed for Island Biogeography theory.

Photo credit: BTW

Islands occur along a wide gradient of size and geologic origin. Nearly every way to be an island (landbridge, oceanic, recent, old, large, small, etc.) is represented in the Gulf of California. Likewise, the marine environment contains some of the highest primary productivity values in the world, presenting a striking contrast of arid lands in the midst of marine abundance and diversity.

My work focuses on the diversity and distribution of islands in the Gulf of California.

Related Studies

Felger, R.S., B.T. Wilder in collaboration with H. Romero-Morales. 2012. Plant Life of a Desert Archipelago: Flora of the Sonoran Islands in the Gulf of California. University of Arizona Press, Tucson. 624 pages.

Wilder, B.T., R.S. Felger, E. Ezcurra. 2019. Controls of plant diversity and composition on a desert archipelago. PeerJ 7:e7286 DOI 10.7717/peerj.7286

     Full plant species list for the Midriff Islands.

Wilder, B.T. 2014. Historical Biogeography of the Midriff Islands in the Gulf of California, Mexico. Dissertation, UC, Riverside, Plant Biology. (https://escholarship.org/uc/item/1987n0j6)

Ratay, S.E., S. Vanderplank, B.T. Wilder. 2014. Island specialists: Shared flora of the Alta and Baja California Pacific islands. Western North American Naturalist 7:161–220.

Wilder, B.T., J.L. Betancourt, C. Epps, R. Crowhurst, J.I. Mead, E. Ezcurra. 2014. Local extinction and unintentional rewilding of bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis) on a desert island. PLoS ONE 9(3): e91358. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0091358.

Velarde, E., B.T. Wilder, R.S. Felger, E. Ezcurra. 2014. Floristic diversity and dynamics of Isla Rasa, Gulf of California, Mexico – A globally important seabird site. Botanical Sciences 92(1):89–101.

Gallo-Reynoso, J.P, R.S. Felger, B.T. Wilder. 2012. Near colonization of a desert island by a tropical bird: Military macaw (Ara militaris) at Isla San Pedro Nolasco, Gulf of California. The Southwestern Naturalist 57:461–464.

Felger, R.S., B.T. Wilder, J P. Gallo-Reynoso. 2011. Floristic diversity and long-term vegetation dynamics of San Pedro Nolasco Island, Gulf of California, Mexico. Proceedings of the San Diego Society of Natural History 43:1–42.

Wilder, B.T. & R.S. Felger. 2010. Cardons, guano, and isolation: The flora and vegetation of San Pedro Mártir Island, Gulf of California, Mexico. Proceedings of the San Diego Society of Natural History 42:1–24.

Wilder, B.T., R.S. Felger, H. Romero. 2008. Succulent plant diversity of the Sonoran Islands, Gulf of California, Mexico. Haseltonia 14:128–161.

Wilder, B.T., R.S. Felger, T. R. Van Devender, H. Romero-Morales. 2008. Canotia holacantha on Isla Tiburón, Gulf of California, Mexico. Canotia 4(1):1–7.

Wilder, B.T., R.S. Felger, H. Romero-Morales, A. Quijada-Mascareñas. 2007. New plant discoveries for Sonoran Islands, Gulf of California, Mexico. Journal of Botanical Research Institute of Texas 1:1203–1227.