Parsimony analysis of endemicity as a panbiogeographical tool: an analysis of Caribbean plant taxa

To demonstrate that parsimony analysis of endemicity (PAE) can be a method implementing the panbiogeographic approach, we analyzed two data matrices of 40/38 biogeographic provinces x 148 plant species from the Caribbean subregion of the Neotropical region, one where taxa are represented by individual tracks and the other where taxa are represented by single sample localities. We obtained six generalized tracks resulted from the PAE of the areas x individual tracks matrix, and one generalized track from the PAE of the areas x single sample localities matrix, with the latter nested within the former tracks. The results obtained show that PAE works as a panbiogeographical tool if it is based on an areas x individual tracks matrix. When performed in this way, PAE retrieves spatial information that is lost when it is based on an areas x single sample localities matrix, raising doubts regarding the conclusions derived from this latter type of analysis. (C) 2010 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2010, 101, 961-976.