Vida J. Svahnstrom

Abstract For over a century, epiphytes have been considered to have larger geographic ranges than terrestrial plants, yet this assumption is based on studies at restricted geographic and taxonomic scales and is contradicted by recent research. Misunderstanding the ranges of epiphytes may distort perceptions of their extinction risk.

Abstract Epiphytes have long been considered to have larger geographic range sizes than terrestrial plants, yet evidence for this claim comes from studies at restricted geographic and taxonomic scales and is contrary to that of some recent studies. We examined if epiphytes have larger or smaller range sizes than terrestrial plants and tested if epiphytism is a likely driver of differences in range size globally across angiosperms.