FIGURE 2. Wet Mascarenan ecosystems. A in Disentangling the diversity and taxonomy of Hymenophyllaceae (Hymenophyllales, Polypodiidae) in the Mascarene archipelago, with ecological implications

FIGURE 2. Wet Mascarenan ecosystems. A. Lowland windward rainforest dominated by Sapotaceae trees, showing the understory with numerous low epiphytic and terrestrial free-sporing plants (liverworts, mosses, ferns, lycopods and spikemosses) and a few herbaceous angiosperms (especially orchids) (La Réunion, 'Mare Longue' forest, ~450 m). B. Montane rainforest dominated by Dombeyoideae (Malvaceae) trees and Alsophila spp. tree-ferns (Cyatheaceae) as emergents from the canopy (La Réunion, 'Cassé de Takamaka, Bébour', 1,100–1,200 m). C. Montane ericoid thickets (La Réunion, 'Enclos du Piton de la Fournaise', ~2,200 m). (Photographs. A, C: C. Chaussidon; B: J.-M. Tamon).