Editing Pandanus (section)

==Ecology==
These plants grow from sea level to an altitude of {{convert|3300|m|abbr=on}}. Pandanus trees are of cultural, health, and economic importance in the Pacific, second only to the coconut on atolls.<ref name="agroforestry1">{{cite web|url=http://www.agroforestry.net/tti/P.tectorius-pandanus.pdf |title=Pandanus tectorius (pandanus) |website=Agroforestry.net |access-date=2012-09-24}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thefreedictionary.com/pandanus |title=pandanus - definition of pandanus by the Free Online Dictionary, Thesaurus and Encyclopedia |publisher=Thefreedictionary.com |access-date=2012-09-24}}</ref> They grow wild mainly in semi-natural vegetation in littoral habitats throughout the tropical and subtropical Pacific, where they can withstand drought, strong winds, and salt spray. They propagate readily from seed, but popular cultivars are also widely propagated from branch cuttings by local people.<ref name="Hyndman"/>

Species growing on exposed coastal headlands and along beaches have thick 'stilt roots' as anchors in the loose sand.<ref name="Hyndman"/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.fao.org/forestry/6843-07d9a941381eb5e556c4ead52e20bd418.pdf |title=Microsoft Word - 5-Seychelles formaté_RM.doc |website=Fao.org|access-date=2012-09-24}}</ref> Those stilt roots emerge from the stem, usually close to but above the ground, which helps to keep the plants upright and secure them to the ground.<ref name="Ugolino Martelli 1908 59–72"/>

While ''Pandanus'' are distributed throughout the tropical and subtropical islands and coastlines of the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Oceans,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://epubs.scu.edu.au/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1670&context=esm_pubs|title=The mangrove vegetation of the Atlantic Coast of Africa: a review|publisher=Epubs.scu.edu.au|access-date=18 December 2014}}</ref><ref name="Palomar">{{cite web|url=http://waynesword.palomar.edu/pldec398.htm|title=Drift Seeds And Drift Fruits: Seeds That Ride The Ocean Currents|publisher=Waynesword.palomar.edu|access-date=18 December 2014|archive-date=14 December 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141214123258/http://waynesword.palomar.edu/pldec398.htm}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://scholarspace.manoa.hawaii.edu/bitstream/handle/10125/9080/vol15n3-328-346.pdf?sequence=1|format=PDF|title=Revision of the Genus Pandanus Stickman, Part 5 Pandanus of the Maldive Islands and the Seychelles Islands, Indian Ocean|publisher=Scholarspace.manoa.hawaii.edu|access-date=18 December 2014}}</ref> they are most numerous on the low islands and barren atolls of Polynesia and Micronesia.<ref name="google1">{{cite book|url={{Google books |id=1cdGlgnm4mwC |page=1500 |plainurl=yes }} |title=Los árboles y arbustos de la Península Ibérica e Islas Baleares: especies silvestres y las principales cultivadas |first=Ginés A. |last=López González |publisher=Mundi-Prensa |year=2006 |access-date=2012-09-24}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url={{Google books |id=XQxHAQAAIAAJ |page=346 |plainurl=yes }} |title=Semanario pintoresco espańol |author=Ramón de Mesonero Romanos |author2=Gervasio Gironella |author3=Vicente Castelló |author4=[[Angel Fernández de los Ríos]] |author5=Francisco Navarro Villoslada |author6=Manuel de Assas y de Ereńo |author7=José Muńos Maldonado |author8=Eduardo Gasset y Artime |year=1852 |access-date=2012-09-24}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url={{Google books |id=POFfj8nywr4C |plainurl=yes }} |title=Lecciones de historia natural: Botánica |author=D. Agustín Yañez y Girona |publisher=Impr. de Benito Espona y Blay |date=1845 |access-date=2016-10-20}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |author=Benjamin C. Stone |year=1992 |title=The New Guinea species of ''Pandanus'' section ''Maysops'' St. Johns (Pandanaceae) |journal=[[Blumea (journal)|Blumea]] |volume=37 |issue=1 |pages=31–61}}</ref> Other species are adapted to mountain habitats and riverine forests.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cs.utexas.edu/~cline/papua/mines.htm |title=West Papua - Mining |publisher=Cs.utexas.edu |access-date=2012-09-24}}</ref>

The tree is grown and propagated from shoots that form spontaneously in the axils of lower leaves. Pandanus fruits are eaten by animals including bats, rats, crabs, and elephants, but the vast majority of species are dispersed primarily by water.<ref name="wiley1953">{{cite journal |author=Reginald Edward Vaughan |author2=P. O. Wiehe |year=1953 |title=The genus ''Pandanus'' in the Mascarene Islands |journal=[[Journal of the Linnean Society of London, Botany]] |volume=55 |issue=356 |pages=1–33 |doi=10.1111/j.1095-8339.1953.tb00001.x}}</ref> Its fruit can float and spread to other islands without help from humans.<ref name="Palomar"/>

[[Climate]] and [[soil]] analyses based on a molecular phylogenetic framework have shown that the largest split in ''Pandanus'' (between Clades I and II) is also associated with a difference in climate and soil conditions between the two groups.<ref name=":2" /> Clade II ''Pandanus'' species are associated with more [[Season|seasonal]] [[temperature]] and [[precipitation]] regimes, and more well-draining soils, than Clade I ''Pandanus'' species.<ref name=":2" /> In addition, this split is also associated with the occurrence of specialized layer of water storage [[Plant tissue|tissue]] (also known as hydrenchyma) in Clade II species of ''Pandanus'' that is thought to aid in their [[adaptation]] to more [[Water scarcity|water-stressed]] environments.<ref name=":2" />