Biol. Rev. (2018), pp. 000 – 000. 1 doi: 10.1111/brv.12477 Persistence and stochasticity are key determinants of genetic diversity in plants associated with banded iron formation inselbergs Margaret Byrne 1,2,3,∗ , Siegfried L. Krauss 2,4 , Melissa A. Millar 1 , Carole P. Elliott 2,4 , David J. Coates 1 , Colin Yates 1 , Rachel M. Binks 1 , Paul Nevill 5 , Heidi Nistelberger 1,2,† , Grant Wardell-Johnson 5 , Todd Robinson 6 , Ryonen Butcher 1 , Matthew Barrett 4 and Neil Gibson 1,2 1 Biodiversity and Conservation Science, Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions, Locked Bag 104, Bentley Delivery Centre, Perth, WA 6983, Australia 2 School of Biological Sciences, The University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Highway, Crawley, WA 6009, Australia 3 School of Molecular and Life Sciences, Curtin University, GPO Box U1987, Perth, WA 6845, Australia 4 Kings Park Science, Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions, 2 Kattidj Close, Kings Park, Perth, WA 6005, Australia 5 ARC Centre for Mine Site Restoration, School of Molecular and Life Sciences, Curtin University, GPO Box U1987, Perth, WA 6845, Australia 6 School of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Curtin University, GPO Box U1987, Perth, WA 6845, Australia ABSTRACT The high species endemism characteristic of many of the world’s terrestrial island systems provides a model for studying evolutionary patterns and processes, yet there has been no synthesis of studies to provide a systematic evaluation of terrestrial island systems in this context. The banded iron formations (BIFs) of south-western Australia are ancient terrestrial island formations occurring within a mosaic of alluvial clay soils, sandplains and occasional granite outcropping, across an old, gently undulating, highly weathered, plateau. Notably, these BIFs display exceptionally high beta plant diversity. Here, we address the determinants and consequences of genetic diversity for BIF-associated plant species through a comprehensive review of all studies on species distribution modelling, phylogenetics, phylogeography, population genetics, life-history traits and ecology. The taxa studied are predominantly narrowly endemic to individual or a few BIF ranges, but some have more regional distributions occurring both on and off BIFs. We compared genetic data for these BIF-endemic species to other localised species globally to assess whether the unique history and ancestry of BIF landscapes has driven distinct genetic responses in plants restricted to this habitat. We also assessed the influence of life-history parameters on patterns of genetic diversity. We found that BIF-endemic species display similar patterns of genetic diversity and structure to other species with localised distributions. Despite often highly restricted distributions, large effective population size or clonal reproduction appears to provide these BIF-endemic species with ecological and evolutionary resilience to environmental stochasticity. We conclude that persistence and stochasticity are key determinants of genetic diversity and its spatial structure within BIF-associated plant species, and that these are key evolutionary processes that should be considered in understanding the biogeography of inselbergs worldwide. Key words: genetic diversity, genetic differentiation, inselbergs, island biogeography, life-history traits, persistence, pollination syndrome, phylogeography, phylogenetics, species distribution modelling. * Author for correspondence at address 1 (Tel: +61 892199078; E-mail: margaret.byrne@dbca.wa.gov.au). † Present address: Centre for Ecological and Evolutionary Synthesis, Department of Biosciences, University of Oslo, P.O. Box 1066, Blindern, Oslo, NO-0316, Norway. Biological Reviews (2018) 000 – 000  2018 Cambridge Philosophical Society