2026-07-24
Emergent patterns of island biodiversity in the Anthropocene
Publication
Publication
Science Advances , Volume 12 - Issue 30
Islands have long been foundational to the development of ecological and evolutionary theory, serving as modelsystems for studying patterns of biodiversity. However, pervasive anthropogenic impacts—particularly speciesextinctions and introductions—have substantially altered island ecosystems, complicating inferences drawn fromcontemporary data. Here, we review how these human-driven changes have reshaped key biodiversity patternson islands, including patterns of species richness, community composition, evolution, and species interactions.We show that many current ecological and evolutionary patterns observed on islands reflect not just natural pro-cesses but also a legacy of human-induced change spanning millennia. Approaches that better incorporate paleo-ecological evidence, along with improved island biodiversity databases and modeling techniques, can help betterreconstruct prehuman biodiversity baselines on islands.
| Additional Metadata | |
|---|---|
| American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) | |
| doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.aee1788 | |
| Science Advances | |
| Released under the CC-BY 4.0 (“Attribution 4.0 International”) License | |
| Organisation | Staff publications |
|
Matthews, Thomas J., Sayol, Ferran, Soares, Filipa C., Heinen, Julia H., Chu, Osanna, Martínez-Rubio, Natàlia, Wayman, Joseph P., Martin, Thomas E., Rozzi, Roberto, Bellard, Céline, Blackburn, Tim M., Borges, Paulo A. V., Borregaard, Michael K., Cabral, Juliano Sarmento, Cardoso, Pedro, Dalsgaard, Bo, Fattorini, Simone, Fernández-Palacios, José María, Helmus, Matthew R., … Faurby, Søren. (2026). Emergent patterns of island biodiversity in the Anthropocene. Science Advances, 12(30).https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.aee1788 |
|
