Abstract
Island biogeographical research is becoming more and more fashionable, with the continuous identification of new challenges that are critical for the advancement of science. In this contribution we identify biases and limitations associated with island biogeographical studies, and also describe recent advances and propose new perspectives. The main proposals include: 1) downscaling island biogeographical studies to local/plot scale; 2) investigating geographical patterns of intra-specific genetic variation to infer dispersal processes among and within islands; 3) using applied biogeographical research to respond to the current island biodiversity crisis; and 4) applying new computer-intensive methods such as artificial intelligence (AI) approaches.
Highlights
After MacArthur and Wilson’s (1963) paper and their book on “The Theory of Island Biogeography” (MacArthur and Wilson 1967), the study of islands received a boost, and they were used as model systems for many purposes, in particular for investigating drivers of species richness and composition
A search of the Web of Science database using “island biogeography” as a topic for the period 1967–2015, generated about 9000 publications that include a diversity of sub-topics and taxonomic units, which largely surpass the island scale and include the application of the original concepts of MacArthur and Wilson’s (1963, 1967) works to isolated continental systems, primarily ‘habitat islands’
The use of Bayesian approaches is becoming increasingly important in island biogeography, since it allows the development of dynamic timeconstrained models that use results of prior analyses in subsequent modelling
Summary
After MacArthur and Wilson’s (1963) paper and their book on “The Theory of Island Biogeography” (MacArthur and Wilson 1967), the study of islands received a boost, and they were used as model systems for many purposes, in particular for investigating drivers of species richness and composition. We first look at biases and limitations associated with island biogeographical studies, and describe recent advances and propose new perspectives: 1) applying island biogeographical models to local/plot scale; 2) investigating geographical patterns of intraspecific genetic variation to infer dispersal processes among and within islands; 3) using the emergence of applied biogeographical research to respond to the current island biodiversity crisis; and 4) implementing new computer-intensive methods such as artificial intelligence (AI).
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
