Island and island‐like marine environments

Abstract

AbstractIslands are pieces of land entirely surrounded by sea on which terrestrial and marine organisms live as little as a few metres apart. Yet, in contrast to terrestrial species, marine species have attracted little attention in studies of island theory. The experimental and conceptual origins of this dichotomy date back to the 1970s, although the apposition has softened in the early 2000s, in part a consequence of phylogeographic analyses and the discovery of new marine environments. Here, I explore the possible range of island and island‐like settings in the marine realm and find good evidence, albeit in short supply, for integrating marine with terrestrial perspectives during the current transition from equilibrium to general dynamic models of island biogeography. This integration of marine systems into island theory will be facilitated by three advances: (1) development of many descriptive marine studies to reduce the current deficit, (2) design of rigorous comparative studies within and across realms, and (3) modification of conceptual models to unite seemingly disparate situations, for example describing islands in terms of ecological–evolutionary processes. Marine island biogeography is in its infancy; it may present situations that are uncommon in the existing literature, but not rare in nature, and thus contribute substantially to the new dynamic outlook on a half‐century‐old theme.