TY - JOUR
T1 - Emergent patterns of island biodiversity in the Anthropocene
AU - Matthews, Thomas J.
AU - Sayol, Ferran
AU - Soares, Filipa C.
AU - Heinen, Julia H.
AU - Chu, Osanna
AU - Martínez-Rubio, Natàlia
AU - Wayman, Joseph P.
AU - Martin, Thomas E.
AU - Rozzi, Roberto
AU - Bellard, Céline
AU - Blackburn, Tim M.
AU - Borges, Paulo A. V.
AU - Borregaard, Michael K.
AU - Cabral, Juliano Sarmento
AU - Cardoso, Pedro
AU - Dalsgaard, Bo
AU - Fattorini, Simone
AU - Fernández-Palacios, José María
AU - Helmus, Matthew R.
AU - Hume, Julian P.
AU - Jezierski, Michał T.
AU - Kreft, Holger
AU - Lapiedra, Oriol
AU - Lomolino, Mark V.
AU - Nogué, Sandra
AU - Rigal, François
AU - Santos, Ana M. C.
AU - Schrader, Julian
AU - Si, Xingfeng
AU - Svenning, Jens-Christian
AU - Triantis, Kostas A.
AU - Valente, Luis
AU - van der Geer, Alexandra A.E.
AU - Weigelt, Patrick
AU - Whittaker, Robert J.
AU - Faurby, Soren
PY - 2026/7/24
Y1 - 2026/7/24
N2 - Islands have long been foundational to the development of ecological and evolutionary theory, serving as model systems for studying patterns of biodiversity. However, pervasive anthropogenic impacts—particularly species extinctions and introductions—have substantially altered island ecosystems, complicating inferences drawn from contemporary data. Here, we review how these human-driven changes have reshaped key biodiversity patterns on 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 processes but also a legacy of human-induced change spanning millennia. Approaches that better incorporate paleoecological evidence, along with improved island biodiversity databases and modeling techniques, can help better reconstruct prehuman biodiversity baselines on islands.
AB - Islands have long been foundational to the development of ecological and evolutionary theory, serving as model systems for studying patterns of biodiversity. However, pervasive anthropogenic impacts—particularly species extinctions and introductions—have substantially altered island ecosystems, complicating inferences drawn from contemporary data. Here, we review how these human-driven changes have reshaped key biodiversity patterns on 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 processes but also a legacy of human-induced change spanning millennia. Approaches that better incorporate paleoecological evidence, along with improved island biodiversity databases and modeling techniques, can help better reconstruct prehuman biodiversity baselines on islands.
U2 - 10.1126/sciadv.aee1788
DO - 10.1126/sciadv.aee1788
M3 - Review article
SN - 2375-2548
VL - 12
JO - Science Advances
JF - Science Advances
IS - 30
M1 - eaee1788
ER -