Emergent patterns of island biodiversity in the Anthropocene
Thomas J. Matthews · Ferran Sayol · Filipa C. Soares · Julia H. Heinen · Osanna Chu · Natàlia Martínez-Rubio · Joseph P. Wayman · Thomas E. Martin · Roberto Rozzi · Céline Bellard · Tim M. Blackburn · Paulo A. V. Borges · Michael K. Borregaard · Juliano Sarmento Cabral · Pedro Cardoso · Bo Dalsgaard · Simone Fattorini · José María Fernández-Palacios · Matthew R. Helmus · Julian P. Hume · Michał T. Jezierski · Holger Kreft · Oriol Lapiedra · Mark V. Lomolino · Sandra Nogué · François Rigal · Ana M. C. Santos · Julian Schrader · Xingfeng Si · Jens-Christian Svenning · Kostas A. Triantis · Luis Valente · Alexandra A. E. van der Geer · Patrick Weigelt · Robert J. Whittaker · Søren Faurby
期刊Science Advances / Sci. Adv.
类型Article
发表2026-07-23 (online)
卷期页12(30): eaee1788
收录2026-10-09
被浏览…
关键词island biodiversityAnthropocenespecies extinctionintroduced speciesspecies richnesscommunity compositionevolutionspecies interactionspaleoecologybiodiversity databases
标签—
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.

@article{matthews2026,
author = {Thomas J. Matthews and Ferran Sayol and Filipa C. Soares and Julia H. Heinen and Osanna Chu and Natàlia Martínez-Rubio and Joseph P. Wayman and Thomas E. Martin and Roberto Rozzi and Céline Bellard and Tim M. Blackburn and Paulo A. V. Borges and Michael K. Borregaard and Juliano Sarmento Cabral and Pedro Cardoso and Bo Dalsgaard and Simone Fattorini and José María Fernández-Palacios and Matthew R. Helmus and Julian P. Hume and Michał T. Jezierski and Holger Kreft and Oriol Lapiedra and Mark V. Lomolino and Sandra Nogué and François Rigal and Ana M. C. Santos and Julian Schrader and Xingfeng Si and Jens-Christian Svenning and Kostas A. Triantis and Luis Valente and Alexandra A. E. van der Geer and Patrick Weigelt and Robert J. Whittaker and Søren Faurby},
title = {Emergent patterns of island biodiversity in the Anthropocene},
journal = {Science Advances},
year = {2026},
volume = {12},
number = {30},
pages = {eaee1788},
doi = {10.1126/sciadv.aee1788},
publisher = {American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)},
}· END ·