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Island Biogeography

Module description

This module covers: (i) an introduction to the main themes and theories of island biogeography; island origins and types (oceanic, continental shelf, continental fragments); the physical geographical features and dynamics of islands (including the impact of Pleistocene glaciations and volcanism); and (ii) their key biodiversity features (filtering from source pools producing ‘disharmony’, and endemism); and (iii) island macroecology (island species-area relationships, species abundance and range properties, etc), (iv) island assembly dynamics and properties (illustrated through systems such as the Krakatau islands), and (v) how island biodiversity responds to island geodynamics, and (vi) the application of island ecological principles to conservation planning. The module provides a blend of key theories and review of evidence used in developing and testing of these theories.

Module aims - intentions of the module

Island biogeography is the study of the distribution of life on islands and how it has been shaped through time and across space. It employs islands as model systems to develop and test ideas concerning fundamental controls on biological diversity of broad application. It also provides an integrative natural science perspective on how the diversity of islands is shaped that provides a crucial foundation for the study of ecological processes, human intervention and conservation management of island systems in their own right. The aim of this module is thus to provide a theoretical and empirical grounding in the assembly of island biodiversity and how it varies with island type and island properties, and how island biodiversity dynamics respond to environmental variation. It also illustrates how island theory has been applied to understanding and predicting the biodiversity responses of ecosystems to habitat fragmentation, thus informing conservation science and management.

Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)

ILO: Module-specific skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 1. Compare and contrast the main geographic and biogeographic differences among the different island types.
• 2. Discuss the abiotic and biotic determinants of the island colonisation processes.
• 3. Produce a detailed monitoring plan of the colonisation of an hypothetical emerged oceanic island.

ILO: Discipline-specific skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 4. Apply statistical and modelling skills to understand and interpret quantitative analyses using the more important statistical computational tools and packages.
• 5. Analyse scientific results and determine their strength and validity.

ILO: Personal and key skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 6. Communicate effectively through oral presentations, written reports, posters and scientific publication.
• 7. Demonstrate management skills, such as decision-making, problem definition, project design and evaluation, risk management, teamwork and coordination, and resource and time management.
• 8. Integrate and evaluate information from a variety of sources using state-of-the-art communications.

Syllabus plan

Whilst the module’s precise content may vary from year to year, it is envisaged that the syllabus will cover some or all of the following topics:

• Short introduction: islands as biogeographical laboratories (islands globally)
• Types of islands (modes of origin, plate boundary islands, islands in intraplate locations)
  • Environmental changes over long timescales (changes in relative sea level, reefs, atolls, and guyots, eustatic changes in sea level, climate change on islands, the developmental history of the Canaries, Hawaii, Aegean Sea)
  • The physical environment of islands (topographic characteristics, climatic characteristics, water resources, tracks in the ocean)
• The island species-area relationship (application to predicting extinction debt)
• The equilibrium theory of island biogeography (development, evaluation and prospects)
• The general dynamic model of oceanic island biogeography (development, evaluation and prospects)

Learning activities and teaching methods (given in hours of study time)

Details of learning activities and teaching methods

Formative assessment

Summative assessment (% of credit)

Details of summative assessment

Details of re-assessment (where required by referral or deferral)

Re-assessment notes

Deferral – if you miss an assessment for certificated reasons that are approved by the Mitigation Committee, you will normally be either deferred in the assessment or an extension may be granted. If deferred, the format and timing of the re-assessment for each of the summative assessments is detailed in the table above ('Details of re-assessment'). The mark given for a deferred assessment will not be capped and will be treated as it would be if it were your first attempt at the assessment.

Referral - if you have failed the module (i.e. a final overall module mark of less than 50%) and the module cannot be condoned, you will be required to complete a re-assessment for each of the failed components on the module. The format and timing of the re-assessment for each of the summative assessments is detailed in the table above ('Details of re-assessment'). If you pass the module following re-assessment, your module mark will be capped at 50%.

Indicative learning resources - Basic reading

Key text:

• Whittaker, R.J., Fernández-Palacios, J.M. & Matthews, T.J. (2023). Island Biogeography: Geo-environmental dynamics, ecology, evolution, human impact and conservation (Oxford University Press, Oxford). Chapters 1 through 7, and 12.

Additional key sources:

• Aguilée, R., Pellerin, F., Soubeyrand, M., Choin, J., & Thébaud, C. (2021). Biogeographic drivers of community assembly on oceanic islands: The importance of archipelago structure and history. Journal of Biogeography, 48, 2616–2628.
• Ali, J.R. and Meiri, S. (2023). Ontogeny of islands associated with mantle-plume hotspots and its implications for biogeographical models, Evolving Earth, 1, 10007. 
• Fernández-Palacios, J.M., Rijsdijk, K.F., Norder, S.J., Otto, R., de Nascimento, L., Fernández-Lugo, S., Tjørve, E. and Whittaker, R.J. (2016), Towards a glacial-sensitive model of island biogeography. Global Ecology and Biogeography, 25: 817-830.
• Losos, J.B., & Ricklefs, R.E. (eds). (2010). The theory of island biogeography revisited. Princeton, NJ: Princeton Univ. Press.
• Lomolino, M.V., Riddle, B.R. & Whittaker, R.J. (2017). Biogeography. 5th edition. Sinauer (now OUP).
• Matthews, T. J. (2021). On the biogeography of habitat islands: the importance of matrix effects, noncore species, and source–sink dynamics. The Quarterly Review of Biology, 96, 73–104,
• Whittaker, R.J. et al. (2017) Island biogeography: Taking the long view of nature’s laboratories. Science357,eaam8326

Indicative learning resources - Web based and electronic resources

      Academic journal literature such as:

• Global Ecology and Biogeography, https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/14668238
• Journal of Biogeography, https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/13652699

Key words search

Biogeography, islands, biodiversity, conservation, oceanic, reefs, atolls, guyuts