| Island Ecosystems |
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| Types of island ecosystems |
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 An island is a body of land, smaller than a continent, completely surrounded by water. Plants and animals of island ecosystems have many distinctive features, often related to the type of island: - old continental islands e.g. New Caledonia and New Zealand, originally part of a continent
- oceanic islands, generally volcanic and short lived e.g. Hawai'i
- coral atolls (see photo of Palmyra Atoll)
- small, numerous islands e.g. red mangrove islets in the tropics, sand islets of the Caribbean and Indian Ocean, and
- barrier islands parallel and close to the mainland coast.
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| Photo title: Palmyra Atoll, Pacific Ocean |
| Photo credit: Kim Cobb, Scripps Institution of Oceanography |
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| Island biogeography |
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 Island ecosystems have been studied because they are simpler than ocean ecosystems. Even clusters of islands are simpler to study. Islands provide natural “experiments” for research because of their number, variation in shape, size, degree of isolation and ecology. Oceanic islands near continents may have continental plants and animals. More isolated islands may have endemic species. One of the key relationships in island biogeography is the area-biodiversity curve. Generally the larger the island, the more diverse the plants and animals. To put it another way, environmental diversity is correlated with island area. |
| Photo title: Bahia Azul, Panama, a great chaenopsid collecting site |
| Photo credit: P A Hastings, Scripps Institution of Oceanography |
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 More recent interest in island biogeography has had an impact on conservation biology. Many features of island ecosystems are relevant to ecosystem conservation elsewhere, on land as well as in the oceans. Island ecosystems have helped our understanding of:- fragmentation (leading to insularization)
- creation of biotic communities, and
- species extinction.
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| Photo title: Acanthemblemaria mangognatha, a new tube blenny endemic to Islas Revillagigedos, Mexico |
| Photo credit: D R Robertson |
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Aiming for London 2012
Australia Network - Pacific Pulse 03 August 2009 |  |
| | The Pacific may be famous around the world for its white sandy beaches but beach volleyball is still a relatively new sport in the islands. It is becoming more popular in Vanuatu thanks to a couple of medal winning performances by two women who are now inspiring a generation of schoolgirls. Story includes 3:00 minute videoclip. Photo credit: Vanuatu Beach Volleyball. | |
Read more at http://australianetwork. ... 91019.htm.
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