title: Islands as model systems in ecology and evolution: prospects fifty years after MacArthur-Wilson.
abstract: The study of islands as model systems has played an important role in the development of evolutionary and ecological theory. The 50th anniversary of MacArthur and Wilson's (December 1963) article, 'An equilibrium theory of insular zoogeography', was a recent milestone for this theme. Since 1963, island systems have provided new insights into the formation of ecological communities. Here, building on such developments, we highlight prospects for research on islands to improve our understanding of the ecology and evolution of communities in general. Throughout, we emphasise how attributes of islands combine to provide unusual research opportunities, the implications of which stretch far beyond islands. Molecular tools and increasing data acquisition now permit re-assessment of some fundamental issues that interested MacArthur and Wilson. These include the formation of ecological networks, species abundance distributions, and the contribution of evolution to community assembly. We also extend our prospects to other fields of ecology and evolution - understanding ecosystem functioning, speciation and diversification - frequently employing assets of oceanic islands in inferring the geographic area within which evolution has occurred, and potential barriers to gene flow. Although island-based theory is continually being enriched, incorporating non-equilibrium dynamics is identified as a major challenge for the future.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Systematic Botany, University of Zurich, Zollikerstrasse 107, 8008, Zurich, Switzerland; Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN, 37996, USA; UMR PVBMT, Université de La Réunion-CIRAD, 7 chemin de l'IRAT, Ligne Paradis, 97410, Saint Pierre, Réunion, France.
authors.forename: Ben H
authors.initials: BH
authors.lastname: Warren
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Simberloff
authors.forename: Robert E
authors.initials: RE
authors.lastname: Ricklefs
authors.forename: Robin
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Aguilée
authors.forename: Fabien L
authors.initials: FL
authors.lastname: Condamine
authors.forename: Dominique
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Gravel
authors.forename: Hélène
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Morlon
authors.forename: Nicolas
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Mouquet
authors.forename: James
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Rosindell
authors.forename: Juliane
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Casquet
authors.forename: Elena
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Conti
authors.forename: Josselin
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Cornuault
authors.forename: José María
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Fernández-Palacios
authors.forename: Tomislav
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Hengl
authors.forename: Sietze J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Norder
authors.forename: Kenneth F
authors.initials: KF
authors.lastname: Rijsdijk
authors.forename: Isabel
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Sanmartín
authors.forename: Dominique
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Strasberg
authors.forename: Kostas A
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Triantis
authors.forename: Luis M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Valente
authors.forename: Robert J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Whittaker
authors.forename: Rosemary G
authors.initials: RG
authors.lastname: Gillespie
authors.forename: Brent C
authors.initials: BC
authors.lastname: Emerson
authors.forename: Christophe
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Thébaud
mesh_terms: D044822:Biodiversity; D005075:Biological Evolution; D004463:Ecology; D017753:Ecosystem; D051456:Gene Flow; D049810:Genetic Speciation; D005843:Geography; D062312:Islands; D008954:Models, Biological; D011157:Population Dynamics; D012934:Social Isolation
keywords: Community assembly; diversification; ecosystem functioning; genomics; island biogeography; islands as model systems; speciation