"Since the early days of natural history, oceanic islands have been a birthing ground for new theories and ideas. Islands are isolated, which means they have fewer species, but it also means they have many more locally evolved species that live nowhere else. Thus, islands are thought of as ""natural laboratories"" - testing grounds for new theory and ideas.
Still, there is so much we don't know about how the plants and animals on islands come together on islands and coexist. But a lot of research currently focuses on islands, and we now be on the verge of a breakthrough in terms of understanding island life. This breakthrough may happen because we are getting a better understanding of island geology, topography and the relationship among species. In particular, a new model, the ""General Dynamic Model"" links the life of island species together with the geological life cycle of the islands themselves.
The project aimed to investigate this model, both theoretically and by studying a group of birds called the Corvides. This group consists of ~800 bird species all over the world, with many well-known members, such as the crows, ravens and shrikes, and also very charismatic birds such as the birds-of-paradise and the vangas in Madagascar.
The project not only has great value in terms of basic science - islands contain a disproportionate portion of the world's rarest species, and more than 90% of all extinctions of birds and mammals have occurred on islands. It is critical that understand the factors controlling island diversity if we are to protect the remaining diversity.
The objectives of the study were:
1. To link the island geological history to diversity patterns
2. To assess the role of topographic and vegetation complexity on corvid diversity patterns.
3. To supplement the large-scale gradient with drone-based reconstructions of bird diversity along a mountain in Udzungwa, East Africa.
4. Map relationships between plants and corvid birds
5. Assess how traits evolve on islands
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