What is it about?
Island ecosystems are biodiversity-rich, but face an alarming level of exposure to global change. We found that by 2050, climate change will be the dominant threat for 65% of islands; 22% will be affected primarily by land-use change; and 13% will face greater threats from biological invasions. We call for these ecosystems to be incorporated into global biodiversity conservation strategies and for their protection to be strengthened.
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Why is it important?
Although they account for just 7% of the Earth’s land surface, island ecosystems harbour almost 20% of the world’s biodiversity. From sea-level rise to biological invasions, islands are facing multiple pressures associated with ongoing global change, and yet they are still overlooked in global biodiversity conservation strategies. We combined several existing datasets with original modelling to develop threat layers at the island level for the world’s islands, and produced projections for 2050.
Perspectives
This article was a collaborative work from the RIVAGE group composed of an international team of 14 researchers. We all gathered 2 weeks a year in Montpellier at Cesab for amazing workshops (in terms of productivity, scientific talks, human relationships, and food) and we ended up with very nice scientific projects, which made me very happy of our group!
Clara Marino
Fondation pour la Recherche sur la Biodiversite
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Global threat exposure of islands in a changing world, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, July 2026, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences,
DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2534106123.
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