Oceanic islands represent a set of systems in which biological diversity varies as a consequence of remoteness or size, not environment; they are also generally simpler than continental ecosystems. Islands therefore provide an opportunity to determine the direct effects of biological diversity on ecosystem function.
The volume addresses the components of biological diversity on islands and their patterns of variation; the modern threats to the maintenance of biological diversity on islands; the consequences of island biology and its modification by humanity regarding aspects of ecosystem function; the global implications of islands for conservation; and how islands can help one to understand the processes inducing changes throughout the world.

Inhalt
1 Introduction Why Focus on Islands?.- Section A: Patterns and Levels of Diversity.- 2 Research on Islands: Classic, Recent, and Prospective Approaches.- 3 Evolution, Speciation, and the Genetic Structure of Island Populations.- 4 Patterns of Diversity in Island Plants.- 5 Vertebrate Patterns on Islands.- 6 Patterns of Diversity in Island Soil Fauna: Detecting Functional Redundancy.- 7 Ecosystem and Landscape Diversity: Islands as Model Systems.- Section B: Threats to Diversity on Islands.- 8 Prehistoric Extinctions and Ecological Changes on Oceanic Islands.- 9 Biological Invasions as Agents of Change on Islands Versus Mainlands.- 10 Climate Change and Island Biological Diversity.- Section C: Diversity and Ecosystem Function.- 11 Ecosystem-Level Consequences of Species Additions and Deletions on Islands.- 12 Biological Diversity and the Maintenance of Mutualisms.- 13 Biological Diversity and Disturbance Regimes in Island Ecosystems.- 14 Effects of Diversity on Productivity: Quantitative Distributions of Traits.- Section D: Conservation Implications.- 15 Insular Lessons for Global Biodiversity Conservation with Particular Reference to Alien Invasions.- 16 Saint Helena: Sustainable Development and Conservation of a Highly Degraded Island Ecosystem.- Section E: Where Can We Go from Here?.- 17 Biodiversity and Ecosystem Function: Using Natural Attributes of Islands.- 18 Experimental Studies on Islands.