Underground

A chatter sound from far away Like rats scratching their toes. Musty earth smells come floating by— We think of pending woes..

Amusement Park

The bright display Of lights makes Everyone stop to stare. All see something Very funny And they begin laughing out loud..

Desolation

A man sitting silently still as people Pass him on the street. He stares at every face Hoping for a friendly smile but they just glance At him and wonder who he is..

Island Biogeography in the Anthropocene and Quaternary

The realization that human activities have a major influence on ecosystems from local to global scales has given rise to the concept of the Anthropocene. However, although the influence of human activities on biodiversity is clearly significant, it remains unclear to what extent the rate and magnitude of biodiversity changes differ from pre-human dynamics. Islands are ideal model systems for understanding the relative contribution of environmental and societal variables to biodiversity change because the onset of human activities on islands can generally be clearly defined. The aim of this PhD thesis is to place human-environment interactions on islands in the context of environmental fluctuations over the Quaternary. The thesis consists of two parts. First, I quantify how island area and isolation have changed over the Quaternary as a result of climate-driven sea-level fluctuations, and analyse how these dynamics have shaped modern biodiversity patterns. Secondly, I study how human activities in the past and present have shaped island ecosystems and landscapes, and compare their rate and magnitude to pre-human dynamics. Overall, the findings of my thesis indicate that modern biodiversity patterns show legacies of past human activities but are also imprinted by environmental dynamics in deep-time. Furthermore, the rate of change following human settlement on islands can largely exceed Quaternary background rates. Therefore, my findings are in line with studies that indicate that human activities have become a major driver in shaping biodiversity across scales. Nonetheless, my comparison of islands worldwide also highlights the diverse ways in which abiotic, biotic, and anthropogenic variables have interacted across individual islands. Therefore, future studies should acknowledge that global biodiversity change can manifest differently across localities. Finally, I emphasize the importance of strengthening interdisciplinary approaches in island biogeography to enhance our understanding of biodiversity changes in the Anthropocene, and how they relate to deeptime dynamics.A constatação de que as atividades humanas exercem uma grande influência sobre os ecossistemas, da escala local à global, originou o conceito do Antropoceno. No entanto, apesar da influência das atividades humanas ser claramente significativa, ainda não está claro até que ponto a taxa e magnitude de alterações na biodiversidade diferem da dinâmica pré-humana. As ilhas constituem sistemas modelo ideais para compreender a contribuição relativa de variáveis ambientais e sociais, porque o início das atividades humanas é em geral conhecido. O objetivo desta tese de doutoramento é enquadrar as interações homem-ambiente nas ilhas no contexto das flutuações ambientais no Quaternário. A tese consiste em duas partes. Primeiro, quantifico como a área da ilha e o isolamento mudaram no Quaternário devido às flutuações do nível do mar provocadas pelo clima e analiso como essas dinâmicas moldaram os padrões modernos de biodiversidade. Em segundo lugar, estudo como as atividades humanas passadas e presentes moldaram os ecossistemas e paisagens das ilhas e comparo a sua taxa e magnitude com a dinâmica pré-humana. As conclusões de minha tese indicam que os padrões modernos de biodiversidade mostram legados de atividades humanas passadas, mas também são afectados pela dinâmica ambiental em escalas temporais longinquas. Além disso, a taxa de alterações após o povoamento humano nas ilhas pode exceder largamente taxas quaternárias antecedentes. Os meus resultados concordam com estudos mostrando que as atividades humanas têm sido um fator importante na modelação da biodiversidade ao longo do tempo. Mas a minha comparação global de ilhas também destaca diversas maneiras pelas quais variáveis abióticas, bióticas e antropogénicas interagiram entre ilhas. Estudos futuros devem reconhecer que a mudança global da biodiversidade pode manifestarse de formas diferente entre localidades. Por fim, destaco a importância de aumentar abordagens interdisciplinares na biogeografia insular para melhor compreender as mudanças da biodiversidade no Antropoceno

Interdisciplinary island studies:Connecting the social sciences, natural sciences and humanities

In this paper, we present the outline of an interdisciplinary undergraduate course entitled: “Islands: Models for our Planet – Metaphors for our World”, and will reflect on insights gained during its development and teaching in two consecutive academic years (2014-2015; 2015-2016). The main challenge faced during the development and teaching of this interdisciplinary course was to introduce a wide range of topics in a coherent way. For this reason, a theoretical framework was developed to guide students throughout their learning process and to structure the content of the course. The developed course materials are shared in the supplementary materials of this paper to facilitate colleagues around the world who are teaching a course in island studies