木瓜福利影视

Islands have played an important role in the development of theories and hypotheses on the origin and evolution of species. Insular species richness is known to be influenced by geographical island characteristics, such as size and isolation. Recently, it has been recognised that island biodiversity may vary over the lifespan of an island, as island environments are dynamic through time. Island age is thus a key parameter in understanding island biodiversity trends. My PhD project aims to contribute to island biogeography theory by incorporating the relevant time-dependent island parameters from a geologist鈥檚 perspective.

I will start by testing a novel approach for dating volcanic islands. Zircons collected from island beach sands may provide constraints on the moment of island emergence. These age data will then be complemented by a large review of island parameters such as elevation, topography and size to build an extensive database. This database will allow me to develop generalised models of geological island evolution for different island types relevant for biodiversity research. I will also compile data for various biodiversity metrics and analyse them in relation to island type, island age and island ontogeny.