Lotsa Lizards

Animals on islands (like the Anolis lividus lizard pictured here on Grenada in the Caribbean) are far more abundant than their mainland buddies, says a new study appearing in Ecology Letters’ June issue. But the research also warns that climate change could devastate island ecosystems more quickly than less-sensitive mainland ecosystems.

A major concern is invasion by non-native animals to islands. “Climate change will drive animals to move to new places” like islands, says Lauren Buckley, a postdoctoral fellow at the Santa Fe Institute and co-author of the study. Although the scientists found that lizards are around ten times more abundant on islands than on the mainland, previous research shows invasions of other animals can quickly unsettle island ecosystems. Half of all extinctions, in fact, occur on islands.

Making matters worse, populations on islands are more vulnerable to sea level rise and storms, which are expected to become worse as a result of global warming. “While the world’s more than 100,000 islands constitute only 7 percent” of land, Buckley says, 500 million people live off islands.

—LiveScience Staff

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Credit: Lauren Buckley