Cientific project

IslandLife will drive the most comprehensive study to date of multilayered ecological networks in terrestrial ecosystems, assessing many types of interactions between species simultaneously. For the first time, the trophic structure of pristine or undisturbed islands will be compared with nearby, human-inhabited islands to understand the effects of global change on these valuable ecosystems.

By combining direct field observations, automated video monitoring, cutting-edge molecular techniques and new models of co-extinction, the IslandLife project seeks to reveal the biodiversity of these ecosystems, understand their complexity and assess their fragility to global change factors, mainly biological invasions. The replicated sampling along the different latitudes will allow testing new biogeographical hypotheses with exceptional databases.