Tropical Islands Biodiversity Crisis. The Indo-West Pacific. 2010. (Topics in Biodiversity and Conservation, Vol. 13). 280 p. gr8vo. Hardcover.

This work assesses the issues facing biodiversity maintenance on tropical islands, and the impacts of biodiversity loss. These are one of the most threatened reservoirs of Earth's biodiversity and so merit special attention. The emphasis is on the Indo-West Pacific region, which includes many small islands where the biodiversity is under threat as a result of not only climate change and habitat destruction, but invasions by organisms previously absent from an island. The contributions are by biodiversity scientists from inside and outside the region, and cover topics ranging from the state of conservation action in South-East Asia, the role of parks, and the status and threat to endemics, to impacts of oil and gas exploration and forest fragmentation. Issues needing still to be addressed, especially in relation to implications of biodiversity loss or change for the maintenance of ecosystem processes, are highlighted. The range of organisms considered include amphibians and reptiles, crustaceans, fish, insects, mammals, and plants.