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An International Conference on Island Evolution, Ecology, and Conservation is to be held in Hawaii, USA over 7-11 July 2014.  Most ACAP-listed albatrosses, petrels and shearwaters breed on islands around the World, including on the Hawaiian islands in the North Pacific.

The following text is taken from the conference’s web site.

Islands are renowned for their extraordinary biota - inspiring biologists and providing key insights into evolution, biogeography, and ecology.  As a result of the devastating effects of human colonization, island ecosystems face severe threats, and island conservation has become a vital international concern.

Scientists are generating data on the world's islands at an unprecedented pace, and now is an opportune time to bring together island biologists from around the world to synthesize developments in the field that have arisen since the publication of the 20th century’s seminal works—MacArthur & Wilson’s Island Biogeography and Carlquist’s Island Biology—and to chart the future for the study and conservation of islands.

An international conference consisting of plenary lectures, symposia, contributed talks and posters will examine the widest possible range of taxa, regions, and biological disciplines.  This will be the first of a regular series of meetings that will be held every four years, on islands around the world, at which island biologists can come together, share insights, and develop collaborations that will accelerate the pace and effectiveness of island research and conservation.

Themes will include:

        Island biogeography: confronting theory with reality

        Island evolution: time for a data-driven synthesis across taxa and islands

        Island ecology: how do islands differ from continents, and from each other (and what do they have in common)?

        Island conservation: island biodiversity faces extraordinary threats, so how can we respond?

        Emerging topics: paleoecology, climate change, ecosystem services.

Short-tailed Albatross occur in small numbers on Hawaiian islands

Photograph by Cynthia Vanderlip

To contact the organizers or to sign up for future announcements, write to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 22 June 2013