Evolutionary Strategies in Insular Environments

This paper is divided into two parts: classic knowledge on theory of island biogeography (I) and the evolution of behaviour and morphology under insular constraints (II). The main subjects dealt with are: the problem of small populations (1); the biological definition of an island and the importance of biological studies on islands (2); the species-area effect and its consequences for a nature conservation strategy (3); the equilibrium theory and the weaknesses of this model (4); the founder principle (5); some features of insular populations, such as clutch size, niche enlargement and changes in body size (6); the natural history of colonisation and the success and failure of colonisation (7); the morphological paradigm of island faunas (8) and the evolution of social behaviour under insular constraints – territoriality, altruism, social structure and its relationships with body shape (9).