ABSTRACT
Cut off by the sea, island landscapes and their inhabitants are often very different from their mainland counterparts. Their isolation shields the populations of those few species that manage to reach them from competitors raised in the harder school of continental competition, leading to the evolution of unique island forms. Human settlement, founded frequently from eclectic sources, often leads to distinctive cultures and landscapes. The hardships of island life are perhaps even greater than those of the mountains, and, like them, depopulation is a major problem. Crete exhibits many of these characteristics, and its offshore island Gávdhos even more.
