Has survey effort of Australia's islands reflected conservation and biogeographical significance? An assessment using Collembola

Surveys of collembolan faunas of 10 of Australia's off-shore islands are recorded. The island's abiotic attributes are ranked according to their influence on species richness and endemism. The ranks are compared with rankings of the thoroughness of the survey and species richness of Collembola. The data suggest that, apart from Lord Howe Island, survey effort has been influenced to a greater extent by strategic, political and commercial interests and only rarely by any predicted conservation significance.