Great Lakes islands provide important and in some cases critical habitat for diverse populations of vertebrates and invertebrates that broadly represent the mainland fauna of the region. Past research has demonstrated that the islands are valuable natural laboratories for basic and applied research. There is tremendous potential for future research on the islands. The inaccessibility of many Great Lakes islands has led to their long-term isolation from human impacts that otherwise extend throughout most of the developed world. This makes Great Lakes islands especially valuable sites for studying environmental change issues that are of significant concern to the global community.