摘要:Under global environmental change, understanding the interactions between people andnature has become critical for human survival. Comparative research can identify trendswithin social-ecological systems providing key insights for both environmental and developmental research. Island systems, with clear land boundaries, have been proposed as ideal casestudies for comparative research, but it is unclear to what extent their potential has beenfulfilled. To summarize existing research and identify potential gaps and new directions, wereviewed comparative environmental and developmental research on Pacific Large OceanStates. A diversity of case study locations and research themes were addressed within thesample of reviewed studies. Within the reviewed literature climate change, energy infrastructure, trade and fisheries were key themes of environmental and developmental researchcompared between island systems. Research was biased towards wealthier Pacific LargeOcean States and those with a relatively higher degree of socio-economic development.Our review highlights the potential value of a stronger a priori inclusion of spatial scale andconceptual frameworks, such as spatial resilience, to facilitate generalization from casestudies.