The 1972 Maldive Islands Expedition was a six‑week botanical and zoological field study conducted between 15 August and 27 September 1972 on Viligili, an almost uninhabited island in Addu Atoll, the southernmost atoll of the Maldives. Viligili was selected because its vegetation and fauna were comparatively undisturbed, making it ideal for ecological research. The expedition team—comprising zoologists, botanists, and support members—established a camp on the island with logistical assistance from the Royal Air Force base on nearby Gan and from local Maldivian authorities.
The botanical programme aimed to assemble a full plant collection of the island’s flora, map vegetation patterns, and analyse plant communities. Three transects were laid from lagoon to seaward shore, along which vegetation was recorded metre‑by‑metre. Soil pits were dug at regular intervals to measure pH, structure, and depth profiles. A subjective vegetation map was created by surveying dominant species, followed by a quantitative study of 20 homogeneous vegetation sites using 10×10 m quadrats subdivided into 1 m squares. By the expedition’s end, the team had collected what they believed to be most of Viligili’s plant species, which were later deposited at the British Museum (Natural History) for identification.
The zoological programme focused on land hermit crabs (Coenobitidae) and terrestrial arthropods. Three hermit crab species were recorded. Researchers carried out island‑wide sampling using a grid of quadrats to examine habitat preferences in relation to canopy cover, ground type, moisture, and light levels. Each crab was measured, sexed, assigned to a host shell type, and preserved for later weight analysis. Additional studies included mapping crab distributions, assessing shell‑use patterns, and trialling actographs to investigate diurnal and nocturnal activity rhythms.