This review was prepared on very short notice, to
provide a summary of what is known to the reviewer at the
time, June 1988, about the natural phenomena of the Marshall
Islands. This was for the use of the members of the survay
team sent to the Marshalls by the Environment and Policy
Institute of the East-West Center, Honolulu. Their mission
was to investigate the remaining relatively natural areas
and the extent of biodiversity in the new Republic of the
Marshall Islands.
Available online
Call Number: [EL]
On the 21 small islands located within the northern bays and reef systems of Tongatapu, Tonga, species of terrestrial flora present were identified, and vegetation units and gemorphological features surveyed on 12 that were previously unmapped. A species/ area plot of the data shows that rock islands are consistently more diverse than sand islands. Size of flora is also a function of frequency of human use of islands,
Agroforestry, the planting and protection of trees and tree like plants as integral components of a polycultural agricultural system, has always been central to the
Interpretation of SEASAT geoid anomaly data and improved seafloor mapping of the
south-central Pacific suggest a complex tectonic history for the islands of the Pitcairn
group. While Oeno atoll formed at ~ 16m.y.BP at a 'hotspot' now south of the Easter micro-
plate, subsequent progressive island development at Henderson (13m.y.), Ducie (8m.y.)
and Crough seamount (4m.y.) resulted from the lateral leakage of magma from the Oeno
lineation along an old fracture zone, itself originating during the Tertiary reorientation
Field work conducted by the senior author at Bikini
Atoll, Marshall Islands, in May 1986 yielded twenty-three
species of birds; six of these were documented as nesting
and an additional four species almost certainly nest as
well. Six species were previously unrecorded for Bikini
Atoll, and one of these, the Laughing Gull (Larus
atricilla) was new to Micronesia. The recorded avifauna
for Bikini Atoll now stands at twenty-six species. Major
seabird colonies were located on Aomoen (and other
The vertebrate fauna of Rotuma consists of over 425
fish species, no amphibians, 11 terrestrial reptiles, 15
land birds and two native mammals. The zoogeographic
affinity of the Rotuman fish fauna is with the Pacific
plate fauna; in contrast, the affinity of the reptile fauna
is with the Fijian fauna. A species list of Rotuman
occurrence is provided for each of the four vertebrate
groups as well as brief descriptions of the marine and
terrestrial habitats.
Available online
Call Number: [EL]
Masayoshi Okabe visited the Palau and Yap Islands to study the local medicinal plants and diseases treated through their use. He made reports of his findings (1941a, 1943a) in Japanese. In this paper the authors present for the first time in the English language a published record of Okabe's findings.
Available online
Call Number: [EL]
Physical Description: 26 p.
A faunistic account of the terrestrial reptiles occurring
on islands and atolls of Eastern Polynesia is provided along with a description of their biogeographic characteristics. The distribution area of each species is presented in relation to frequencies of occurrence, maximum area of coverage, biology and limits of the present state of knowledge.
Available online
Call Number: [EL]
Physical Description: 76 p.
In a typical High Island coral reef complex of French Polynesia (transect of Tiahura, Hoorea Island, Society Archipelago!, 73 species of decapod Reptantia and stomatopod crustaceans were collected. Over 9 stations localised along the transect, 3 different units of hard coral substrate of simi1ar volume (about 17 litres each), were sampled at each station. The results are discussed from two aspects : the first shows that at least 50 carcinologic species occur within the cavitary biotopes ; 16 species (mainly Xanthid crabs), represent more than 90% of all collected individuals.
Several large regions of the world are plagued by
conservation problems shaped around a particular inherent
set of geographical, biological and human conditions which
have been operational for varying periods of time. Typical
of situations facing Latin America are the progress of
economic development in Amazonia with its attendant loss of
rainforest biodiversity, and the Central American
"hamburger connection" involving conversion of forests to
grazing land to support the export of cheap beef to the
This report includes an introductory section on the geography and vegetation, and a main portion listing the species of vascular plants known to occur, or to have occurred, on the island, with detailed descriptions of those of which time permitted a careful study, and brief descriptions of the remaining native species. Those suspected to have been brought by Polynesians in pre-European time are also described and discussed in some detail.
This paper attempts to provide a comprehensive listing and analysis of Kiribati plant names, along with the corresponding Latin, English, and selected Pacific-island vernacular names for plant species with recognized Kiribati vernacular names. The study focuses on those species found on the 16 islands
The purpose of the present study is to: 1/ list the presently known heterodont bivalve fauna of the Cook Islands, 2/ document the habitat specificity of the species involved in as much detail as possible, and 3/ investigate the correlation between a species' habitat specificity and its distribution among the various islands. While several studies have been done on the molluscan fauna of inner reef environments on Pacific islands (though bivalves are often neglected), there has been little work on the fauna of the outer reef slope.
The Man and the Biosphere (MAB) programme of UNESCO, first thought of in 1968, launched in 1970 and endorsed by the Stockholm Conference of 1972, includes a number of scientific projects, of which No. 7 is devoted to the Ecology and Rational Utilization of Island Ecosystems. All the programmes are to be interdisciplinary and intergovernmental. Among member countries which developed their own national plans within the framework of the separate MAB projects, France drafted a vigorous one in
During the period February 13 to 20, 1973, a visit was made to Canton Island for the purpose of conducting a preliminary survey of marine turtle nesting populations. Although previous investigators have described the sea birds (Buddle, 1938; Murphy G., 1954), insects (Van Zwaluwenburg, 1943, 1955), and vegetation (Hatheway, 1955), very little is known about the marine environment of Canton or the other seven atolls (Enderbury, Birnie, Phoenix, Sydney, Hull, Gardner and McKean) which comprise the Phoenix group.