Caroline Atoll (Frontispiece) is situated at 10°00'S latitude and 150°13'W longitude in the south-central Pacific Ocean. Caroline is the southeasternmost of the Southern Line Islands, a group of 3 islands which also includes Vostok and Flint, lying 230 km to its west and southwest, respectively. Although archaeologically and geographically within Polynesia, Caroline is owned by the Republic of Kiribati (formerly Gilbert Islands).
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Majuro Atoll has been a center of activity for the Marshall Islands since 1944 and is now the major population center and port of entry for the country. Previous to the accompanying study, no thorough documentation has been made of the vascular plants of Majuro Atoll. There were only reports that were either part of much larger discussions on the entire Micronesian region or the Marshall Islands as a whole, and were of a very
Knowledge of the fishermen of Tarawa Atoll, Kiribati concerning some key food fish in their waters is described and shown to be highly relevant to the management of these fish. The bonefish, Albula glossodonta, has been the most important shallow- water finfish in Tarawa catches. However, all but one of its known spawning runs has been eliminated according to fishermen and this last remaining run is showing signs of
The very productive lagoon fisheries of Tarawa atoll changed greatly in recent decades as human development and intensive harvesting increased. Tarawa typifies the increasingly common condition of resource depletion and marine community structure change with expanding human activities and population growth. Fisheries-dependent reports have documented the change in fisher landings for nearly two decades. A comparison of fisheries-independent data collected during 1992-93 with data collected in 1977 allowed for documentation of large changes in important finfish resources in Tarawa Lagoon.
The arcid bivalve Anadara uropigimelana (te bun) is the most important shellfish resource in the central atolls of Tungaru (former Gilbert Islands), with a yearly catch of ca. 1400 tons on South Tarawa alone. Species of Anadara s.s. are also important in artisanal shellfisheries on several central Pacific islands. Tungaru atolls lying in the highly productive zone of equatorial upwelling harbor dense te bun beds, while those
This article provides a record of fish names from two locations in the central Pacific, these being the Vava'u Islands of Tonga, and Taveuni area in northern Fiji. The Handbook for the Collection of Fish Names in Pacific Languages by G.L. Barnett provided a method for the collection of these data during field work at the two places which culturally are part of West Polynesia. Interviews and discussions with fishers yielded a record of the Tongan language names and Fijian language names of approximately 50 fishes that occur in the waters of these islands.
French Polynesian Decapoda, restricted to shrimps, and Stomatopuda are inventoried from literature and unpublished fields collections. Number of species is 205 for the shrimps and 26 for the Stomatopoda. Within the shrimps, Caridea dominate with 170 species, mainly Alpheidae (57 species), Palaemonidae (46 species), and Pandalidae (29 species). Full literature and distribution in French Polynesia are indicated for each species.
Two species of sea turtles and eight lizards comprise the herpetofauna of Kapingamarangi Atoll; the giant Micronesian gecko (Perochirus scutellatus) is unknown elsewhere. The mourning gecko (Lepidodactylus lugubris), oceanic gecko (Gehyra
oceanica), and azure-tailed copper-striped skink (Emoia impar) are the most common and widespread species, being recorded on 100%, 97%, and 87% of the 31 islands, respectively. The stump-toed gecko (Gehyra mutilata) and the Pacific blue-tailed skink
Flying foxes (Pteropus spp) are important pollinators and seed dispersers in many island ecosystems. Populations of flying foxes have declined markedly on most islands in the South Pacific since the 1940's. One potential conservation strategy is to reintroduce bats on islands where they historically occurred. In this manner, the risk of species extinction due to local catastrophic events can be reduced. Ideally the source
The shorefishes of Ouvea, an isolated atoll in the Loyalty Islands group of New Caledonia, had not been surveyed prior to 1990. An extensive survey was conducted by ORSTOM between 1991 and 1992 to obtain baseline information on the shorefishes. A
total of 653 taxa among 72 families are now documented from this area. The most diverse families are the Labridae (69 species), Pomacentridae (58 species), Gobiidae (54 spccies),Serranidae (39 species), Chaetodontidae (31 species) and Apogonidae (28
The oceanic dispersal of plants and animals has been the focus of studies ever since organized natural history started in the Pacific, and the dispersal of terrestrial by sea rafting has been given due consideration. The finding of drift materials such as glass floats, tree trunks and seeds, is a common occurrence on the shores of Pacific Islands, but in most
cases the origin of such material is unknown or at least equivocal. Thus while the principle of sea rafted dispersal is known and reported at length, there is a need to document those
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
Mataiva Atoll, one of 84 in French Polynesia, is a small coral
island at the western edge of the Tuamotu Archipelago. This atoll occupies a particular place among the French Polynesian atolls since the discovery beneath the lagoon sediments of deposits of phosphates soon to be exploited. In order to estimate the environmental effects of such exploitation and plan a management scheme, numerous studies have been carried out since 1978 by many scientific organizations: Antenne du
Although the atoll was discovered in 1796 and claimed by the United States in 1858, it was uninhabited except for brief visits by guano miners, adventurers, government scientists and military personnel until 1936, when the U.S. Navy began developing first a seaplane base and later an airstrip and refueling facilities which served as an important link from
the Hawaiian Islands to the western Pacific during World War II.
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Physical Description: 502 p.
The human drama of climate change will largely be played out in Asia, where over 60 per cent of the world's population, around four billion people, live. Over half of those live near the coast, making them directly vulnerable to sea-level rise. Disruption to the region's water cycle caused by climate change also threatens the security and productivity of the food systems upon which they depend. In acknowledgement, both of the key meetings in 2007 and 2008 to secure a global climate agreement will be in Asia.
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The World's oceans play a crucial role for life on the planet.
Healthy seas and the services they provide are key to the future
development of mankind. Our seas are highly dynamic, structured and complex systems. The seafloor consists of vast shelves
and plains with huge mountains, canyons and trenches which
dwarf similar structures on land. Ocean currents transport water
masses many times larger than all rivers on Earth combined.
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ISBN/ISSN: 978-82-7701-048-9
Climate change is real and Asia is already experiencing its adverse impacts. Projections from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) suggest that such impacts will become even more intense in the future. While the contribution of developing countries in Asia to global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions is increasing rapidly, per capita emissions are still low and developmental challenges remain significant.
As early as 1990 the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) noted that the greatest single impact of climate change might be on human migrationwith millions of people displaced by shoreline erosion, coastal flooding and agricultural disruption.3 Since then, successive reports have argued that environmental degradation, and in particular climate change, is poised to become a major driver of population displacementa crisis in the making.
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Physical Description: 64 p.
The main purpose of this paper is to help policy makers,
particularly those in developing countries, think about the national policy instruments needed to contribute to the
fight against climate change, how such needs can be articulated in order to seek internal and external financial resources and how these needs may be reflected in negotiations of a future climate change agreement. This paper is an input to a series of workshops which the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) will organize in developing countries with the aim of improv-
Climate change is one of the greatest threats to our
planet and its people. Reducing emissions of greenhouse
gases (GHG) is called mitigation. Responding to the impacts of climate change is called adaptation. A certain amount of adaptation will be necessary, no matter what we do. But, there will come a point where it will not be possible to adapt our way out of the problem.