Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-g7gxr Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-19T12:18:24.774Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

10 - Montane cloud forests on remote islands of Oceania: the example of French Polynesia (South Pacific Ocean)

from Part II - Regional floristic and animal diversity

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 May 2011

J.-Y. Meyer
Affiliation:
Délégation à la Recherche
L. A. Bruijnzeel
Affiliation:
Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam
F. N. Scatena
Affiliation:
University of Pennsylvania
L. S. Hamilton
Affiliation:
Cornell University, New York
Get access

Summary

ABSTRACT

Small, isolated patches of tropical montane cloud forest (TMCF) are found in many remote islands of the Pacific region (Oceania). French Polynesia comprises 37 high volcanic islands and islets, all located at more than 5000 km from the nearest continents. TMCFs are found on 12 of them (Huahine, Moorea, Raiatea, Tahaa, and Tahiti in the Society Islands, Fatu Hiva, Hiva Oa, Nuku Hiva, Tahuata, Ua Huka, and Ua Pou in the Marquesas Islands, and Rapa in the Austral Islands), with a total area of up to 8000 ha. Their current individual extent ranges from less than 20 ha (Huahine, Rapa, Tahaa) to c. 1000 ha (Hiva Oa, Nuku Hiva) and more than 5000 ha (Tahiti), the other islands having less than 100–200 ha each. TMCFs are located between 300–400 m.a.s.l. and up to 1600–1800 m.a.s.l. (Tahiti), but are more often found above 800–900 m.a.s.l. They are generally located on the upper slopes of valleys, on high-elevation plateaux, and in gullies and ridges below the summits, with annual rainfall ranging between 3000 and 8500 mm. TMCFs are floristically the most diverse of all plant communities in French Polynesia, with the highest endemism and number of biological types. Between 60% (Moorea, Tahiti, and Rapa) and more than 70% (Raiatea, Hiva Oa, Ua Pou, and Ua Huka) of the endemic vascular plant species are found in the TMCFs, and between 25% (Moorea and Rapa) and 50% (Hiva Oa, Nuku Hiva, and Ua Pou) of these endemics are restricted to these habitats. […]

Type
Chapter
Information
Tropical Montane Cloud Forests
Science for Conservation and Management
, pp. 121 - 129
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2011

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Adamson, A. M. (1936). Marquesan Insects Environment, Bernice P. Bishop Museum Bulletin No. 139. Honolulu, HI: Pacific Entomological Survey.Google Scholar
Adamson, A. M. (1939). Review of the Fauna of the Marquesas Islands and Discussion of its Origin, Bernice P. Bishop Museum Bulletin No. 159. Honolulu, HI: Pacific Entomological Survey.Google Scholar
Bachinon, P. (1990). Tahiti entre Mythe et Réalités: Essai d'histoire géographique. Paris: Editions du C.H.T.S.Google Scholar
Brown, F. B. H. (1931). Flora of Southeastern Polynesia, Vol. 1, Monocotyledons, Bernice P. Bishop Museum Bulletin No. 84. Honolulu, HI: Pacific Entomological Survey.Google Scholar
Cribbs, P., and Whistler, W. A. (1996). Orchids of Samoa. Kew, UK: Royal Botanic Gardens.Google Scholar
Florence, J. (1983). De Cuzent à nos jours: esquisse du paysage botanique actuel. In Archipel de Tahiti: Recherches sur les Productions Végétales, ed. Cuzent, G., pp. (167–172). Papeete, French Polynesia: Editions Haere Po No Tahiti.Google Scholar
Florence, J. (1986). Flore et végétation. In Encyclopédie de la Polynésie française, Vol. 2, Flore et Faune Terrestres, pp. 25–40. Papeete, French Polynesia: Christian Gleizal/Multipresse.Google Scholar
Florence, J. (1987). Endémisme et évolution de la flore de la Polynésie française. Bulletin de la Société Zoologique de la France 112: 369–380.Google Scholar
Florence, J. (1993). La végétation de quelques îles de la Polynésie française. In Atlas de la Polynésie française, ed. Dupon, J. F., Planches 54–55. Paris: ORSTOM.Google Scholar
Florence, J. (2003). La Polynésie française: environnement phytogéographique, l'homme et ses plantes. In Archéologie en Océanie Insulaire: Peuplement, Société et Paysages, ed. Orliac, C., pp. 130–149. Paris: Editions Artcom.Google Scholar
Florence, J., and Lorence, D. H. (1997). Introduction to the flora and vegetation of the Marquesas Islands. Allertonia 7: 226–237.Google Scholar
Fosberg, F. R. (1992).Vegetation of the Society Islands. Pacific Science 46: 232–250.Google Scholar
MacCormack, G. and Künzle, J. (1995). Rarotonga's Mountain Tracks and Plants. A Field Guide. Rarotonga, Cook Islands: Cook Islands Natural Heritage Project.Google Scholar
MacDaniels, L. H. (1947). A Study of the Fe'i Banana and its Distribution with Reference to Polynesian Migrations. Honolulu, HI: Bernice P. Bishop Museum.Google Scholar
Merlin, M. D., and Juvik, J. O. (1995). Montane cloud forest in the tropical Pacific: some aspects of their floristics, biogeography, ecology, and conservation. In Tropical Montane Cloud Forests, eds. Hamilton, L. S., Juvik, J. O., and Scatena, F. N., pp. 234–253. New York: Springer-Verlag.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Meyer, J.-Y. (1996). Espèces et Espaces Menacés de la Société et des Marquises, Contribution à la Biodiversité de Polynésie française No.1–5. Tahiti, French Polynesia: Délégation à l'Environnement/Délégation à la Recherche.Google Scholar
Meyer, J.-Y. (2004). Threat of invasive alien plants on native flora and forest vegetation of Eastern Polynesia. Pacific Science 58: 357–375.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Meyer, J.-Y., and Florence, J. (1996). Tahiti's native flora endangered by the invasion of Miconia calvescens DC. (Melastomataceae). Journal of Biogeography 23: 775–781.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Meyer, J.-Y., and Florence, J. (1999). Mont Mauru (Tahiti, Society Islands) and Toovii ridges (Nuku Hiva, Marquesas Islands), two natural areas of ecological interest in French Polynesia, proposed as PABITRA sites. In 19th Pacific Science Congress, University of New South Wales, July 4–9, 1999, Sydney. Available at www.botany.hawaii.edu/ pabitra/Sites/sitedescriptions/french.htm.Google Scholar
Mueller-Dombois, D., and Fosberg, F. R. (1998). Vegetation of the Tropical Pacific Islands. New York: Springer-Verlag.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mumford, E. P., and Adamson, A. M. (1934). Entomological researches in the Marquesas Islands. Mémoires de la Societé Biogéographique 4: 219–234.Google Scholar
Oliver, D. L. (1974). Ancient Tahitian Society, Vol. 1, Ethnography. Canberra, ACT: Australian National University Press.Google Scholar
Papy, H. R. (1948). Aperçu sommaire des étages de végétation à Tahiti. Bulletin de la Société d'Histoire Naturelle de Toulouse 83: 217–222.Google Scholar
Papy, H. R. (1951). Sur un problème écologique posé par la végétation des hauts-sommets de Tahiti et du plateau Temehani à Raiatea (Océanie française). Bulletin de la Société pour les Etudes Océaniennes 84(8): 183–191.Google Scholar
Papy, H. R. (1954). Tahiti et les Îles voisines, Part II, La Végétation des Îles de la Société et de Makatea. Toulouse, France: Laboratoire Forestier.Google Scholar
Pasturel, J. (1993). La climatologie des îles. In Atlas de la Polynésie française, Planche 43. ed. Dupon, J.-F., Paris: ORSTOM.Google Scholar
Pétard, P. H. (1960). Quelques plantes utiles de la Polynésie française: Ptéridophytes et Monocotylédones. Ph.D. thesis, University of Marseilles, Marseilles, France.Google Scholar
Raynor, B. (1995). Montane cloud forests in Micronesia: status and future management. In Tropical Montane Cloud Forests, eds. Hamilton, L. S., Juvik, J. O., and Scatena, F. N., pp. 274–283. New York: Springer-Verlag.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wagner, W. L., Herbst, D. R., and Sohmer, S. H. (1990). Manual of the Flowering Plants of Hawai'i. Honolulu, HI: University of Hawaii Press, Bishop Museum Press.Google Scholar
Watling, D. and Gillison, A. N. (1995). Endangered species in low elevation cloud forest on Gau island, Fiji. In Tropical Montane Cloud Forests, eds. Hamilton, L. S., Juvik, J. O., and Scatena, F. N., pp. (333–342). New York: Springer-Verlag.Google Scholar
Whistler, W. A. (1995). The cloud forest of Samoa. In Tropical Montane Cloud Forests, eds. Hamilton, L. S., Juvik, J. O., and Scatena, F. N., pp. 353–362. New York: Springer-Verlag.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Whistler, W. A. (2002). The Samoan Rainforest: A Guide to the Vegetation of the Samoan Archipelago. Apia, Western Samoa: Isle Botanica.Google Scholar
Whittier, H. O. (1976). Mosses of the Society Islands. Gainesville, FL: University Press of Florida.Google Scholar
Wilder, G. (1931). Flora of Rarotonga. Honolulu, HI: Bernice P. Bishop Museum.Google Scholar

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×