Trobriand Islands rain forests

The Trobriand Islands rain forests are a tropical moist broadleaf forest ecoregion of southeastern Papua New Guinea.[2]

Trobriand Islands rain forests
Louisiade white-eye (Zosterops griseotinctus) on Duchess Island, d'Entrecasteaux Islands
Ecoregion territory (in purple)
Ecology
RealmAustralasian
Biometropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests
Geography
Area4,662 km2 (1,800 sq mi)
CountryPapua New Guinea
ProvinceMilne Bay Province
Conservation
Conservation statusvulnerable
Protected259 km² (6%)[1]

The islands of this ecoregion have been separated from mainland New Guinea since the Late Pleistocene, and much of the biota is unique, including four mammal species and two birds-of-paradise plant species. The ecoregion covers 1,600 square miles (4,100 km2).[2]

Geography

The ecoregion includes several island groups lying east of the eastern peninsula of the island of New Guinea, within Milne Bay Province, including the d'Entrecasteaux Islands and Trobriand Islands archipelagoes, and Woodlark Island. The largest portion of the ecoregion and the nearest to the New Guinea mainland is made up of three principal islands of the d'Entrecasteaux group: Goodenough Island, Fergusson Island, and Normanby Island.[2]

Flora

The Trobriand Islands and Woodlark Island consist primarily of lowland rain forest on limestone substrates. Goodenough, Fergusson, and Normanby Islands consist mainly of lowland rain forest on acid soil.

The major rain forest tree genera include Pometia, Octomeles, Alstonia, Campnosperma, Canarium, Dracontomelon, Pterocymbium, Cryptocarya, Intsia, Ficus, and Terminalia.
Tree species include:

Fauna

Animal species native to the ecoregion include:

The ecoregion corresponds to the D'Entrecasteaux and Trobriand Islands endemic bird area. There are two endemic bird-of-paradise species, the curl-crested manucode (Manucodia comrii) and Goldie's bird-of-paradise (Paradisaea decora).[3]

Conservation and threats

The main threats to the ecoregion include logging by foreign companies and conversion of habitat into agricultural lands. [2]

References
  1. Eric Dinerstein, David Olson, et al. (2017). An Ecoregion-Based Approach to Protecting Half the Terrestrial Realm, BioScience, Volume 67, Issue 6, June 2017, Pages 534–545; Supplemental material 2 table S1b.
  2. World Wildlife Fund.org: The Trobriand Islands rain forests (ID Code: AA0125) webpage; article originally from "Terrestrial ecoregions of the Indo-Pacific: a conservation assessment"; Island Press . accessed 3.17.2017.
  3. BirdLife International (2020) Endemic Bird Areas factsheet: D'Entrecasteaux and Trobriand Islands. Downloaded from http://www.birdlife.org on 30/05/2020.
  • "Trobriand Islands rain forests". Terrestrial Ecoregions. World Wildlife Fund.
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