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Household vulnerability on the frontline of climate change: the Pacific atoll nation of Tuvalu
Climate Change Resilience
Available Online

Taupo, Tauisi

2018
This paper investigates the vulnerability of households to climatic disasters in the low-lying atoll nation of Tuvalu. Small Island Developing States, particularly the atoll nations, are the most vulnerable to climatic change, and in particular to sea-level rise and its associated risks. Using the most recent household surveys available, we construct poverty and hardship profiles for households on the different islands of Tuvalu, and combine these with geographic and topographic information to assess the exposure differentials among different groups using spatial econometric models. Besides the observation that poor households are more vulnerable to negative shocks because they lack the resources to respond, we also find that they are also more likely to reside in areas highly exposed to disasters (closer to the coasts and at lower elevation) and have less ability to migrate (between and within the islands).
Maximising conservation impact by prioritising islands for biosecurity
Available Online

Bambini, L.

,

Dawson, J.

,

Havery, S.

,

John, L.

,

Oppel, S.

,

Radford, E.

,

Varnham, K.

2019
Invasive alien species are one of the primary threats to native biodiversity on islands worldwide, and their expansion continues due to global trade and travel. Preventing the arrival and establishment of highly successful invasive species through rigorous biosecurity is known to be more economic than the removal of these species once they have established. However, many islands around the world lack biosecurity regulations or practical measures and establishing biosecurity will require social and financial investments. Guiding these investments towards islands where native biodiversity is at highest risk from potential invasions is of strategic importance to maximise conservation benefit with limited resources. Here we implement an established prioritisation approach, previously used to identify which islands will have the greatest conservation gains from the eradication of invasive species, to identify which islands would benefit the most from establishing or improving biosecurity. We demonstrate this approach for 318 islands in the Caribbean UK Overseas Territories and Bermuda where we considered all threatened native terrestrial vertebrates that are vulnerable to the most harmful invasive vertebrates (black and brown rats, cats, small Indian mongoose, green iguana). The approach calculates the increase in conservation threat score resulting from anticipated negative effects of potential invaders on native biodiversity, and highlighted Sombrero (Anguilla) and Cayman Brac (Cayman Islands) as important islands where threatened reptile species would likely be eliminated if rats, feral cats or mongoose invaded. Feasibility and cost implications should now be investigated more closely on the highlighted islands. The prioritisation presented here can be expanded to more islands and more invasive/native taxa (herbivores, plants and invertebrates), but requires a classification of the severity of potential impacts between invasive and native species for which currently little information exists. Besides highlighting opportunities for biosecurity, this approach also highlights where knowledge gaps about population sizes of and threats to reptiles with restricted ranges exist.
Multi island, multi invasive species eradication in French Polynesia demonstrates economies of scale
Available Online

Coulston, G.

,

Cranwell, S.

,

Derand, D.

,

Ghestemme, T.

,

Griffiths, R.

,

Hall, T.

,

Pott, M.

,

Will, D.

,

Zito, J.

2019
Eradication of invasive vertebrates on islands has proven to be one of the most effective returns on investment for biodiversity conservation. To recover populations of the critically endangered Polynesian ground dove (Gallicolumba erythroptera), the endangered white-throated storm-petrel (Nesofregetta fuliginosa), the endangered Tuamotu sandpiper (Prosobonia cancellata) as well as other native plant and animal species, a project was undertaken to eradicate five species of invasive alien vertebrates: Pacific rat (Rattus exulans), ship rat (R. rattus), feral cat (Felis catus), rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) and goat (Capra hircus), on six islands spanning 320 km of open ocean in the Tuamotu and Gambier Archipelagos of French Polynesia. Using a ship to deliver supplies and equipment, a helicopter for offloading and bait application, and ground teams for follow up trapping and hunting, invasive vertebrates were successfully removed from five of the six islands. Pacific rats survived at one site. The project was planned and executed by a partnership consisting of international and local conservation NGO’s, working together with local communities. Combining the different eradication operations into one expedition added complexity to project planning and implementation and increased the risk of the operation failing on any one island but generated greater returns on investment allowing six islands to be targeted at significantly less cost than if each island had been completed individually. An extensive and thorough planning effort, effective relationships with local stakeholders and communities, a good operational strategy and a partnership of stakeholders that each brought complementary capacities to the project contributed to its success.
Natural history of Mopelia atoll, Society islands
Island and Ocean Ecosystems
Available Online

Sachet M.H.

1983
The archipelago of the Society Islands, in the South Pacific, includes principally high volcanic islands, with fringing or barrier reefs, but also a number of outlying atolls: Tetiaroa, due north of Tahiti, Tupai or Motu-Iti, north-northwest of Bora-Bora and, at the west end of the volcanic chain, Maupihaa or Mopelia, Scilly or Fenua Ura or Manuae, and Bellingshausen (often spelled Bellinghausen) or Motu One.
Investigations on the soft bottom benthos in a Southwest Pacific atoll lagoon (Uvea, New Caledonia)
Island and Ocean Ecosystems
Available Online

Chevillon Christophe

,

Clavier Jacques

,

Garrigue Claire

1998
Microbenthos and macrobenthos were quantitatively studied at 62 stations distributed regularly over the Uvea Atoll lagoon (850 km2). Sampling was performed using both SCUBA and a 0.1 m2 Smith Mclntyre grab. Mean estimates of ATP, chlorophyll a and phaeopigments were 297.3ng/cm2, 77.01 mg/m2 and 35.28 mg/m2 respectively. The mean macrobenthic biomass was 4.14 gAFDW/m2 of which the macrophytobenthos accounts for 39%. The benthic biomass decreased from the coast to the deepest parts of the lagoon. Macrophytes were most abundant in the coastal area and became progressively scarcer with increasing depth. By comparison, sessile species dominated on hard substrates in intermediate and deep zones. The abundance of the surface-deposit feeder group, that dominated the trophic structure of zoobenthos (33% of the macrofauna biomass), could be explained by a microphytic biomass six times higher than macrophytobenthic one in terms of carbon. Carnivores (32%) were mainly represented by necrophagous species, and filter-feeders (27%) by bivalves. Herbivores were rare. Four main benthic communities were identified on the basis of their macrobenthic assemblages using a Detrended Correspondence analysis. They corresponded to (1) a coastal zone, with the highest mud percentage in sediments, (2) an intermediate zone, with moderate depth and dominated by hard substrates, (3) a back reef zone, with thick sand layers, and (4) a deep zone dominated by hard substrates. Relative distribution of the trophic groups varied according to the different zones and suggests distinct functional characteristics for the different benthic assemblages. From a biogeographic point of view, this study highlighted the richness of the Uvea Atoll lagoon in terms of benthic species and biomass, compared to other central Pacific atoll lagoons.

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