Solomon Islands rain forests

The Solomon Islands rain forests are a terrestrial ecoregion covering most of the Solomon Islands archipelago.

Solomon Islands rain forests
Makira Island
The Solomon Islands archipelago, with the nation Solomon Islands in beige and Bougainville (a part of Papua New Guinea) in dun.
Ecology
RealmAustralasia
BiomeTropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests
Geography
Area42,976 km2 (16,593 sq mi)
CountriesPapua New Guinea and Solomon Islands
Autonomous region of Papua New GuineaBougainville
Elevation0 - 2635 meters
Conservation
Conservation statusvulnerable
Global 200Solomons-Vanuatu-Bismarck moist forests
Protected662 km² (2%)[1]

Geography

Included are the islands of Bougainville and Buka, which are part of Papua New Guinea and most of the islands within the nation of Solomon Islands. Excluded are the eastern islands of the nation of Solomon Islands, the Santa Cruz Islands, which lie in the Vanuatu rain forests ecoregion together with the neighbouring archipelago of Vanuatu. Both ecoregions are part of the Australasian realm, which also includes the neighbouring Bismarck Archipelago and New Guinea, as well as New Caledonia, Australia and New Zealand.

The Solomon Islands rain forests are a tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests ecoregion, also known as a tropical rainforest.

Flora

The natural vegetation of the Solomon archipelago consists of lowland and montane tropical forests. The major plant communities include coastal strand, mangrove forests, freshwater swamp forests, lowland rain forests, and montane rain forest. Seasonally-dry forests and grasslands are found on the northern (leeward) slopes of Guadalcanal.[2]

Fauna
See also: List of birds of the Solomon Islands archipelago

The islands are home to 47 native mammal species, including bats, murid rodents, and possums, gliders, and cuscuses. 26 species are endemic or near-endemic – 17 species of bats, and nine species of murid rodent.

199 bird species are native to the Solomon archipelago, of which 69 species are endemic.[3] The ecoregion corresponds to the Solomon group endemic bird area. [4]

Conservation and threats

The rainforests of this region are under threat as the governments of both Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands rely on logging for revenue, plan to expand farm land and to develop roads.

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  • "Solomon Islands rain forests". Terrestrial Ecoregions. World Wildlife Fund.
  • Solomon group endemic bird area (BirdLife International)

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. Wikramanayake, Eric; Eric Dinerstein; Colby J. Loucks; et al. (2002). Terrestrial Ecoregions of the Indo-Pacific: a Conservation Assessment. Washington, DC: Island Press
  3. Wikramanayake, Eric; Eric Dinerstein; Colby J. Loucks; et al. (2002). Terrestrial Ecoregions of the Indo-Pacific: a Conservation Assessment. Washington, DC: Island Press
  4. BirdLife International (2020) Endemic Bird Areas factsheet: Solomon group. Downloaded from http://www.birdlife.org on 02/06/2020.

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