| Fiji tropical moist forests | |
|---|---|
 Navatu Rock onVanua Levu, Fiji | |
 Location of the Fiji tropical moist forests (OC0105) in the Fijian islands. | |
| Ecology | |
| Realm | Oceanian |
| Biome | tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests |
| Borders | Fiji tropical dry forests |
| Geography | |
| Area | 10,088 km2 (3,895 sq mi) |
| Countries |
|
| Conservation | |
| Conservation status | Critical/endangered[1] |
| Protected | 598 km2 (6%)[2] |
TheFiji tropical moist forests is atropical moist forestecoregion inFiji andWallis and Futuna. It covers the windward sides ofViti Levu andVanua Levu, Fiji's largest islands, as well as the smaller Fijian islands and the three islands that make upWallis and Futuna, an overseas territory ofFrance. The drier leeward sides of Viti Levu and Vanua Levu are home to the distinctFiji tropical dry forests ecoregion.
Fiji has more than 300 islands. Viti Levu and Vanua Levu are the largest, and together comprise 78% of Fiji's land area. The highest peak in Fiji isMount Tomanivi (1,324 m) on Viti Levu. The islands are volcanic in origin, formed by the subduction of thePacific Plate under theAustralian Plate. The islands emerged from the sea 5 to 20 million years ago.[1]
Wallis and Futuna is made up of three islands,Uvea,Futuna, andAlofi. Futuna and Alofi lie close to one another, approximately 400 km northeast of Vanua Levu. Uvea, or Wallis, is northeast of Futuna and Alofi. The highest peak in the group isMount Singavi (765 m) on Futuna.
Rotuma is a volcanic island 500 km north of Viti Levu and politically part of Fiji. It has an area of 47 km2, and the highest elevation on the island is 250 metres.
The ecoregion has a humid tropical climate. Mean monthly temperatures range from 22 to 26 °C (72 to 79 °F) in January. Rainfall occurs throughout the year, and the prevailing winds are mostly from the southeast. Most of the ecoregion receives over 2,500 mm (98 in) of rain per year. Rainfall is higher on southeast-facing slopes, and the windward mountains receive 5000–10,000 mm of rainfall per year. The islands occasionally experienceTropical cyclones between January and April.[1]
The northwestern portions of Viti Levu and Vanua Levu are in the mountains' rain shadow, and receive less rain overall with a winter dry season. These areas are home to theFiji tropical dry forests ecoregion.[1]
The three main plant communities in the ecoregion are lowland rain forest, montane rain forest, and cloud forest.[1]
Lowland rain forest predominates below 400 meters elevation on all the smaller islands, and in the southeast-facing lowlands of Viti Levu and Vanua Levu. Common trees includeDegeneria vitiensis,Pandanus joskei,Myristica macrantha,Endiandra gillespiei,Agathis macrophylla,Calophyllum vitiense,Canarium vitiense,Calophyllum neo-ebudicum,Syzygium spp., andGarcinia myrtifolia. Other lowland forest trees in Wallis and Futuna includeRhus taitensis,Elaeocarpus angustifolius,Elaeocarpus tonganus,Planchonella spp.,Pometia pinnata, andMyristica inutilis.[1]
Montane rain forests are found on windy slopes from 400 to 600 meters elevation. Temperatures are 4 to 6 °C cooler than in the coastal lowlands. The windy conditions creates a low, stunted forest characterized by the treesAgathis vitiensis,Podocarpus spp.,Calophyllum vitiense,Endospermum macrophyllum,Myristica castaneifolia,Didymocheton spp., andMetrosideros vitiensis.[1]
The cloud forests occur between 600 and 900 meters elevation on the larger Fijian islands and on Futuna. Rainfall is higher than the lowlands, exceeding 4500 mm per year in most areas. Temperatures are cooler, ranging from 10 to 20 °C. The cloud forest trees form a dense canopy about seven meters high. Common trees include tree ferns (Cyathea spp.),Epicharis gillespieana,Hernandia moerenhoutiana,Fagraea spp.,Syzygium spp., andMacaranga seemannii.Leptopteris ferns and the climbersFreycinetia spp. are abundant.[1]
1,769 vascular plants are native to Fiji, of which 1,350 are native to moist forests. About 23% of Fiji's native plants are endemic. Fiji has one endemic plant family,Degeneriaceae, which includes two species of trees distantly related to magnolias. Twomonotypic genera, Gillespiea andHedstromia in familyRubiaceae, are endemic to Fiji. There are 24 native species ofpalms, mostly endemic.[3] There are 10 native species ofgymnosperms,[3] including the Fijian endemicsAcmopyle sahniana (Viti Levu),Dacrydium nausoriense (western Viti Levu),Podocarpus affinis (Viti Levu),Podocarpus decipiens (Viti Levu), andPodocarpus degeneri (Viti Levu and Vanua Levu).
The ancestors of Fiji's land animals arrived vialong-distance dispersal. There are many endemic species, and some are limited to one or two islands.
Fiji has 177 species of birds, including 31 endemic species. The islands have four endemic doves, theorange fruit dove (Ptilinopus victor),golden fruit dove (P. luteovirens),whistling fruit dove (P. layardi), andBarking imperial pigeon (Ducula latrans). Thecollared lory (Phigys solitarius),red-throated lorikeet (Charmosyna amabilis), andmasked shining parrot (Prosopeia personata), are endemic; thered shining parrot (Prosopeia tabuensis) is a Fijian endemic that was introduced toTonga in ancient times. Thebar-winged rail (Rallus poecilopterus) is endemic to Viti Levu and Vanua Levu, and may be extinct.[1]
Thesilktails (Lamprolia) are a Fijian endemic genus with two species – theTaveuni silktail (Lamprolia victoriae) is limited toTaveuni, and theNatewa silktail (Lamprolia klinesmithi) to Vanua Levu. Thelong-legged warbler (Cincloramphus rufus) andpink-billed parrotfinch (Erythrura kleinschmidti) are also endemic.[1]
Bats are the only native terrestrial mammals in the ecoregion. TheFijian monkey-faced bat (Pteralopex acrodonta) is endemic, and theFijian mastiff bat (Chaerephon bregullae) is found in the Fijian Islands andVanuatu.[1]
Endemic reptiles include theFiji crested iguana (Brachylophus vitiensis),Lau banded iguana (Brachylophus fasciatus), andFiji snake (Ogmodon vitianus).
The endemicFiji ground frog (Cornufer vitianus) andFiji tree frog (Platymantis vitiensis) are the easternmost native amphibians in the Oceanian realm.[1]
A 2017 assessment found that 598 km2, or 6%, of the ecoregion is inprotected areas.[2] Protected areas includeSovi Basin Protected Area (20.0 km2), Nadarivatu Forest Reserve, Tomaniivi Nature Reserve (11.04 km2), and Colo-i-suva Forest Reserve (4.97 km2) on Viti Levu, and the contiguous Ravilevu Nature Reserve (40.2 km2) and Bouma Lavena Recreation Reserve (37.69 km2) onTaveuni.[4]
Media related toFiji Tropical Moist Forests Ecoregion at Wikimedia Commons