Fergusson Island, Papua New Guinea Photograph by David Olson   Trobriand Island, southeast of New Guinea Tropical and Subtropical Moist Broadleaf Forests   1,600 square miles (4,200 square kilometers) -- about the size of Delaware Relatively Stable/Intact

· Awaiting Discovery
· Special Features
· Did You Know?
· Wild Side
· Cause for Concern
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Awaiting Discovery

While many plants and animals have been identified and studied in the Trobriand Islands Rain Forests, scientists believe that many more await discovery--some forested mountains of this ecoregion have yet to be surveyed biologically. The remote, rugged rain forests of this area are home to two species of seldom-seen marsupials. They share this moist, warm ecoregion with a variety of bats and birds.

Special Features

If you hopped from island to island in this South Pacific ecoregion, you would travel from thick, lush rain forests to cleared agricultural lands to towering massifs. Nearly a dozen types of rain forest tree grow here, as well as one conifer species, the hoop pine, which towers over the surrounding forest. Two endemic ant plant species (plants that have a symbiotic relationship with ants) were recently discovered on one of the islands in this ecoregion.

	The male bird of paradise, with its trailing plumes and beautiful collar, engages in a remarkable courtship dance, often involving swaying, tilting, or even hanging upside down.

Wild Side

All the species on the Trobriand Islands are well-adapted to their lush, wet environment, but two of the most interesting are its rare marsupials: the black dorcopsis (a forest wallaby) and the Woodlark cuscus. The dorcopsis is a tree kangaroo that spends most of its time among the branches. The small, nocturnal cuscus lives in the trees and has five toes on each foot, four of which have large claws that aid in climbing. Found flying overhead are the ecoregion’s 24 species of bats and numerous species of birds, including two that are endemic--the curl-crested manucode and the Goldie’s bird of paradise.

Cause for Concern

The main threats to the ecoregion include logging by foreign companies and conversion of habitat into agricultural lands. Both the dorcopsis and the cuscus are endangered.

For more information on this ecoregion, go to the World Wildlife Fund Scientific Report.