Fatu Hiva, French Polynesia Photograph by © Jack Stein Grove/Zegrahm Expeditions   Pacific Ocean: French Polynesia (France) Tropical and Subtropical Moist Broadleaf Forests   400 square miles (1,100 square kilometers) -- about half the size of Rhode Island Critical/Endangered

· An Evolutionary Wonder
· Special Features
· Did You Know?
· Wild Side
· Cause for Concern
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An Evolutionary Wonder

Like the Hawaiian Islands, the tropical Marquesas Islands are extremely isolated. As a result, unique species have evolved here over thousands and even millions of years. Unfortunately, this biodiversity has also been exposed to thousands of yearsâ worth of human disturbance, and much of the local flora and fauna is critically endangered as a result.

Special Features

All islands in the Marquesas are volcanic in origin. The landscape is incredibly steep, with knife-edged ridges, gorges, and cliffs extending from mountaintops down to sea level. Tropical moist forests are dominated by different species depending on elevation and rainfall. Lowland forest, where precipitation is less than 2000 mm (80 inches), is dominated by Pisonia grandis, Thespesia populnea, and Terminalia glabrata. Mid-elevation forests, with rainfalls up to 3000 mm (120 inches), contain Hibiscus tiliaceus, Pandanus tectorius, and other species. At the highest reaches, the mist-shrouded climate has allowed the development of stunted cloud forests, giving way to windswept heath vegetation at the summits.

	Considered among the most beautiful lories in the world, the ultramarine lory can be seen flying noisily from treetop to treetop. Their diet mainly consists of pollen, nectar, several kinds of fruit, and insects and their larvae.

Wild Side

Among this ecoregionâs most endangered creatures is the ultramarine lory. Once common throughout the islands, this bird is now confined to the island of Ua Huka. However, a translocation program has reestablished a population on Fatu Hiva island, which is free of the black rats thought to be responsible for the loryâs decline. Other birds are not so lucky. The red-mustached fruit-dove is now extinct, and only a few hundred Nukuhiva pigeons remain on Nuku Hiva Island. Other threatened or endangered endemic bird species include the Marquesas ground-dove, Marquesas kingfisher, Fatuhiva monarch, Iphis monarch, and Marquesas monarch.

Cause for Concern

Human habitation and introduced species have influenced Marquesan ecosystems for thousands of years, destroying much of the lowland vegetation and fragile animal populations. Few areas of diverse forest are included in the local reserve system. Reserves may not even be enough to save the Marquesas biodiversity, because non-native species are currently more of a threat than direct habitat loss. But certain uninhabited islands, which are protected from human habitation and mammals, still support large numbers of sea and land birds.

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