Tonga Island Photograph by David Olson   Kingdom of Tonga and Niue, north of New Zealand Tropical and Subtropical Moist Broadleaf Forests   300 square miles (900 square kilometers) -- about one-third the size of Rhode Island Critical/Endangered

· Island Hopping
· Special Features
· Did You Know?
· Wild Side
· Cause for Concern
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Island Hopping

If you were to hop from island to island in this tropical ecoregion, you'd end up visiting over 171 islands. One would be the island of Niue in New Zealand, and the other 170 would be islands in the Kingdom of Tonga. Your trip would reveal that biodiversity flourishes on many of the islands, where you may spy such incredible creatures as blue-throated lorikeets, purple-capped fruit doves, or Niuafo’ou megapodes, birds that lay their eggs in mounds.

Special Features

The islands of Tonga and Niue lie southwest of east Fiji and Samoa in the South Pacific Ocean. Coral reefs and limestone form the basis for many of the islands; others are volcanic in origin and are still active. The climate on the islands is tropical, with average temperatures ranging between 68° and 86° F (20° to 30° C). High annual rainfall helps sustain lowland broadleaf rain forests below 1,650 feet (500 m) and montane rain forests at higher elevations. Primary forest grows up to 100 feet (30 m) high and the main species of tree are tamanu (Calophyllum sp.), ngatata (Elattostushys falcata), tauai (Rhus taitensis), and kotone (Myristica hypergyraea). Mangrove forests also grow along the shores of some of the small islands and along the shores of the lagoons of the larger islands.

	The Niuafo'ou megapode buries its eggs in warm sands near volcanic ducts, where they are incubated by the Earth's natural heat!

Wild Side

Tonga supports over 419 plant and fern species, plus 21 bird and 6 reptile species. On the uninhabited islands, you may find seabird colonies that include large numbers of common noddies and sooty terns. Blue-crowned lorikeets, Pacific pigeons, and Tongan whistlers fly among the trees. Large-footed birds called Niuafo'ou megapodes only inhabit the island of Niuafo'ou. Banded iguanas, whose nearest relatives are thousands of kilometers away in the Americas, rest in branches on some of the islands. The island of ‘Eua has particularly unusual flora and fauna as the oceanic plate it is on was close to Fiji millions of years ago.

Cause for Concern

Most intact rain forest blocks have been cleared. Only remnants remain on Tongatapu, ‘Eua, and a few other islands. Forest clearing, poaching for food and feathers, and introduced species that compete with or prey upon native fauna all threaten the islands' wildlife. For example, black and Norway rats can have a catastrophic effect on breeding sea birds and other passerine (perching) birds by eating their eggs.

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