Toena and Motu Roa, French Polynesia Photograph by Don Travers   Islands of the South Pacific east of Australia. Tropical and Subtropical Moist Broadleaf Forests   44 square miles (115 square kilometers) -- Slightly smaller than Washington, D.C. Critical/Endangered

· Little-Studied Isles
· Special Features
· Did You Know?
· Wild Side
· Cause for Concern
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Little-Studied Isles

If you want to study plants and animals in a place where few studies have been done, you might consider traveling to the Tubuai, or Austral, Islands in the Pacific Ocean. These islands are among the least studied of the Pacific island ecosystems. What is known is that they contain lowland and montane rain forests, abundant flowering plants, and several plant and animal species found nowhere else on Earth.

Special Features

The Tubuai Islands are eroded volcanic peaks. Five of them are inhabited, including Tubuai, the largest island of the group. The chain also includes an uninhabited island group called Ilots de Bass and an uninhabited atoll called Maria. Similar in age and rock composition to the Hawaiian Islands, the islands feature steep slopes, deep bays, drowned valleys, and some marshy areas.

	Rapa, one of the Tubuai Islands, is one of only two oceanic Pacific islands to have coal deposits, suggesting a long history of plant growth.

Wild Side

Moist rain forests cover some of the islands, with numerous epiphytes growing on trees and abundant ferns in the understory. Scrub forests also grow on high ridges and crests. In general, the lowlands are more open than the higher island interiors and are more altered by humans. Some of the birds that inhabit these islands are the Kuhl's lorikeet, the Rimatara reed-warbler, and the Rapa fruit-dove, all of which are found nowhere else on Earth.

Cause for Concern

Among the major threats to the Tubuai Islands are clearing and burning of forests for agricultural development. Wild goats, pigs, cattle, rats, and horses also threaten the diversity of many of the islands. Rats in particular threaten native bird species by eating their eggs, young, and adults.

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