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Ecosystems of Marshall IslandsContents:  MIXED FOREST COMMUNITYScaevola-Guettarda, "kõnnat"-"utilomar" communityPisonia grandis, "kañal" forestTournefortia argentea, "kiden" forestPisonia-Tournefortia "kañal"-"kiden" communitySuriana "kalañe" societyNeisosperma oppositifolia "kõjbar" forestPandanus "bõb" forestScaevola servicea "kõnnat" forestSida fallax "kio" scrub or scrub forestPemphis acidula "kõñe" scrub or scrub forestCordia subcordata, "kõno" communityBarringtonia asiatica, "wõp" forestDodonea viscosa "kamen" standsSandy beach, high tide areaCoconut "ni" groves and plantationsBreadfruit "mã" forest and communityLepturus, "ujoij" grasslands and savannahsUrban forests and environmentsHomesteadsFRESHWATER AND BRACKISHInland lakesTree holes and other small freshwater reservoirsTaro, "iaraj" pitsLarge artificial reservoirsBruguiera "joñ" community and basinsSonneratia "bulabol" communityMARINESeagrass community and meadowsSupratidal and intertidalSandy areas of the intertidal and subtidal zonesCoral reefsReef holes, artificially quarried and bombedSea surface; lagoon water column, open waterDeep waterREFERENCESNone of ecosystems listed below will be identical in any two locations. Furthermore, since humans have had such a strong impact on local biota of the Marshalls, it is not really possible to separate natural ecosystems from artificial ones, although extreme examples of both should be self-evident. And in the Marshall Islands, it is not even possible to have a sharp demarcation between terrestrial and marine ecosystems. The following list outlines the major ecosystems of the Marshall Islands. Of course, any division and figure is by nature arbitratry and should not be taken as the final word on the subject. Ecosystem: MIXED FOREST COMMUNITY  Location: most uncultivated islands Importance: heterogeneous mixture of many species; Neisosperma does not commonly occur; one of richest zones; pandanus trees source of food and nesting sites for reef heron, brown noddy; homefor land snails, possibly including endemics; forage grounds for birds and skinks Status: reduced from original range by human clearing Threats: land clearing; development; invasive exotics Ecosystem: Scaevola-Guettarda, "kõnnat"-"utilomar" community  Location: location; most islands, along beaches Importance: holds beach together; halophytic properties of major species helps protect inland species Threats: land clearing; invasive exotics Ecosystem: Pisonia grandis, "kañal" forest  Location: now often found only on "mo" islands Importance: favorite roost of gregarious seabirds; birds and leaves produce rich humus; only place where jemo soil is produced; one of the most characteristic and originally widespread coral island forests Status: first forest to be cleared when planting coconuts Threats: threats; land clearing; development Ecosystem: Tournefortia argentea, "kiden" forest  Location: all atolls Importance: one of the most successful colonists; habitat for nesting seabirds; stabilizes soil so small islands can enlarge and other species can become established Threats: tends to be invaded by other species Ecosystem: Pisonia-Tournefortia "kañal"-"kiden" community Location: most atolls with islands undisturbed by humans Importance: dense canopy forest; old, natural; roosts and nesting sites for many birds, (fairy terns, noddies); some of the richest soil on atolls Threats: land clearing, development  Ecosystem: Suriana "kalañe" society  Location: northern atolls and islands only Importance: binds windblown sand along windward beaches Threats: use for firewood Ecosystem: Neisosperma oppositifolia "kõjbar" forest  Location: most atolls with undisturbed islets Importance: climax forest; may invade and replace mixed broadleaf forests and Pisonia forests; only pure forests found in Marshalls, although species grows throughout Pacific Threats: land clearing and development Ecosystem: Pandanus "bõb" forest Location: location; northern atolls Status: source of food and building materials Threats: uncommon in Marshalls development Ecosystem: Scaevola servicea "kõnnat" forest  Location: most atolls, even northern Importance: early colonizer; stabilizes beach areas; habitat for nesting seabirds (black-footed albatross, red-footed booby, frigatebirds); nesting area and food for green turtle; home to endemic bug Camphlomma; hiding spot for young black-naped terns before they can fly Status: potentially threatened Threats: threats; land clearing, establishment of Casuarina on beach zones; roof rat Rattus rattus chewing on stems Ecosystem: Sida fallax "kio" scrub or scrub forest  Location: Bokak Importance: low in stature, pure stands, but sometimes with other low herbaceaus plants, nesting site for sea birds Threats: human activities Ecosystem: Pemphis acidula "kõñe" scrub or scrub forest  Location: intertidal rocky areas of most atolls Importance: one of the most extreme halophytes, survives submergence by seawater; inhabits limestone with no soil at all; survives typhoons; no insects in ecosystem; extremely hard wood; aberrant form reported on Likiep and in Arno salt swamps; large specimens, 5 feet in circumference or more; very old (hundred of years), possible use in arbochronology; no undergrowth, not succeeded by any other species; habitat of long-tailed cuckoo Status: on less inhabited islands, often by inland waterways Threats: popularly exploited for firewood Ecosystem: Cordia subcordata, "kõno" community  Location: boulder areas, drier areas Importance: tangled branches form rugged beach barrier; no ground cover Threats: shore clearing Ecosystem: Barringtonia asiatica, "wõp" forest  Location: rare, only a few islands, Lae, Lae; Namu, Namu striking in appearance; trees of enormous diameter; amidst large boulders along rugged beach; natural forests recorded only on Marshalls' atolls Ecosystem: Dodonea viscosa "kamen" stands  Location: northern atolls Importance: related to Hawaiian "aalii" which has useful hard wood, unusually large and developed on Bikini Ecosystem: Sandy beach, high tide area Location: all atolls Importance: limited vegetation, just a few grasses and pioneer scrubs; sand bound together with Nostac (nitrogenating blue-green bacteria); nesting site for endangered sea turtles; hunting ground for migratory shore birds beach development Threats: beach development; as regards green turtles, beach armoring, beach nourishment, beach lighting, beach clearing, people walking on beach, vehicles driving on beach, beach erosion, beach accretion, exotic plants such as Casuarina, exotic predators, rats - all can reduce the survival rates of eggs and hatchlings Ecosystem: Coconut "ni" groves and plantations Location: all inhabited and frequented islands Importance: agricultural lands; undergrowth often cleared Threats: imported pests; development Ecosystem: Breadfruit "mã" forest and community  Location: all cultivated islands Importance: major source of food for humans and animals; nesting site of endangered Micronesian pigeon Threats: urbanization; pest insects and agricultural diseases Ecosystem: Lepturus, "ujoij" grasslands and savannahs Location: location; Bokak and drier atolls Importance: importance; nesting site of wedge-tailed shearwater; one of earliest pioneers of bare sand and gravel Status: stabile if left undisturbed Threats: any human activity; importation of aggressive rat species Ecosystem: Urban forests and environments Location: urban environments; downtown Majuro, Ebeye Importance: large proportion of native/traditional vegetation; breadfruit, pandanus, other food crops to a minor degree; low natural biodiversity but often high numbers of introduced species; lizards, insects,domestic animals; frequented by some migratory birds; Status: in constant transition Threats: further urbanization; invasive exotics Ecosystem: Homesteads  Location: all inhabited islands Importance: houses kept clear of vegetation aside from some food plants and ornamentals; domestic animals, lizards, insects; low ; natural biodiversity; no humus on ground; coral gravel brought from beaches stabile under culture and tradition Threats: further urbanization; invasive exotics FRESHWATER AND BRACKISH Ecosystem: Inland lakes  Location: non-mangrove areas, Wotje, Wotje; Lekan, Kwajelein Importance: stopover for migratory waterfowl; soft mud provided protection during World War II when bombs dropped on Wotje did not explode Threats: drainage for use of freshwater; pollution; waste oil; pesticides; invasive exotics Ecosystem: Tree holes and other small freshwater reservoirs  Location: most islands Importance: indicate colonization patterns and patterns of dispersal of species between atolls; breeding grounds of Micronesian endemic Aedes and other insects Status: seasonal Ecosystem: Taro, "iaraj" pits  Location: inhabited islands Importance: surrounded by lush vegetation; almost devoid of insects; freshwater snails common, possibly endemics; blood worms, freshwater shrimp Status: in constant change if maintained Threats: droughts; land development; invasive exotics Ecosystem: Large artificial reservoirs Location: urban areas; Majuro airport area Importance: stopover for migratory waterfowl Ecosystem: Bruguiera "joñ" community and basins  Location: wetland depressions without outlets; many atolls with large islands Importance: likely planted by early inhabitants; provide building material; cannot spread naturally since no outlet to the sea Status: very stressed or wiped out in urban areas, Majuro; protection of some recommended Threats: filling of wetlands; urbanization; invasive exotics Ecosystem: Sonneratia "bulabol" community  Location: only Lib; Airok, Ailinglaplap; Jaluit, Jaluit; Madmid, Namdrik; Birarij, Arno, Nallo, Mili Importance: likely planted by man; habitat of "kirenbo" fish, Ophieleotris; timber Status: protection of some recommended Threats: filling of wetlands; introduced mosquitofish; other invasive exotics MARINE Ecosystem: Seagrass community and meadows  Location: Thalassia hemprichii -Ailinglaplap, Ujelang, other atolls; Cymodocea rotandata -Majuro; Halophila minor -Kwajelein Importance: provides protection against currents in quiet water, sandy shore, nursery grounds for many fishes Threats: urbanization; pollution; filling with land or trash Ecosystem: Supratidal and intertidal  Location: all atolls Importance: feeding grounds for migratory birds; home to many animals which help clean up beach Threats: pollution; urbanization; seawalls; armorment; potentially lethal physical events - desiccation, osmotic stress, strong waves, thermal stress, high light intensity Ecosystem: Sandy areas of the intertidal and subtidal zones  Location: all atolls Importance: feeding grounds for migratory birds; habitat for many food fishes and valuable seashells; forming grounds of many components of atoll land Threats: pollution; urbanization; armorment; seawalls; dredging Ecosystem: Coral reefs  Location: all atolls (subdivided in the Marshalls into lagoon reefs - slopes and flats - ocean reefs - slopes and flats - pinnacle reefs, interisland reef flats, urban reefs, reef passes, mid-ocean pinnacles, etc.) Importance: highest diversity of shallow benthic species in the world is in tropical Indo-Pacific; small outcropping home to endemic three-banded anemonefish; home to most other endemic fishes Status: stressed near urban areas Threats: pollution; anchor damage; overfishing; careless collecting; reef walking; careless divers; dredging Ecosystem: Reef holes, artificially quarried and bombed Location: urbanized atolls; Enewetak, Mili Status: abundant fishes; home of banded pipefish; mariculture and fisheries potentials Threats: pollution; filling; over-exploitation Ecosystem: Sea surface; lagoon water column, open water Location: more than 99.99% of surface area of the Marshall Islands Importance: plankton is extremely important to existence of the earth, more so than any other particular group of fishes or other animals or organisms; more abundant source of food than the most luxuriant forest; bacterial and organic material important many food webs; fisheries of the world bound up with plankton; decapods, euphausids, mysids, amphipods, chaetognaths Threats: over-exploitation; pollution and biological magnification Ecosystem: Deep water Location: below 200 meters Importance: deep water shrimp and other commercial species; three-quarters of ocean bottom below 3,000 meters but home to less than one percent of life in sea; one of most rigorous and constant environments; "rain" of detrital particles and fecal material from upper levels supports life; biomass declines with depth; faunal diversity is extraordinarily high Status: debated Threats: pollution drifting down from above REFERENCES Drawings by Nancy Vander Velde National Biodiversity Team of the RMI, 2000. The Marshall Islands - Living Atols Amidst the Living Sea/ The National Biodiversity Report of the Republic of the Marshall Islands. © RMI Biodiversity Project. ISBN 982-9045-02-1, St. Hildegard Publishing Company, Santa Clarita, CA, USA. Anderson, Donald, 1950. The Plants of Arno Atoll, Marshall Islands. Atoll Research Bulletin, No. 7, pp. 1~4 Apfelbaum, Steven I., James P. Ludwig and Catherine E. Ludwig, 1983. Ecological Problems Associated with Disruption of Dune Vegetation by Casuarina equisetiforlia L. at Sand Island, Midway Atoll. Atoll Research Bulletin, No. 261, pp. 1-19 Barnes, R. S. K. and R. N. Hughes, 1988. An Introduction to Marine Ecology, second edition. Blackwell Scientific Publications, Oxford, England Carpenter Michael L., William B. Jackson and Michael W. Fall, 1968. Bird Populations at Eniwetok Atoll. Micronesica, Vol. 4 (2), pp.295-307 Clapp, R. B., 1990. Notes on the Birds of Kwajelein Atoll, Marshall Islands. Atoll Research Bulletin, No. 342, pp. 1-94 Dakin, William J., 1966. Australian Seashore. Angus and Robertson, Sydney, Australia DeLuca, Charles J. and Diana Maclntyre DeLuca, 1976. Pacific Marine Life. Charles E. Tuttle Company, Rutland, Vermont Fosberg, F. R(aymond), 1953. Vegetation of Central Pacific Atolls, A Brief Summary. Atoll Research Bulletin, No. 23, pp. 1-26 _________, 1955a. Vegetation of Central Pacific Atolls, A Brief Summary. Atoll Research Bulletin, No. 23, pp. 1-26 _________, 1988. Vegetation of Bikini Atoll, 1985. Atoll Research Bulletin, No. 315, pp. 1-28 _________, 1990. A Review of the Natural History of the Marshall Islands. Atoll Research Bulletin, No. 330, pp. 1-100 _________, 1992. The Coral Island Environment and its Relevance to Atoll Agriculture, pp. 45-53. in Chase, Robert. Review of Agricultural Development in the Atolls. University of the South Pacific, Apia, Western Samoa Garrett, Kimball L., and Ralph E. Schreiber, 1988. The Birds of Bikini Atoll, Marshall Islands: May 1986. Atoll Research Bulletin, No.314, pp. 1-45 Gessel, S. P. and R. B. Walker,1992. Studies of Soils and Plants in the Northern Marshall Islands. Atoll Research Bulletin, No.359, pp.1-70 Harris, Larry G., Steven Searcy, Gregg Stevens and Michele Sleeter, 1994. A Comparison of Fish Populations and Reef Structure in Majuro Atoll Lagoon, Republic of the Marshall Islands. University of New Hampshire, Durham, New Hampshire Hatheway, William H., 1953. The Land Vegetation of Arno Atoll, Marshall Islands. Atoll Research Bulletin, No. 16, pp. 1-67 Ladd, Harry S., 1992. Cenozoic Fossils from Western Pacific Islands, Gastropods (Eulimidae and Volutidae Through Terebridae). U. S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C. Likiep Biodiversity Workshop Maguire Bassett Jr., 1967. Small Freshwater Organisms on Eniwetok Atoll. Micronesica, Vol. 3 (2), pp. 151-157 Marshall Islands Guidebook, 1996. Micronitor Printing, Majuro, Marshall Islands Marshall Joe T. Jr., 1950. Vertebrate Ecology of Arno Atoll. Atoll Research Bulletin, No. 3, pp. 1-38 Merlin Mark, Alfred Capelle, Thomas Keene, James Juvik and James Maragos, 1994. Keinikkan im Melan Aelon Kein; Plants and Environments of the Marshall Island. East-West Center, Honolulu, Hawaii Miller, Alan C., 1986. Long-term Fluctuations in Algal Cover and Populations of Hermit Crabs and Gastropods at Enewetak Atoll. Bulletin of Marine Science, Vol. 38 (1), pp. 12-18 Milone, Peter, Gerald Posner, Richard Shomura and Robin Tuttle, 1985. Potential for Fisheries Development in the Marshall Islands. Trade and Development Program, Washington D.C. Moore, Hilary B., 1958. Marine Ecology. John Wiley & Sons, New York, New York Nafus, Donald M., 1997. An Insect Survey of the Marshall Islands. Technical Paper, No. 208, South Pacific Commission, Noumea, New Caledonia National Research Council, 1990. Decline of the Sea Turtles, Causes and Prevention. National Academy Press, Washington, D.C. Nolan, Ron S., Ron R. McConnaughey and Charles R. Sterans, 1975. Fishes Inhabiting two Small Nuclear Test Craters at Enewetak Atoll, Marshall Islands. Micronesica, Vol. 11 (2), pp.205-217 Raynor. B., 1992. Forestry on Atolls—Past, Present, and Future, pp. 157-173 in Chase, Robert G. (ed.) A Review of Agricultural Development in the Atolls. University of the South Pacific, Apia, Western Samoa Sabath, Michael D., 1977. Vegetation and Urbanization on Majuro Atoll, Marshall Islands. Pacific Science, Vol. 31 (4), pp.321-332 Scott, Derek A., (ed) 1993. A Directory of Wetlands in Oceania. The International Waterfowl and Wetlands Research Bureau and Asian Wetland Bureau Strykowski, Joe and Rena Bonem, 1992. Palaces Under the Sea. Star Thrower Foundation, Crystal River, Florida Sumich, James L, 1980. An Introduction to the Biology of Marine Life, Second Edition. William C. Brown Company Publishers, Dubuque, Iowa Taylor William Randolph, 1950. Plants of Bikini and other Northern Marshall Islands. University of Michigan Press, Ann Arbor, Michigan Thomas, P. E. J, (ed.), 1989. Report of the Northern Marshall Islands Natural Diversity and Protected Areas Survey, 7-24 September 1988. South Pacific Regional Environmental Programme, Noumea, New Caledonia; East West Center, Honolulu, Hawaii Thorne-Miller, Boyce and John Catena, 1991. The Living Ocean, Understanding and Protecting Marine Biodiversity. Island Press, Washington, D.C. USAKA, 1995. Environmental Standards and Procedures for United States Army Kwajalein Atoll (USAKA) Activities in the Republic of the Marshall Islands Usingerr, R. L and Ira La Rivers, 1953. The Insect Life of Arno. Atoll Research Bulletin, No. 15, pp. 1-28 Walker, Richard B., Stanley P. Gessel and Edward E. Held 1997. The Ecosystem Study of Rongelap Atoll. Health Physics, Vol. 73, No. 1, pp. 223-233 Whistler, W. Arthur, 1992. Flowers of the Pacific Island Seashore. Isle Botanica, Honolulu, Hawaii |
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