Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of contributors
- Foreword
- Preface
- Acknowledgements
- Part I General perspectives
- Part II Regional floristic and animal diversity
- 9 Tropical montane cloud forests in Malaysia: current state of knowledge
- 10 Montane cloud forests on remote islands of Oceania: the example of French Polynesia (South Pacific Ocean)
- 11 Tropical lowland cloud forest: a neglected forest type
- 12 Altitudinal zonation and diversity patterns in the forests of Mount Kilimanjaro, Tanzania
- 13 The outstandingly speciose epiphytic flora of a single strangler fig (Ficus crassiuscula) in a Peruvian montane cloud forest
- 14 Comparative structure, pattern, and tree traits of laurel cloud forests in Anaga, northern Tenerife (Canary Islands) and in lauro-fagaceous forests of central Japan
- 15 Temperature and humidity as determinants of the transition from dry pine forest to humid cloud forests in the Bhutan Himalaya
- 16 The importance of cloud forest sites in the conservation of endemic and threatened species of the Albertine Rift
- 17 The mountain tapir (Tapirus pinchaque) and Andean bear (Tremarctos ornatus): two charismatic, large mammals in South American tropical montane cloud forests
- 18 Cloud forests in East Africa as evolutionary motors for speciation processes of flightless Saltatoria species
- 19 Diversity of geometrid moths in two Neotropical rain forests
- Part III Hydrometeorology of tropical montane cloud forest
- Part IV Nutrient dynamics in tropical montane cloud forests
- Part V Cloud forest water use, photosynthesis, and effects of forest conversion
- Part VI Effects of climate variability and climate change
- Part VII Cloud forest conservation, restoration, and management issues
- References
10 - Montane cloud forests on remote islands of Oceania: the example of French Polynesia (South Pacific Ocean)
from Part II - Regional floristic and animal diversity
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 03 May 2011
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of contributors
- Foreword
- Preface
- Acknowledgements
- Part I General perspectives
- Part II Regional floristic and animal diversity
- 9 Tropical montane cloud forests in Malaysia: current state of knowledge
- 10 Montane cloud forests on remote islands of Oceania: the example of French Polynesia (South Pacific Ocean)
- 11 Tropical lowland cloud forest: a neglected forest type
- 12 Altitudinal zonation and diversity patterns in the forests of Mount Kilimanjaro, Tanzania
- 13 The outstandingly speciose epiphytic flora of a single strangler fig (Ficus crassiuscula) in a Peruvian montane cloud forest
- 14 Comparative structure, pattern, and tree traits of laurel cloud forests in Anaga, northern Tenerife (Canary Islands) and in lauro-fagaceous forests of central Japan
- 15 Temperature and humidity as determinants of the transition from dry pine forest to humid cloud forests in the Bhutan Himalaya
- 16 The importance of cloud forest sites in the conservation of endemic and threatened species of the Albertine Rift
- 17 The mountain tapir (Tapirus pinchaque) and Andean bear (Tremarctos ornatus): two charismatic, large mammals in South American tropical montane cloud forests
- 18 Cloud forests in East Africa as evolutionary motors for speciation processes of flightless Saltatoria species
- 19 Diversity of geometrid moths in two Neotropical rain forests
- Part III Hydrometeorology of tropical montane cloud forest
- Part IV Nutrient dynamics in tropical montane cloud forests
- Part V Cloud forest water use, photosynthesis, and effects of forest conversion
- Part VI Effects of climate variability and climate change
- Part VII Cloud forest conservation, restoration, and management issues
- References
Summary
ABSTRACT
Small, isolated patches of tropical montane cloud forest (TMCF) are found in many remote islands of the Pacific region (Oceania). French Polynesia comprises 37 high volcanic islands and islets, all located at more than 5000 km from the nearest continents. TMCFs are found on 12 of them (Huahine, Moorea, Raiatea, Tahaa, and Tahiti in the Society Islands, Fatu Hiva, Hiva Oa, Nuku Hiva, Tahuata, Ua Huka, and Ua Pou in the Marquesas Islands, and Rapa in the Austral Islands), with a total area of up to 8000 ha. Their current individual extent ranges from less than 20 ha (Huahine, Rapa, Tahaa) to c. 1000 ha (Hiva Oa, Nuku Hiva) and more than 5000 ha (Tahiti), the other islands having less than 100–200 ha each. TMCFs are located between 300–400 m.a.s.l. and up to 1600–1800 m.a.s.l. (Tahiti), but are more often found above 800–900 m.a.s.l. They are generally located on the upper slopes of valleys, on high-elevation plateaux, and in gullies and ridges below the summits, with annual rainfall ranging between 3000 and 8500 mm. TMCFs are floristically the most diverse of all plant communities in French Polynesia, with the highest endemism and number of biological types. Between 60% (Moorea, Tahiti, and Rapa) and more than 70% (Raiatea, Hiva Oa, Ua Pou, and Ua Huka) of the endemic vascular plant species are found in the TMCFs, and between 25% (Moorea and Rapa) and 50% (Hiva Oa, Nuku Hiva, and Ua Pou) of these endemics are restricted to these habitats. […]
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- Information
- Tropical Montane Cloud ForestsScience for Conservation and Management, pp. 121 - 129Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2011
References
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