Fiji has more than 300 islands. Viti Levu and Vanua Levu are the largest, and together comprise 78% of Fiji's land area. The highest peak in Fiji is Mount Tomanivi (1,324 m) on Viti Levu. The islands are volcanic in origin, formed by the subduction of the Pacific Plate under the Australian Plate. The islands emerged from the sea 5 to 20 million years ago.[1]
Wallis and Futuna is made up of three islands, Uvea, Futuna, and Alofi. Futuna and Alofi lie close to one another, approximately 400km northeast of Vanua Levu. Uvea, or Wallis, is northeast of Futuna and Alofi. The highest peak in the group is Mount Singavi (765 m) on Futuna.
Rotuma is a volcanic island 500km north of Viti Levu and politically part of Fiji. It has an area of 47km², and the highest elevation on the island is 250 metres.
Climate
The ecoregion has a humid tropical climate. Mean monthly temperatures range from 22 to 26°C (72 to 79°F) in January. Rainfall occurs throughout the year, and the prevailing winds are mostly from the southeast. Most of the ecoregion receives over 2,500mm (98in) of rain per year. Rainfall is higher on southeast-facing slopes, and the windward mountains receive 5000–10,000mm of rainfall per year. The islands occasionally experience Tropical cyclones between January and April.[1]
The northwestern portions of Viti Levu and Vanua Levu are in the mountains' rain shadow, and receive less rain overall with a winter dry season. These areas are home to the Fiji tropical dry forests ecoregion.[1]
Flora
The three main plant communities in the ecoregion are lowland rain forest, montane rain forest, and cloud forest.[1]
The cloud forests occur between 600 and 900 meters elevation on the larger Fijian islands and on Futuna. Rainfall is higher than the lowlands, exceeding 4500mm per year in most areas. Temperatures are cooler, ranging from 10 to 20°C. The cloud forest trees form a dense canopy about seven meters high. Common trees include tree ferns (Cyathea spp.), Epicharis gillespieana, Hernandia moerenhoutiana, Fagraea spp., Syzygium spp., and Macaranga seemannii. Leptopteris ferns and the climbers Freycinetia spp. are abundant.[1]
Bats are the only native terrestrial mammals in the ecoregion. The Fijian monkey-faced bat (Pteralopex acrodonta) is endemic, and the Fijian mastiff bat (Chaerephon bregullae) is found in the Fijian Islands and Vanuatu.[1]
The endemic Fiji ground frog (Cornufer vitianus) and Fiji tree frog (Platymantis vitiensis) are the easternmost native amphibians in the Oceanian realm.[1]
A 2017 assessment found that 598km², or 6%, of the ecoregion is in protected areas.[2] Protected areas include Sovi Basin Protected Area (20.0km²), Nadarivatu Forest Reserve, Tomaniivi Nature Reserve (11.04km²), and Colo-i-suva Forest Reserve (4.97km²) on Viti Levu, and the contiguous Ravilevu Nature Reserve (40.2km²) and Bouma Lavena Recreation Reserve (37.69km²) on Taveuni.[4]
Related Research Articles
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Lakeba is an island in Fiji’s Southern Lau Archipelago; the provincial capital of Lau is located here. The island is the tenth largest in Fiji, with a land area of nearly 60 square kilometers. It is fertile and well watered, and encircled by a 29-kilometer road. Its closest neighbors are Aiwa and Nayau. Separated by deep sea from the latter but only by shallow waters from the former, when sea levels were lower during glacial episodes Lakeba and Aiwa formed one large island.
Degeneria is a genus of flowering plants endemic to Fiji. It is the only genus in the family Degeneriaceae. The APG IV system of 2016, recognizes this family, and assigns it to the order Magnoliales in the clade magnoliids.
The silktails are a group of birds endemic to Fiji. The two species are placed in the genus Lamprolia. They look superficially like a diminutive bird-of-paradise but are actually closely related to the fantails.
Podocarpus degeneri is a species of conifer in the family Podocarpaceae. It is a small tree endemic to Fiji, where it is native to the islands of Viti Levu and Vanua Levu. It grows in moist forests from 40 to 1,050 metres elevation.
Platymantis vitiensis is a species of frog in the family Ceratobatrachidae. It is one of two endemic frogs in Fiji, the other being the closely related Platymantis vitianus.
The Fiji woodswallow is a species of woodswallow in the family Artamidae. It is endemic to most of the islands of Fiji, although it is absent from Kadavu Archipelago and the Lau Archipelago. The species was once considered a race of the white-breasted woodswallow, which breeds from Australia, New Caledonia and Vanuatu through to Borneo and the Philippines. Some authors retain it in that species.
The Polynesian triller is a passerine bird belonging to the triller genus Lalage in the cuckoo-shrike family Campephagidae. It has numerous subspecies distributed across the islands of the south-west Pacific.
The Fiji shrikebill is a songbird species in the family Monarchidae. It is found in American Samoa, Fiji, and Tonga. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.
Monuriki is a small, uninhabited island situated off the coast of Viti Levu in the Fiji Islands, in Melanesia in the South Pacific Ocean. Monuriki is part of the Atolls islands, and related to a group of three islets in the larger group of islands known as the Mamanuca Islands. This coral and volcanic island is the smallest islet and the southernmost of a small group of three islets, west of Tavua.
Severe Tropical Cyclone Gene was the deadliest storm as well as the most damaging tropical cyclone of the 2007–08 South Pacific cyclone season east of 160ºE. RSMC Nadi monitored Gene as the 12th tropical disturbance, as well as the fourth tropical cyclone and the third severe tropical cyclone to form west of 160ºE during the 2007–08 South Pacific cyclone season. Gene was also recognised by RSMC Nadi as the fifth tropical cyclone and fourth severe tropical cyclone to form within the South Pacific Ocean during the 2007-08 season.
The Fiji whistler is a species of bird in the family Pachycephalidae, endemic to Fiji.
The Samoan tropical moist forests are a tropical moist broadleaf forest ecoregion in the Samoan Islands of the Pacific Ocean.
Metroxylon vitiense is a species of flowering plant in the family Arecaceae, endemic to the islands of Fiji, Ovalau, and Vanua Levu in Fiji. There is only one confirmed occurrence of M. vitiense on Vanua Levu, just outside Savusavu. Despite it being considered a threatened species by the IUCN, as of February 2013 M. vitiense was still unprotected by Fijian regulations and international legislation. It has also been reported from the nearby islands of Wallis and Futuna.
The Natewa silktail is a species of bird endemic to Fiji. This beautiful bird looks superficially like a diminutive bird-of-paradise but it is actually closely related to the fantails.
The Fiji tropical dry forests are a tropical dry forest ecoregion in Fiji. The dry forests occupy the leeward northwestern portion of Fiji's two largest islands, Viti Levu and Vanua Levu.
The Tongan tropical moist forests is a tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests ecoregion that includes the Tonga archipelago and Niue.
Metrosideros vitiensis is a species of flowering plant in the family Myrtaceae. It is a shrub or tree native to Vanuatu, Fiji, and the Samoan Islands.
Myristica chartacea is a species of flowering plant in the nutmeg family, Myristicaceae. It is a tree endemic to Fiji.
Endospermum macrophyllum is a species of flowering plant in the family Euphorbiaceae. It is a tree endemic to Fiji, where it grows in tropical moist forests.
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