Mining maquis (French : maquis minier) is a type of shrubland biome. It forms on ultramafic rock as a result of forest cover retreat due to repeated wildfires. It is common on New Caledonia.
Mining maquis (French : maquis minier) is a type of shrubland biome. It forms on ultramafic rock as a result of forest cover retreat due to repeated wildfires. It is common on New Caledonia.
Mining maquis covers 4,400 km2 (1,700 sq mi) in New Caledonia, where it is one of the native ecotypes. Most species found in the maquis are native, compared to some regions which are up to 90% introduced species. [1]
Plants are evergreen xerophytes and heliophytes, including prostrate shrubs and sedges. Araucaria and Agathis ovata can be locally dominant. [2]
Soils are excessively poor in phosphorus, potassium and calcium and often abnormally rich in magnesium. [1] This richness in magnesium leads to an imbalance in the calcium/magnesium ratio, in particular in the brown soils located at the base of the massifs which dominate the west coast (Boulinda, Kopéto, Koniambo, Tiébaghi, etc.) Most mining maquis soils also have abnormally high levels of chromium, cobalt, nickel and manganese, the latter two elements having been found to be toxic in some soils. These particular edaphic conditions are the main cause of the low dynamism of the mining maquis, which results in a slow growth of the species, a remarkable floristic and structural stability in the absence of disturbance and a certain resistance to anthropization, marked by the absence of any lasting invasion of gregarious introduced species. [2]
Around 1,140 plant species have been identified in mining maquis, 89% of which are endemic. [1] It is the environment with the highest rate of endemism in New Caledonia (88%). In terms of diversity, it ranks second for terrestrial environments after the humid forests. The flora of mining maquis grows on soils poor in nutrients and rich in potentially toxic minerals. These soils accumulate heat and retain little rainwater. The plants of the mining maquis have slow growth and adaptations which allow them to survive in these very difficult conditions. They are very tolerant of toxic minerals and their glossy, leathery leaves are drought resistant. [3]
Fourteen genera of plants are found on mining maquis: Beaupreopsis , Beltaria,Corbassona, Eriaxis , Garnieria , Iteiltima , Myricanthe , Myrtastrum , Neocallitropsis , Nephrodesmus , Normandia , Oceanopapaver , Peripterygia , Solmsia , Trouettea , as well as the section Neo-caledonicae of the genus Oxalis. [2]
The abundance of endemic species and genera in the flora specific to mining maquis reflects its age. This flora possesses elements contemporaneous with or prior to the establishment of the periodotites, some 30 million years ago. Before that time, evolutionarily similar groups must have already occupied sites unsuitable for the development of the dense humid forest, such as on exposed ridges, eroded soils, and hydromorphic zones. [2]
Mining maquis are home to a great diversity of fauna. This is adapted to the difficult living conditions that prevail in this environment and the rate of endemism is high. These are mainly insects and reptiles, thrive in the dry and rocky habitat. A few birds are typical of the mining maquis, and species from the surrounding forests also frequent it. [3]
Mining maquis are very widespread in New Caledonia, covering 23% of the territory. However, they are more common south of Grande Terre. They develop in variable climatic conditions, from the coast to the highest peaks.
Because they grow on nickel-rich soils, mining maquis are threatened by mining activities that may develop in these areas. Nickel mining is done in the open, therefore, soil is stripped and the vegetation completely destroyed. Implementing soil stabilization and revegetation programs of mining sites after exploitation is now a major concern for the nickel industry. [3]
Mining maquis are also vulnerable to fires. The foliage of the plants often lack water and are sometimes rich in volatile compounds, which makes them very flammable. [3]
The flora of the mining maquis is also threatened by the introduction of invasive species such as the Caribbean pine capable of developing on Lateritic nickel ore deposits, and deer. [3]
New Caledonia is a group of islands in the southwest Pacific Ocean, 220 km (140 mi) southwest of Vanuatu and 1,210 km (750 mi) east of Australia. Located 16,100 km (10,000 mi) from Metropolitan France, it forms a sui generis collectivity of the French Republic, a legal status unique in overseas France and enshrined in a dedicated chapter of the French Constitution.
The geography of New Caledonia (Nouvelle-Calédonie), an overseas collectivity of France located in the subregion of Melanesia, makes the continental island group unique in the southwest Pacific. Among other things, the island chain has played a role in preserving unique biological lineages from the Mesozoic. It served as a waystation in the expansion of the predecessors of the Polynesians, the Lapita culture. Under the Free French it was a vital naval base for Allied Forces during the War in the Pacific.
New Caledonia is a major source for nickel and contains roughly 10% of the world's known nickel supply. The islands contain about 7,100,000 tonnes of nickel. With the annual production of about 107,000 tonnes in 2009, New Caledonia was the world's fifth largest producer after Russia (266,000), Indonesia (189,000), Canada (181,000) and Australia (167,000). In recent years, the economy has suffered because of depressed international demand for nickel due to the 2007-2008 global financial crisis. Only a negligible amount of the land is suitable for cultivation, and food accounts for about 20% of imports. In addition to nickel, the substantial financial support from France and tourism are keys to the health of the economy. In the 2000s, large additions were made to nickel mining capacity. The Goro Nickel Plant is expected to be one of the largest nickel producing plants on Earth. This plant produces an estimated 20% of the global nickel supply. However, the need to respond to environmental concerns over the country's globally recognized ecological heritage, may increasingly need to be factored into capitalization of mining operations.
The biodiversity of New Caledonia is of exceptional biological and paleoecological interest. It is frequently referred to as a biodiversity hotspot. The country is a large South Pacific archipelago with a total land area of more than 18,000 square kilometres (6,900 sq mi). The terrain includes a variety of reefs, atolls, small islands, and a variety of topographical and edaphic regions on the largest island, all of which promote the development of unusually concentrated biodiversity. The region's climate is oceanic and tropical.
The New Caledonia rain forests are a terrestrial ecoregion, located in New Caledonia in the South Pacific. It is a tropical moist broadleaf forest ecoregion, part of the Australasian realm.
Geissois is a genus of trees and shrubs in the plant family Cunoniaceae. It includes about 19 species mostly found in New Caledonia, but also in Fiji, Vanuatu, and the Solomon Islands. Leaves are opposite, palmate with 3-9 leaflets, with entire margin and intrapetiolar stipules. The inflorescences are simple racemes and bottle-brush like. The flowers have four red sepals, lacking petals, with many long red stamens. The fruit is a capsule, the seeds flat and winged. The genus includes several nickel hyperaccumulator and one aluminum hyperaccumulator, Geissois polyphylla.
Ochrosia grandiflora is a species of plant in the family Apocynaceae. It is endemic to northwest and central New Caledonia. It grows primarily in the wetland tropical biome, and is found naturally as undergrowth in lowland gallery forest on schist or calcareous substrates. It is relatively rare, and was first described by Pierre Boiteau in 1975. According to Boiteau, it can reach the size of an 8 to 12 meter tree, but can be reduced to a 4 meter tall shrub.
Beaupreopsis is a genus of flowering plants in the family Proteaceae, with just one species in the genus, Beaupreopsis paniculata. It is native to New Caledonia on the south of Grand Terre. Its habitat is from open maquis, to mountain area as low scrub, on a substrate of eroded ultramafic rocks.
Gymnostoma is a genus of about eighteen species of trees and shrubs, constituting one of the four genera of the plant family Casuarinaceae. The species grow naturally in the tropics, including at high elevations having temperate climates, in forests in the region of the western Pacific Ocean and Malesia. In New Caledonia, published botanical science describes eight species found growing naturally, which botanists have not found anywhere else (endemics). Other species are native to Borneo, Sumatra, Maluku, and New Guinea, and one endemic species each in Fiji and the Wet Tropics of Queensland, Australia.
Deplanchea is a genus of about eight species of tropical rainforest trees, constituting part of the plant family Bignoniaceae.
Arthur René Jean Baptiste Bavay was a French pharmacist, herpetologist and malacologist.
Pycnandra acuminata is a species of plant in the family of Sapotaceae. It is a rainforest shrub, endemic to New Caledonia, and is adapted to the nickel-rich ultramafic soils found there. Pycnandra acuminata is notable as one of the most prolific hyperaccumulators of trace metals known, actively absorbing nickel from the soil and concentrating it within the plant to a concentration of up to 25% nickel citrate as dry weight of the sap, which is turquoise-green in colour due to the nickel content. It is the only known plant with turquoise sap. An excellent photo can be seen at. The vernacular name in French is sève bleue.
Myrtopsis is a genus of shrubs in the family Rutaceae. The genus is endemic to New Caledonia in the Pacific and contains c. 8 species.
The main diversity among genus Araucaria is hosted in New Caledonia, where 14 species, all endemic, are described out of a total of 20 extant species. These New Caledonian species are mainly found as dispersed populations in open areas, where competition is less intense.
Stigmatodactylus elegans, commonly known as the elegant acianthus, is a species of mosquito orchids, plants in the genus Acianthus. It is found in New Caledonia.
Jacque Jules Garnier was a French engineer and industrialist.
Hugh Shaw MacKee previously known as Hugh Shaw McKee was a botanist who was born in Northern Ireland, but who collected in Australia and Oceania, and finally in New Caledonia, where together with his wife and other collaborators, he collected over 46,000 specimens.
An independence referendum was held in New Caledonia on 4 October 2020. The poll was the second to be held under the terms of the Nouméa Accord, following a similar referendum in 2018.
Philippe Morat is a researcher mainly in the field of tropical botany. He is a corresponding member of the French Academy of Sciences.
Balabio Island is a small Pacific island of New Caledonia administered from Poum in the North Province.
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