Ogasawara subtropical moist forests | |
---|---|
Ecology | |
Realm | Oceanian |
Biome | tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests |
Geography | |
Area | 96 km2 (37 sq mi) |
Country | Japan |
Conservation | |
Protected | 73 km² (73%) [1] |
The Ogasawara subtropical moist forests is a terrestrial ecoregion which encompasses the Ogasawara Archipelago of Japan. The Ogasawara Archipelago lies in the Pacific Ocean south of Honshu, Japan's largest island, and north of the Marianas Islands. The ecoregion includes the Bonin Islands and Volcano Islands chains. The islands are volcanic in origin, and have never been linked to a continent. They are home to distinct plants and animals including many endemic species.
The islands also constitute a distinct freshwater ecoregion (Ogasarawa Islands - Kazan Archipelago). [2]
The Bonin Islands are about 1000 km south of Honshu, Japan's largest island, and north of the Tropic of Cancer. The Bonin islands form three clusters, Mukojima, Chichijima, and Hahajima, composed of one larger island and several smaller ones. Chichishima, the largest island, and Hahajima, the second-largest, are the only inhabited Bonin islands. The highest point on Hahajima is 326 m, and Chichishima's highest point is 462 m. The Bonin Islands have sea cliffs along the shore. The center of Chichishima and other islands in the group (Ani-shima and Ototo-shima) is rolling plateau, while Hahajima has steep ridges and Mukojima is mostly flat. [3]
The Volcano or Kazan islands lie south of the Bonin Islands. Iwo Jima is the largest of the Volcano Islands. The others are Kita Iwo Jima, Minami Iwo Jima, and Nishinoshima. Iwo Jima and Kita Iwo Jima are inhabited. Nishinoshima is volcanically active.[ citation needed ]
The Bonin and Volcano islands are the central portion of the Izu–Bonin–Mariana Arc, an island arc created by the subduction of the Pacific Plate under the Philippine Sea Plate that stretches 2800 km.[ citation needed ]
Flora has evolved differently on each of the islands. The Ogasawara Islands are sometimes referred to as the Galápagos of the Orient. [4]
The endemic palm Clinostigma savoryanum is the northernmost species of the palm genus Clinostigma . Metrosideros boninensis is an endemic tree of genus Metrosideros , a common tree in the southern tropical Pacific but generally absent from Micronesia. [5]
The islands are home to about 500 plant species, of which 43% are endemic and the most common plant species are Castanopsis sieboldii, Quercus miyagii, Persea thunbergii , Picea jezoensis , Pinus thunbergii , Pinus pumila , Prunus nipponica , Cryptomeria japonica , Sciadopitys verticillata , Salix pierotii , Cinnamomum cassia , Durio zibethinus, Garcinia mangostana, Artocarpus heterophyllus, Ficus benghalensis, Gnetum gnemon, Mangifera indica, Toona ciliata, Toona sinensis, Cocos nucifera, Tetrameles nudiflora, Ginkgo biloba, Shorea robusta, Prunus serrulata, Camphora officinarum, Tsuga dumosa, Ulmus lanceifolia, Tectona grandis, Terminalia elliptica, Terminalia bellirica, Quercus acutissima , Cercidiphyllum japonicum , Fagus crenata , Tilia amurensis , Carpinus laxiflora , Quercus mongolica , Podocarpus macrophyllus , Acer palmatum , Ulmus davidiana , Ulmus pumila , Betula pendula , and Schima wallichii [5]
There are three main types of forest on the islands: [5]
There are 236 species of birds in the islands. [6] The near-threatened Bonin white-eye (Apalopteron familiare), formerly known as "Bonin honeyeater", is endemic to islands. The Japanese wood pigeon (Columba janthina), which inhabits the ecoregion along with the Nansei Islands, was extirpated from the Volcano Islands in the 1980s. [7] Matsudaira's storm-petrel (Oceanodroma matsudairae) and Bryan's shearwater (Puffinus bryani) are breeding endemics. [6] The Bonin petrel (Pterodroma hypoleuca) ranges across the islands in the northern Pacific region from the East China Sea to Hawaii, but breeds only in the Ogasawara Islands and the western Hawaiian Islands. [8] The Bonin pigeon (Columba versicolor) and Bonin thrush (Zoothera terrestris) are extinct. [6]
A small bat, Sturdee's pipistrelle, is only known in one record and has not been seen since 1915. The Bonin flying fox (Pteropus pselaphon), also called the Bonin fruit bat, is endemic to the islands. It is currently listed as Endangered, [9] and a survey published by the Ogasawara Office of Education in 1999 estimated their number to be around 100. [7]
There are two terrestrial reptiles on the islands, the endemic Ogasawara snake-eyed skink (Cryptoblepharus nigropunctatus) and Micronesian gecko (Perochirus ateles). [3]
The islands have 134 species of land snails, including 100 endemic species. [3] Land snails on several islands have been decimated by the introduced New Guinea flatworm (Platydemus manokwari).
A species of Ischnura damselfly, Ischnura ezoin is known from these islands, and is endemic. [10]
The islands are home to 40 species of freshwater fish, including an endemic goby, Rhinogobius ogasawaraensis . [3] There are two endemic species of caddisflies (Trichoptera). Goera ogasawaraensis inhabits headwater streams on Chichijima, and Hydroptila ogasawaraensis is found in streams on Chichijima and Hahajima. The islands have nine species of freshwater and brackish-water shrimps – three of the family Palaemonidae, five of the family Atyidae, and one of genus Metabetaeus . The brackish-water shrimp Palaemon ogasawaraensis from Chichijima is endemic, as is Paratya boninensis , a freshwater shrimp found in headwater streams on Chichijima and Hahajima. There are endemic species of mitten crab ( Eriocheir ogasawaraensis ), sesarmid crab ( Chiromantes magnus ), and fiddler crab ( Uca boninensis ), and the freshwater snail Stenomelania boninensis . [11]
A 2017 assessment found that 73 km2, or 73%, of the ecoregion is in protected areas. [1] Ogasawara National Park, established in 1972, is the largest protected area. In 2011, the Ogasawara Islands were designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site.[ citation needed ]
"Ogasawara subtropical moist forests". Terrestrial Ecoregions. World Wildlife Fund.
Iwo Jima, officially romanized and pronounced Iōtō, is one of the Japanese Volcano Islands, which lie south of the Bonin Islands and together with them make up the Ogasawara Archipelago. Together with the Izu Islands, they make up Japan's Nanpō Islands. Although 1,200 km (750 mi) south of Tokyo on Honshu, Iwo Jima is administered as part of the Ogasawara Subprefecture of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government.
The Bonin Islands, also known as the Ogasawara Islands (小笠原諸島), is a Japanese archipelago of over 30 subtropical and tropical islands located around 1,000 kilometers (620 mi) SSE of Tokyo and 1,600 kilometers (1,000 mi) northwest of Guam. The group as a whole has a total area of 84 square kilometers (32 sq mi) but only two of the islands are permanently inhabited, Chichijima and Hahajima. Together, their population was 2,560 as of 2021. Administratively, Tokyo's Ogasawara Subprefecture also includes the settlements on the Volcano Islands and the Self-Defense Force post on Iwo Jima. The seat of government is Chichijima.
The Volcano Islands or Iwo Islands are a group of three Japanese-governed islands in Micronesia. They lie south of the Ogasawara Islands and belong to the municipality of Ogasawara, Tokyo, Tokyo Metropolis, Japan. The islands are all active volcanoes lying atop the Izu–Bonin–Mariana Arc that stretches south to the Marianas. They have an area of 32.55 square kilometres (12.57 sq mi), and a population of 380. The island of Iwo Jima in the Volcano Islands lies about 1,240 kilometres southeast of Miyazaki.
Ogasawara is a village in Ogasawara Subprefecture, Tokyo Metropolis, Japan, that governs the Bonin Islands, Volcano Islands, and three remote islands.
Chichijima (父島) is the largest and most populous island in the Japanese archipelago of Bonin or Ogasawara Islands. Chichijima is about 240 km (150 mi) north of Iwo Jima. 23.5 km2 (9.1 sq mi) in size, the island is home to about 2,120 people (2021). Connected to the mainland only by a day-long ferry that runs a few times a month, the island is nonetheless organized administratively as the seat of Ogasawara Village in the coterminous Ogasawara Subprefecture of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government. Together with the Volcano and Izu Islands, it makes up Japan's Nanpō Islands.
Hahajima, Haha Jima, or Haha-jima is the second-largest island within the Bonin or Ogasawara Islands SSE of the Japanese Home Islands. The steeply-sloped island, which is about 21 km2 (8 sq mi) in area, has a population of 440. It is part of Ogasawara Village in Ogasawara Subprefecture, which is approximately 1,000 km (620 mi) south of Tokyo, Japan.
The Nanpō Islands is a collective term for the groups of islands that are located to the south of the Japanese archipelago. They extend from the Izu Peninsula west of Tokyo Bay southward for about 1,200 km (750 mi), to within 500 km (310 mi) of the Mariana Islands. The Nanpō Islands are all administered by Tokyo Metropolis.
The Nansei Islands subtropical evergreen forests is a terrestrial ecoregion of the Ryukyu Islands, also known as the Nansei Islands, in Japan. The Nansei Islands are an island arc that stretches southwest from Kyushu towards Taiwan. The larger islands are mostly volcanic islands and the smaller ones mostly coral. The largest is Okinawa Island. The highest point is Mount Miyanoura on Yakushima Island at 1,936 metres.
Ogasawara National Park is a national park in the Ogasawara Islands, located approximately one thousand kilometres to the south of Tokyo, Japan. The park was established in 1972 within the municipality of Ogasawara, itself part of Tokyo. In 2011, the Ogasawara Islands were inscribed upon the UNESCO World Heritage List.
The Bonin white-eye is a small species of songbird endemic to the Bonin Islands of Japan. It is the only species in the monotypic genus Apalopteron. The taxonomic affinities of the Bonin white-eye were a long-standing mystery and it was formerly placed with the bulbuls, babblers and more recently with the honeyeaters, during which it was known as the Bonin honeyeater. Since 1995 it is known to be a white-eye in the family Zosteropidae, that is closely related to the golden white-eye of the Marianas Islands.
Pandanus boninensis is an Asian species of plant that is endemic to and common in the Distylium-Schima dry forests and Raphiolepis-Livistona dry forests of the Bonin Islands, Japan. It has aerial prop roots and grows on rocks. The beetle, Phylloplatypus pandani is a leaf miner that consumes the leaves of P. boninensis, it was first described by scientists in 1998. The fungus, Kodonospora tetracolumnaris was isolated from dead leaves of P. boninensis and described in 1993.
The Bonin flying fox, also known as Bonin fruit bat, is a species of flying fox in the family Pteropodidae. It is endemic to four islands of the Bonin Islands group, Japan. Its natural habitat is subtropical forests. It is threatened by habitat loss.
Ogasawarana yoshiwarana is a species of land snail with an operculum, a terrestrial gastropod mollusk in the family Helicinidae, the helicinids.
North Iwo Jima, now officially North or Kita Iōtō and previously known as Santo or San Alessandro, Hooge Meeuwen Island, and North Sulfur Island, is the northernmost member of Japan's Volcano Islands. Together with the Bonin Islands, the Volcanos form the Ogasawara Archipelago and Subprefecture. Together with the Bonins and Izu Islands, they form the Nanpo Islands, all formally organized as part of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government. North Iwo Jima is located 80 kilometers (50 mi) north of Iwo Jima, 207 kilometers (129 mi) SSW of Chichijima in the Bonins, and 1,170 kilometers (730 mi) south of Tokyo on Honshu. Previously inhabited by two Japanese villages from 1898 to 1944, it is currently a desert island.
South Iwo Jima, officially Minami or South Iōtō since 18 June 2007 and also formerly known as Santo Agustino, is a 3.4 km2 (1.3 sq mi) uninhabited island in the North Pacific. Located 60 kilometers (37 mi) south of Iwo Jima, it is the southernmost of the Volcano Islands, part of the Nanpo Archipelago. Farallon de Pajaros is the next island to its south, 541 kilometers (336 mi) away in the Northern Mariana Islands.
Ogasawara Subprefecture is a subprefecture of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government in Japan. The subprefecture covers the Bonin and Volcano Islands and three isolated islets and is coterminous with the village of Ogasawara. The subprefecture covers 104.41 square kilometers (40.31 sq mi) and has a population of 2,930 in 2023. It maintains a main office on Chichijima and a branch office on Hahajima, the two permanent settlements in the islands.
The Sri Lanka lowland rain forests represents Sri Lanka's Tropical rainforests below 1,000 m (3,281 ft) in elevation in the southwestern part of the island. The year-around warm, wet climate together with thousands years of isolation from mainland India have resulted in the evolution of numerous plants and animal species that can only be found in rain forests in Sri Lanka. The thick forest canopy is made up of over 150 species of trees, some of the emergent layer reaching as high as 45 m (148 ft). The lowland rain forests accounts for 2.14 percent of Sri Lanka's land area. This ecoregion is the home of the jungle shrew, a small endemic mammal of Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka has the highest density of amphibian species worldwide. Many of these, including 250 species of tree frogs, live in these rain forests.
The Yap tropical dry forests is a tropical and subtropical dry broadleaf forests ecoregion in Micronesia. It includes the Yap Islands and neighboring atolls in the Federated States of Micronesia.
The Bonin greenfinch, also known as the Ogasawara greenfinch, is a small passerine bird in the finch family Fringillidae that is endemic to the Ogasawara Islands of Japan, where it is found on the Bonin Islands and Volcano Islands. It was formerly considered a subspecies of the grey-capped greenfinch and some authorities consider it as such, but a 2020 analysis found it likely to represent a distinct species that diverged from C. sinica about 1.06 million years ago, and the International Ornithological Congress now recognizes it as such, making it the eleventh endemic species in Japan. There are fewer than 400 individuals in the population and it is considered critically endangered by the Japanese government, necessitating protection. According to the Yamashina Institute for Ornithology, as of December 2021, the Ogaswara greenfinch is Japan's most endangered bird.
The Bonin Islands are an archipelago of over 30 subtropical and tropical islands, some 1,000 kilometres directly south of Tokyo, Japan and 1,000 miles northwest of Guam.
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: CS1 maint: date and year (link) Supplemental material 2 table S1b.