The remaining islands with primary rain forest: A global resource |
| |
Authors: | Gordon Brent Ingram |
| |
Affiliation: | (1) Departments of Forest Resources Management & Plant Science, University of British Columbia, 2357 Main Mall, V6T 1Z4 Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada |
| |
Abstract: | Islands with large tracts of primary rain forest constitute a distinct complex of terrestrial and marine ecosystems with global significance because of high levels of biological richness or, in the case of oceanic islands, the evolutionary distinctiveness of the organisms that they support. The myriad of small habitat units makes these settings particularly prone to fragmentation and thus problematic for the conservation of biological diversity. Most of the remaining examples of islands with primary rain forest are in the Pacific Rim, particularly in Indonesia, and there are threats from intensive timber harvesting, mining, tourism, and dismemberment of traditional convervation systems. Prospects for inventorying, monitoring, and protecting the remaining islands with relatively pristine successional mosaics of humid forest and shallow marine habitats within a framework global monitoring are explored. Recommendations are made for a program of expanded use of the biosphere reserve designation for rain forest islands and adjacent marine areas. |
| |
Keywords: | Rain forest Biological diversity Tourism Tropical islands Pacific rim Indonesia |
本文献已被 SpringerLink 等数据库收录! |
|