At the 21st Pacific Science Congress in Okinawa (June 2007), we celebrated the first ten years of PABITRA, the Pacific-Asia Biodiversity Transect Network. PABITRA is a grass roots effort of a group of conservation scientists that presents a significant departure from earlier efforts in ecology and conservation to fulfill the mission of the Pacific Science Association (PSA). This departure goes beyond the usual means of scientific communication as it actively encourages and involves resident Pacific Islanders in biodiversity assessment of their own renewable resources. It aims at empowering them to work with scientific methods through hands-on experience in cooperation with established conservation scientists. The principal objectives are mutual capacity building with work along selected ecosystem transects aiming to answer scientific questions and to fulfill practical needs. This introductory paper discusses four main points: a brief history leading to PABITRA; the PABITRA concept; the PABITRA track record; and PABITRA’s long-term goals.

The Republic of Palau is an archipelago of the Caroline Islands (latitudes 8 ̊12' to 2 ̊48' and longitudes 131 ̊07' to 134 ̊44') with over 802 native plants of which 18.7% are endemic. Forest vegetation growth ranged from 0.04% to 0.22% yr-1 in three decades. Forest patches in Babeldaob showed differential growth rates with an overall rate of expansion of 38 m2 yr-1. Nine patches expanded at an average rate of 608 m2 yr-1, three patches decreased at a rate of 1267 m2 yr-1 and 34 patches showed no change. Uncommon endemic species occurred in stable, wet and inaccessible areas of Babeldaob including Parkia parvifoliola and Terminalia crassipes. Dominant trees include Campnosperma brevipetiolata, Horsfieldia spp., Maranthes corymbosa and Alphitonia carolinensis. One large limestone island had a higher percentage of endemic trees (16.4%) than ten smaller limestone islands (11%). Within the island cluster, the larger islands had more species (mean = 26.8) than the smaller islands (mean = 7.8). A 2001 survey of 90 homes indicated that Areca catechu, Cocos nucifera and Mangifera indica were the most common trees. Year round and synchronous spring and fall flowering and fruiting was observed for dominant tree species. Endemic trees tend to have smaller fruits. Broad reproductive periods, easily dispersed seeds, seeds with thick exocarps and dwarfism are adaptations that may help trees survive climate change and human disturbance on small islands. The invasive trees, Falcataria moluccana and Adenanthera pavonina are considered threats to native forests. National land use and forest policies are needed to ensure that Palau’s forests remain intact into the next century.

This paper highlights the seriousness of the “biodiversity crisis” on atolls and the need to place greater research and conservation emphasis on atolls and other small island ecosystems. It presents a “snapshot” of the current status of atoll biodiversity, including associated marine biodiversity, and stresses that atolls are “biodiversity cool spots”, which, apart from, in some cases, very considerable marine resources, have among the poorest and most highly threatened biodiversity inheritances on Earth. Atoll societies and ecosystems are also widely believed to be the most seriously threatened by global climate change and associated sea level rise. This paper is based on studies over the past twenty years conducted in the atolls of Tuvalu, Tokelau, Kiribati, the Marshall Islands and the Tuamotu Archipelago of French Polynesia. It stresses that atolls offer some of the greatest opportunities for integrated studies of simplified small-island ecosystems, especially studies that involve local communities and local researchers, as have been emphasized by the Pacific Asia Biodiversity Transect Network (PABITRA). It is suggested that, if we are really worried mutual capacity building and sustainability of islands as human support systems, we must place higher priority on research on, and the conservation of, the Earth’s “cool spots”, such as the atolls and other biodiversity-poor small islands. Emphasis is also placed on the importance of the protection, recording and application of indigenous knowledge, here referred to as “ethnobiodiversity”, which when used in concert with the most up-to-date modern scientific knowledge, constitutes perhaps the most appropriate means of designing models for the sustainable use of small island ecosystems.

Following a review of the major systems of traditional agriculture, this paper briefly considers the role of traditional agriculture in environmental modification, and the related concepts of sustain- ability, agricultural intensification, carrying capacity, biodiversity and agricultural disintensification (abandonment). Research interest in traditional agricultural systems of the Pacific Islands has waned considerably since the 1960s and there are few current studies of these systems in Micronesia. Both species and cultivar diversity of the traditional agricultural systems of the region are high and may contribute significantly to their sustainability. However, there is little ongoing research on the role of biodiversity in these traditional systems. Some reasons for the apparent lack of research in the ecology of traditional agricultural systems are presented. The Pacific-Asia Biodiversity Transect (PABITRA) network emphasizes investigation of the function of biodiversity and the health of ecosystems in the tropical Pacific Islands. Accordingly, PABITRA’s focus should be on long-term monitoring of traditional agricultural systems in order to define their structural and functional characteristics and the relationship between diversity and sustainability. Given the rapid rate of modernization, the documentation of traditional agricultural knowledge and resources is imperative as this knowledge is rapidly being lost.

Long-term ecological research (LTER) is essential for management, restoration, and conservation of tropical island streams, and it is the foundation for five components identified as crucial to wise stream use decisions. Survey methods derived from the Pacific-Asia Biodiversity Transect network (PABITRA) provide standardized procedures ensuring accuracy, uniformity, and completeness of comparative data on streams and aquatic animals. In the Hawaiian Islands, field data are permanently stored in a database maintained by the Hawai‘i Division of Aquatic Resources (DAR). A formal classi- fication of Hawaiian streams permits biological comparisons among streams similar in geomorphology. The Reference Condition Approach (RCA) determines conformity or deviation of a stream or site within a stream from certified reference conditions. The Instream Flow Council’s (IFC) purpose, goals, and philosophy provide a framework for deliberations regarding stream protection and instream flow programs. An Action Plan developed from LTER and PABITRA used in combination with the DAR Database, Stream Classification, RCA, and IFC components is more likely to be scientifically sound, justifiable, and acceptable at any spatial scale, ranging from a single study site on a stream to an entire ecosystem. Although most research on island stream animals has been conducted in Hawai‘i, the close evolutionary relationships of Hawaiian stream species with those on other high islands and the remarkable similarity in their ecology, behavior, and life cycles indicate that the discussions included herein are very likely relevant throughout the oceanic islands of the tropical Pacific.

Cover and biomass estimates of the macroalgal assemblage on a coral reef off Waikīkī Beach, Hawai‘i were analyzed to determine changes through time. Biomass data spanned 39 years (1966–2005) while data for cover were taken from 1975 to 2005. Data for the 1975–2005 period were collected as part of a regularly scheduled class exercise. Mean biomass in 2005 was the same as in 1966, however during the 1980's biomass was substantially lower. Much of this decline in total algal biomass was due to the low biomass of Sargassum spp. during those years. In the 1960’s total biomass was essentially constant from the shore to 200m off shore, while in later years there was a decline in biomass with distance from shore. The invasive Rhodophyte, Gracilaria salicornia, was a major contributor to biomass starting in 1990. Even with this new dominant species, diversity, based on the 15 most common species, showed little change through time. Cover also remained consistent from 1975 to 2005 with macroalgae generally covering more than 50% of the bottom and living coral less than 5%. As with biomass, macroalgal cover declined with distance from shore. Student projects and class exercises can be used to generate valuable long-term data sets when appropriate quality control is maintained.

Long-Term Vegetation Monitoring Plots (LTVMP) provide vital information on the flora, vegetation ecology, ecosystem dynamics, climate change and anthropogenic impact on biodiversity. As part of the Pacific–Asia Biodiversity Transact (PABITRA) network, three long-term vegetation monitoring plots in lowland and upland tropical rain forest were established on the island of Viti Levu, Fiji Islands. The plots were established in the Wabu Forest Reserve and Sovi Basin, on the island of Viti Levu. Each monitoring plot consists of four 50m x 50m sub-plots. All trees greater than 10 cm in diameter at breast height were measured. The design of the LTVMPs and some of the ecological findings in the Wabu Forest Reserve are evaluated.

Herpetofauna and bats are two important indicator taxa in Fiji’s forests. Herpetofauna (especially frogs) are good indicators of riparian forest health and the presence of introduced predator species while bats are excellent indicators of the forest tree diversity and general forest disturbance. Despite these important roles, prior to 2006 the monitoring of these two taxonomic groups had remained largely qualitative in Fiji PABITRA sites. The reasons for this were primarily due to very low abundances, making quantitative surveys largely cost and time-ineffective (reptiles) and the low survey effort (bats), resulting in incomplete baseline information. In total two frog species, eight reptiles and three bats have been found in three Fiji PABITRA sites on Viti Levu (Savura Reserve, Sovi Basin and Wabu Reserve). Sufficient information has now been collected to determine the optimal methods to begin quantitatively monitoring populations of these taxonomic groups in future surveys.

Leachate samples taken from the perimeter of the Ordot Landfill, in central Guam, were screened for priority pollutants listed under Section 307(a) of the Clean Water Act. Identified contaminants of concern were the fecal indicator bacteria, Enterococci and E. coli, inorganic nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P), and several heavy metals. These contaminants were monitored in surface and subsurface waters down gradient of the landfill at monthly intervals for one year. Fecal indicator bacteria MPN counts in receiving surface waters dropped sharply within a few hundred meters downstream of leachate stream impaction points. However, values often exceeded the U.S. EPA recreational water quality standards all the way to the coast. Inorganic N was dominated by ammonium in the leachate stream and nitrate in the river. Occasional exceedences of the U.S. EPA surface water quality standard for nitrate (as NOx) were observed at all downstream sites. Inorganic (reactive) P was mostly undetectable in surface waters despite relatively high levels in the leachate stream. Likewise, heavy metal contaminants that were enriched in the leachate stream were mostly close to the limits of analytical detection in the river. Soil pore waters collected at various depths (0.61-1.83 m) ~100 m down gradient of the landfill were comparatively free of fecal indicator bacteria. Inorganic nitrogen levels, though enriched, were appreciably lower than those in the leachate stream, suggesting either denitrification, high assimilation by soil microbes, and/or high sorption by clays. Average P levels were also low suggesting removal by oxidic iron in surface layers. Neither inorganic N nor P concentrations varied significantly with soil depth. In contrast, mean pore water concentrations of aluminum, cadmium, iron and zinc were generally more concentrated at the shallowest soil level. Inorganic N enrichment, and its effect on plant and algae growth in the lower reaches of the Lonfit River, was considered to be the most significant ecological impact of the landfill on the watershed. The transmission of human pathogens from the landfill into the river, in leachate streams and surface runoff, and the incorporation of potentially toxic metals into food chains ultimately leading to man, are likely the most important issues from a human health perspective.

We describe terrestrial vegetation communities and compile an annotated checklist of vascular plant species found on the islands of Lakeba (56 km2), Aiwa (1.2 km2) and Nayau (22 km2) in the central Lau Group, Fiji, based on all previous published sources and our own observations and collections published here for the first time. Vegetation communities include coastal strand, mangrove, freshwater wetlands, grassland, fernland and scrub, lowland forest, and cultural vegetation. In 1999–2001, we collected plant specimens and made observations comprising 92, 76 and 279 new island records for Lakeba, Aiwa and Nayau, respectively (73, 21 and 102 of them collected). When combined with all other known vascular plants for these islands, the number of species documented to date is 337 for Lakeba, 85 for Aiwa and 295 for Nayau. A total of 449 species have now been recorded from these three islands of Central Lau. Many (161, 36%) of these are introduced. Among these, 16% are believed to be aboriginal introductions, while the majority (84%) are species introduced in historic times. About two-thirds of the species, 288 (64%) are indigenous to the Lau Group, but only 41 (14% of the indigenous species) are endemic to Fiji. Fourteen taxa, all of them endemic to Fiji or the western Polynesian or eastern Melanesian region, have been documented to occur in the Lau group by our recent surveys.

Five species of dragonflies and one damselfly are recorded from Nauru for the first time, and constitute the first records of Odonata from this island republic identified to species. None is endemic; all are widespread in the Indo-Australian region and the islands of the west central Pacific Ocean. Diplacodes bipunctata (Brauer) is the most common species throughout the island, but Ischnura aurora (Brauer) appears locally abundant, possibly seasonally. Breeding is confirmed for all species.

In May 2007, large stands of Acanthophora spicifera (Vahl) Børgesen were observed and photographed on the shallow lagoon reef flats overgrowing and killing corals, mostly Montipora digitata (Dana) and some Psammocora contigua (Esper), off the south side of Majuro Atoll, the capital, business center and main port of the Republic of the Marshall Islands. In early November 2007, the stands had disappeared and three sprigs, each less than 6 cm long, were collected at the same lagoon site. These voucher specimens (BISH 726487) represent the first documented record of A. spicifera in the Marshall Islands. A. spicifera was also previously observed on the shallow lagoon reef flat in mid-October 2006 and in deeper lagoon waters (6-12 m) in August 2004. It is not possible to ascertain whether A. spicifera is a recent invader to or a long-time resident of Majuro Atoll, since the 65 marine algal species previously recorded from this atoll do not reflect its expected algal biodiversity. A. spicifera is considered the most successful invasive marine plant in the main Hawaiian Islands and should be monitored as a potentially invasive species in the marine waters of Majuro Atoll.

Inland waters are the most endangered ecosystems in the world because of complex threats and management problems, yet the freshwater microbial eukaryotes and microinvertebrates are generally not well known and from Guam are virtually unknown. Photodocumentation can provide useful information on such organisms. In this paper we document protists from mostly lentic inland waters of Guam and report twelve freshwater ciliates, especially peritrichs, which are the first records of ciliates from Guam or Micronesia. We also report a species of Raphidiophrys (Heliozoa). Undergraduate students can meaningfully contribute to knowledge of regional biodiversity through individual or class projects using photodocumentation.

The new gobiid fish Eviota partimacula is described from 10 specimens, 7.0-17.9 mm SL, from Majuro Atoll, Marshall Islands, colledted from silty sand at the edge of a dense bed of Halimeda at depths of 7–23 m. Specimens were also collected from Palau but not regarded as paratypes due to slight difference in life color. The species is most similar to E. lachdeberi (Giltay), differing in having a longer snout, modally 15 instead of 14 pectoral rays, and in color. A second new goby, Silhouettea capitlineta, is described from five specimens, 12.2–21.4 mm SL from Marshall Islands lagoons on open sand bottom from 2–7 m. It is distinct in having four large scales on the chest, body depth 5.05–5.9 in SL, small eye, short first dorsal fin, and four dark lines extending ventrally from the eye. Also reported as first records of gobiid fishes for the Marshall Islands: Eviota cometae Jewett & Lachner, Exyrias akihito Allen & Randall, and Vanderhorstia dorsomacula Randall.

We identify the gorgonian Echinomuricea sp. as a keystone species in subtidal benthic communities in the Gulf of Oman, this being the first record of Echinomuricea in the northwestern Indian Ocean. An otherwise undisturbed Echinomuricea dominated community at Qalhat (Gulf of Oman) underwent a marked change in community structure over a two year period. Upon the onset of marine construction activities, an outbreak of the diatom Chrysanthemodiscus floriatus Mann was an early indicator of a change in community structure. C. floriatus is a wide-spread yet enigmatic tropical species, and is a common component in damselfish gardens. Diatoms are generally overlooked in monitoring studies but here we demonstrate their potential value in monitoring hard-bottom benthic communities following sudden environmental changes, including natural disasters like tsunamis.

Robert E. Beck, Jr., noteworthy conservationist in the Mariana Islands, died of melanoma on Guam on 24 May 2008 at the age of 63. Born on 2 September 1944 and raised in Hagerstown, Maryland, Bob first came to Guam in 1974 to teach high school, then returned to the States in 1978 and attended graduate school at the University of Tennessee, where he studied under Dr. James Tanner of Ivory-billed Woodpecker fame. He returned to Guam in 1981 and was hired as a wildlife biologist with the Division of Aquatic and Wildlife Resources (DAWR) in late 1982. He became DAWR’s wildlife section supervisor in 1990 and remained in that job until retiring in 2003.

See article for the entire obituary.

The URL for the algal biodiversity website cited in Lobban & N’Yeurt (2006, pp. 73, 74 and 96) has been changed from http://www.uog.edu/ classes/botany/474/ to http://university.uog.edu/botany/474/. The specific URL mentioned on page 101 under Enteromorpha was also misprinted; the correct URL for that page is: http://university.uog.edu/botany/474/chloro/ulva.html.

Lobban, C.S. & A.D.R. N’Yeurt. 2006. Provisional keys to the genera of seaweeds of Micronesia, with new records for Guam and Yap. Micronesica 39(1): 73–105.