Major Conservation Policy Issues for Biodiversity in Oceania

Abstract:  Oceania is a diverse region encompassing Australia, Melanesia, Micronesia, New Zealand, and Polynesia, and it contains six of the world's 39 hotspots of diversity. It has a poor record for extinctions, particularly for birds on islands and mammals. Major causes include habitat loss and degradation, invasive species, and overexploitation. We identified six major threatening processes (habitat loss and degradation, invasive species, climate change, overexploitation, pollution, and disease) based on a comprehensive review of the literature and for each developed a set of conservation policies. Many policies reflect the urgent need to deal with the effects of burgeoning human populations (expected to increase significantly in the region) on biodiversity. There is considerable difference in resources for conservation, including people and available scientific information, which are heavily biased toward more developed countries in Oceania. Most scientific publications analyzed for four threats (habitat loss, invasive species, overexploitation, and pollution) are from developed countries: 88.6% of Web of Science publications were from Australia (53.7%), New Zealand (24.3%), and Hawaiian Islands (10.5%). Many island states have limited resources or expertise. Even countries that do (e.g., Australia, New Zealand) have ongoing and emerging significant challenges, particularly with the interactive effects of climate change. Oceania will require the implementation of effective policies for conservation if the region's poor record on extinctions is not to continue.

[1]  David B. Lindenmayer,et al.  The big ecological questions inhibiting effective environmental management in Australia , 2009 .

[2]  James E. M. Watson,et al.  Why are we still using a 'One size fits all' philosophy for systematic reserve planning in Australia? , 2008 .

[3]  A. Peterson,et al.  Biodiversity Consequences of Sea Level Rise in New Guinea , 2008 .

[4]  J. Canadell,et al.  Global and regional drivers of accelerating CO2 emissions , 2007, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

[5]  C. Crane,et al.  Phytophthora cinnamomi invasion, a major threatening process to conservation of flora diversity in the South-west Botanical Province of Western Australia , 2007 .

[6]  Harry F. Recher,et al.  Conservation challenge of dispersive fauna , 2007 .

[7]  Stephen H. Roxburgh,et al.  Assessing the carbon sequestration potential of managed forests : a case study from temperate Australia , 2006 .

[8]  R. McDowall,et al.  Crying wolf, crying foul, or crying shame: alien salmonids and a biodiversity crisis in the southern cool-temperate galaxioid fishes? , 2006, Reviews in Fish Biology and Fisheries.

[9]  Menna E. Jones,et al.  To Lose Both Would Look Like Carelessness: Tasmanian Devil Facial Tumour Disease , 2006, PLoS biology.

[10]  Maria Gibson,et al.  Ocean shores to desert dunes : the native vegetation of New South Wales and the ACT , 2006 .

[11]  Neville Nicholls,et al.  Observed Climate Change in Australia over the past Century , 2006 .

[12]  J. Roberts,et al.  Overview of the Conservation Status of Australian Frogs , 2006 .

[13]  K. Gaston,et al.  Avian Extinction and Mammalian Introductions on Oceanic Islands , 2004, Science.

[14]  J. Koehn,et al.  Priority management actions for alien freshwater fish species in Australia , 2004 .

[15]  Richard T. Kingsford,et al.  Classifying landform at broad spatial scales: the distribution and conservation of wetlands in New South Wales, Australia , 2004 .

[16]  R. Grosberg,et al.  Climate Change, Human Impacts, and the Resilience of Coral Reefs , 2003, Science.

[17]  H. Lotze,et al.  Predator diversity hotspots in the blue ocean , 2003, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.

[18]  L. Kats,et al.  Alien predators and amphibian declines: review of two decades of science and the transition to conservation , 2003 .

[19]  R. Cowie,et al.  The decline of native Pacific island faunas: changes in status of the land snails of Samoa through the 20th century , 2003 .

[20]  Simon Ferrier,et al.  Using abiotic data for conservation assessments over extensive regions : quantitative methods applied across New South Wales, Australia , 2000 .

[21]  Richard T. Kingsford,et al.  Ecological impacts of dams, water diversions and river management on floodplain wetlands in Australia , 2000 .

[22]  T. Brooks,et al.  Hotspots Revisited: Earth's Biologically Richest and Most Endangered Terrestrial Ecoregions , 2000 .

[23]  R. Mittermeier,et al.  Biodiversity hotspots for conservation priorities , 2000, Nature.

[24]  Hughes,et al.  Biological consequences of global warming: is the signal already apparent? , 2000, Trends in ecology & evolution.

[25]  M. Gregory.  Plastics and South Pacific Island shores: environmental implications , 1999 .

[26]  C. Woodroffe,et al.  Saltwater intrusion into the coastal plains of the Lower Mary River, Northern Territory, Australia , 1998 .

[27]  C. Dickman.  OVERVIEW OF THE IMPACTS OF FERAL CATS ON AUSTRALIAN NATIVE FAUNA , 1996 .

[28]  C. Cocklin,et al.  Institutional and Landowner Perspectives on Wetland Management in New Zealand , 1995 .

[29]  D. Steadman.  Prehistoric Extinctions of Pacific Island Birds: Biodiversity Meets Zooarchaeology , 1995, Science.

[30]  L. Zann.  The status of coral reefs in South Western Pacific Islands , 1994 .

[31]  R. Soni.  The International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources , 1960, Oryx.