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The importance of novel and hybrid habitats for plant conservation on islands: a case study from Moorea (South Pacific)

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Abstract

Biotic homogenization caused by the invasion of non-native (alien) species is recognized as one of the main drivers of biodiversity erosion in island ecosystems. Conservation on islands is also often challenged by limited data on the distribution of remaining native habitats and threatened native and endemic species. We combine botanical survey data and habitat mapping through remote sensing and GIS to illustrate how multiple data sources can be used together to provide a synoptic view of the spatial distribution of native, naturalized and invasive alien plant species at an island scale, using the case study of Moorea (French Polynesia), a small (135 km²) tropical high volcanic island in the South Pacific. Results reveal that (i) 42 % of the rare and threatened native and endemic plant species are currently found in native habitats representing only 6 % of the island (8 km²); (ii) 49 % of these species occupy “hybrid” habitats covering 45 % of the island area (60 km²) where native species co-occur with naturalized non-native species; and (iii) 9 % of these species occur in 17 % of the island (23 km²) considered “novel” habitats that are highly invaded by alien plants that form dense monotypic stands. We conclude that conservation efforts and priorities should not neglect these novel and hybrid habitats on Moorea where many rare and threatened plants are found. Innovative strategies adapted to current conditions should be emphasized on small islands where conservation resources are often limited.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Richard Hobbs (University of Western Australia, Crawley, Australia) and Lauren Hallett (University of California, Berkeley, USA) for helpful discussions about the novel ecosystem concept, Lloyd L. Loope (formerly at USGS, Haleakala National Park, Maui, Hawaii, USA) and Christoph Kueffer (Institute of Integrative Biology, Zürich) for a critical review of an early draft of this paper, Benoît Stoll (Université de la Polynésie française) and Didier Lequeux (Service de l’Urbanisme, Government of French Polynesia) for providing remotely sensed and GIS data, and the two anonymous reviewers for their useful corrections and constructive comments. The study was funded by the Moorea Biocode Project in collaboration with the Government of French Polynesia. We dedicate this paper to the staff of the Gump Biological Research Station on Moorea (including director Neil Davies, managers Hinano and Franck Murphy, secretary Valentine Brotherson, laboratory technicians Reo Terai and Vetea Liao) for their great hospitality and precious logistical support during the five years of this study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Délégation à la Recherche, Government of French Polynesia, B.P. 20981, Papeete, Tahiti, French Polynesia

    Jean-Yves Meyer

  2. Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD), UMR AMAP, Laboratoire de Botanique et d’Écologie Végétale Appliquées, Herbarium NOU, 98848, Nouméa, New Caledonia

    Robin Pouteau

  3. Moorea Biocode Project, Richard B. Gump South Pacific Research Station, University of California at Berkeley, B.P. 244, Papetoai, Moorea, French Polynesia

    Jean-Yves Meyer, Robin Pouteau, Erica Spotswood, Ravahere Taputuarai & Marie Fourdrigniez

  4. Department of Environmental Science, Policy and Management, University of California, 130 Mulford Hall, Berkeley, CA, 94720-3041, USA

    Erica Spotswood

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  1. Jean-Yves Meyer
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  2. Robin Pouteau
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  3. Erica Spotswood
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  4. Ravahere Taputuarai
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  5. Marie Fourdrigniez
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Correspondence to Jean-Yves Meyer.

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Communicated by Dirk Sven Schmeller.

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Meyer, JY., Pouteau, R., Spotswood, E. et al. The importance of novel and hybrid habitats for plant conservation on islands: a case study from Moorea (South Pacific). Biodivers Conserv 24, 83–101 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10531-014-0791-6

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