edited by Philippe Bouchet, Hervé Le Guyader, Olivier Pascal PATRIMOINES NATURELS The Natural History of Santo PUBLICATIONS SCIENTIFIQUES DU MUSÉUM IRD ÉDITIONS PRO-NATURA INTERNATIONAL The Santo 2006 expedition was organized, with the support, among others, of and Représentation de l'Union Européenne au Vanuatu The Natural History of Santo edited by Philippe Bouchet, Hervé Le Guyader & Olivier Pascal Contents Foreword by Edward Natapei, Prime Minister of Vanuatu ...................................... 10 Introduction. The Natural History of Santo: An Attempt to Bridge the Gap between Academic Research and Consevation and Education .......................... 11 Vanuatu in the South Pacific ............................................................................................................. 13 Benoît Antheaume ESPIRITU SANTO IN SPACE AND TIME ........................................................................................... 17 coordinated by Bruno Corbara The Late Quaternaty Reefs ............................................................................................................................. 19 Guy Cabioch & Frederick W. Taylor The Holocene and Pleistocene Marine Faunas Reconsidered ................................. 25 Pierre Lozouet, Alan Beu, Philippe Maestrati, Rufino Pineda & Jean-Louis Reyss Geography of Santo and of the Sanma Province ............................................................... 34 Patricia Siméoni Drainage, Hydrology and Fluvial Geomorphology ............................................................. 46 James P. Terry The Climate of Santo ............................................................................................................................................................. 52 James P. Terry Large-scale Climatic and Oceanic Conditions around Santo ............................................................... 57 Christophe Maes & David Varillon A Brief History of Biodiversity Exploration and Scientific Expeditions on and off the Island of Santo ...................................................................................................................................... 62 Bruno Corbara & Bertrand Richer de Forges Deforestation on Santo and Logging Operations .......................................................................................... 67 Rufino Pineda The Impact of WWII on Infrastructures and Landscape .......................................................................... 69 Laurent Palka & Rufino Pineda Conservation Efforts in Santo ........................................................................................................................................ 71 Samson Vilvil-Fare VEGETATION AND FLORA ..................................................................................................................................................... 73 coordinated by Jérôme Munzinger & Porter P. Lowry II Exploration by the Santo 2006 Botany Team .................................................................................................... 75 Porter P. Lowry II & Jérôme Munzinger Principal Types of Vegetation Occuring on Santo ......................................................................................... 76 Jérôme Munzinger, Porter P. Lowry II & Jean-Noël Labat Phytogeographic Relationships ......................................................................................................................................... 77 Gordon McPherson How Old are the Kauri (Agathis microphylla) Trees? .............................................................................................. 83 Jonathan Palmer The Flora of Santo .................................................................................................................................................................... 89 Some New, Characteristic or Remarkable Species ......................................................................................... 89 Gordon McPherson & Jérôme Munzinger Focus on Araliaceae: Several Genera Exemplify Santo's Melanesian Biogeographic Relations ........................................ 90 Porter P. Lowry II & Gregory M. Plunkett Focus on Geissois (Cunoniaceae): Another Example of the Melanesian Connection ........................................................................................... 93 Yohan Pillon Focus on Pandans ............................................................................................................................................................... 94 Thomas Haevermans Focus on Orchids ................................................................................................................................................................. 97 Marc Pignal 5 ... Contents ....... Focus on Palms ..................................................................................................................................................................... 102 Jean-Michel Dupuyoo Focus on Ferns ...................................................................................................................................................................... 105 Germinal Rouhan Focus on Bryophytes ......................................................................................................................................................... 110 Elizabeth A. Brown Fungi, the Forgotten Kingdom ....................................................................................................................................... 113 Bart Buyck TERRESTRIAL FAUNA .............................................................................................................................................................. 117 coordinated by Bruno Corbara IBISCA-Santo Biodiversity Along an Altitudinal Gradient ...................................................................... 119 Bruno Corbara on behalf of the IBISCA network Insects on Santo ........................................................................................................................................................................ 123 Focus on Orthoptera .......................................................................................................................................................... 123 Laure Desutter-Grandcolas, Sylvain Hugel & Tony Robillard Termites in Santo: Lessons from a Survey in the Penaoru Area ............................................................ 128 Yves Roisin, Bruno Corbara, Thibaut Delsinne, Jérôme Orivel & Maurice Leponce Focus on Bees and Wasps .............................................................................................................................................. 131 Claire Villemant Myrmecophily in Santo: A Canopy Ant-Plant and its Expected and Less Expected Inhabitants 143 Bruno Corbara Beetles in Saratsi Range, Santo .................................................................................................................................. 146 Alexey K. Tishechkin, Jürgen Schmidl Lepidoptera in Vanuatu: Fauna, Geography and the IBISCA-Santo Project .................................... 155 Roger L. Kitching Other Invertebrates ................................................................................................................................................................. 161 Diversity of Spiders ............................................................................................................................................................ 161 Christine Rollard Some Arthropods as Expressed in the Words of Penaoru Villagers .................................................... 167 Bruno Corbara Indigenous Land Snails .................................................................................................................................................... 169 Benoît Fontaine, Olivier Gargominy & Vincent Prié The Vertebrates of Santo .................................................................................................................................................... 179 Terrestrial Bird Communities ....................................................................................................................................... 179 Nicolas Barré, Thibaut Delsinne & Benoït Fontaine Amphibians and Reptiles ............................................................................................................................................... 187 Ivan Ineich RIVERS AND OTHER FRESHWATER HABITATS ..................................................................................................... 237 coordinated by Philippe Keith Freshwater Habitat Types ................................................................................................................................................. 239 Philippe Keith & Clara Lord Freshwater Biota ...................................................................................................................................................................... 242 Focus on Fish, Shrimps and Crabs .......................................................................................................................... 242 Philippe Keith, Clara Lord, Philippe Gerbeaux & Donna Kalfatak Focus on Aquatic Insects ............................................................................................................................................... 251 Arnold H. Staniczek Focus on Freshwater Snails .......................................................................................................................................... 257 Yasunori Kano, Elen E. Strong, Benoît Fontaine, Olivier Gargominy, Matthias Glaubrecht & Philippe Bouchet ... 6 ....... The Natural History of Santo CAVES AND SOILS ...................................................................................................................................................................... 265 coordinated by Louis Deharveng The Karst Team .......................................................................................................................................................................... 267 Louis Deharveng & Anne-Marie Sémah Karst and Caves ......................................................................................................................................................................... 269 Bernard Lips, Franck Bréhier, Denis Wirrmann, Nadir Lasson, Stefan Eberhard, Josiane Lips & Louis Deharveng Caves as Archives ..................................................................................................................................................................... 278 Denis Wirrmann, Jean-Christophe Galipaud, Anne-Marie Sémah & Tonyo Alcover, Ni-Vanuatu Perception and Attitudes Vis-à-Vis the Karstic Environment ................................ 284 Florence Brunois Karst Habitats of Santo ...................................................................................................................................................... 288 Focus on Soils ...................................................................................................................................................................... 288 Anne Bedos, Vincent Prié & Louis Deharveng Focus on Cave Terrestrial Habitats ........................................................................................................................... 296 Louis Deharveng, Anne Bedos, Vincent Prié & Éric Queinnec Focus on Guano .................................................................................................................................................................. 300 Louis Deharveng, Josiane Lips & Cahyo Rahmadi Focus on Blue Holes ......................................................................................................................................................... 306 Stefan Eberhard, Nadir Lasson & Franck Bréhier Focus on the Loren Cave ................................................................................................................................................ 310 Franck Bréhier, Sephan Eberhard & Nadir Lasson Focus on Anchialine Fauna ........................................................................................................................................... 312 Geoff Boxshall & Damià Jaume Karst Biota of Santo ............................................................................................................................................................... 316 Focus on Bats ........................................................................................................................................................................ 316 Vincent Prié Fish and Shrimps of Santo Karstic Systems ...................................................................................................... 323 Marc Pouilly & Philippe Keith Focus on Springtails .......................................................................................................................................................... 327 Louis Deharveng & Anne Bedos Focus on Microcrustaceans ......................................................................................................................................... 331 Damià Jaume, Geoff Boxshall & Eric Queinnec MARINE ECOSYSTEMS ........................................................................................................................................................... 335 coordinated by Philippe Bouchet Benthic Algal and Seagrass Communities from Santo Island in Relation to Habitat Diversity ........................................................................................................................................ 337 Claude E. Payri The Position of Santo in Relation to the Centre of Maximum Marine Biodiversity (the Coral Triangle) .................................................................................................................................. 369 Bert W. Hoeksema & Adriaan Gittenberger Focus on Selected (Micro)Habitats .......................................................................................................................... 373 Sulfide Rich Environments ............................................................................................................................................. 373 Yasunori Kano & Takuma Haga Marine Interstitial ................................................................................................................................................................ 375 Timea Neuser Mangroves Environments of South East Santo ................................................................................................. 377 Jean-Claude Plaziat & Pierre Lozouet Focus on Selected Biota ..................................................................................................................................................... 383 Checklist of the Fishes ..................................................................................................................................................... 383 Ronald Fricke, John L. Earle, Richard L. Pyle & Bernard Séret 7 ... Contents ....... Unusual and Spectacular Crustaceans ................................................................................................................... 410 Tim-Yam Chan, Masako Mitsuhashi, Charles H.J.M. Fransen, Régis Cleva, Swee Hee Tan, Jose Christopher Mendoza, Marivene Manuel-Santos & Peter K.L. Ng The Marine Molluscs of Santo ..................................................................................................................................... 421 Philippe Bouchet, Virginie Héros, Pierre Lozouet, Philippe Maestrati & Rudo von Cosel A Rapid Assessment of the Marine Molluscs of Southeastern Santo ................................................ 431 Fred E. Wells Molluscs on Biogenic Substrates ................................................................................................................................ 438 Anders Warén Marine Partnerships in Santo's Reef Environments: Parasites, Commensals and Other Organisms that Live in Close Association ............................. 449 Stefano Schiaparelli, Charles Fransen & Marco Oliverio Seaslugs: The Underwater Jewels of Santo ......................................................................................................... 458 Yolanda E. Camacho & Marta Pola MAN AND NATURE .................................................................................................................................................................. 465 coordinated by Michel Pascal Pre-European Times .............................................................................................................................................................. 467 Vertebrate Pre-Human Fauna of Santo: What Can we Expect to Find? .............................................. 467 Joseph Antoni Alcover The Prehistory of Santo .................................................................................................................................................. 469 Jean-Christophe Galipaud Introduced Biota ........................................................................................................................................................................ 476 Overview: Introduced Species, the "Good", the "Worrisome" and the "Bad" ................................. 476 Michel Pascal, Olivier Lorvelec, Nicolas Barré, Michel de Garine-Wichatitsky & Marc Pignal Focus on Synanthropic Mammals ............................................................................................................................ 480 Olivier Lorvelec & Michel Pascal Focus on Feral Mammals ............................................................................................................................................... 483 Michel de Garine-Wichatitsky & Anthony Harry Focus on Alien Birds ........................................................................................................................................................ 488 Nicolas Barré Focus on Introduced Amphibians and Reptiles .............................................................................................. 490 Olivier Lorvelec & Michel Pascal Focus on Introduced Fish .............................................................................................................................................. 494 Philippe Keith, Clara Lord, Donna Kalfatak & Philippe Gerbeaux Focus on Alien Land Snails .......................................................................................................................................... 495 Olivier Gargominy, Benoît Fontaine & Vincent Prié Endemic, Native, Alien or Cryptogenic? The Controversy of Santo Darkling Beetles (Insecta: Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae) .................. 500 Laurent Soldati The Case of Two Invasive Species: Mikania micrantha and Merremia peltata ........................ 503 Marc Pignal Man Santo in his Environment ..................................................................................................................................... 508 Food-Garden Biodiversity in Vanuatu ................................................................................................................... 508 Sara Muller, Vincent Lebot & Annie Walter At the Junction of Biological Cycles and Custom: the Night of the Palolo .................................... 515 Laurent Palka Ni-Vanuatu Perceptions and Attitudes Vis-à-Vis Biodiversité ................................................................. 516 Florence Brunois & Marine Robillard THE SANTO 2006 EXPEDITION ........................................................................................................................................ 523 The Santo 2006 Expedition from an Ethnologist's Point of View ...................................................... 525 Elsa Faugère ... 8 ....... The Natural History of Santo The "Making of" Santo 2006 ............................................................................................................................................ 529 Philippe Bouchet, Hervé Le Guyader, Olivier Pascal Santo 2006 Expedition in the Classroom .............................................................................................................. 549 Sophie Pons & Alain Pothet Santo 2006 Expedition Participants List ................................................................................................................ 550 Acknowledgements ................................................................................................................................................................. 553 Bibliography .................................................................................................................................................................................... 557 Addresses of the Authors .................................................................................................................................................... 564 9 ... in BOUCHET P., LE GUYADER H. & PASCAL O. (Eds), The Natural History of Santo. MNHN, Paris; IRD, Marseille; PNI, Paris. 572 p. (Patrimoines naturels; 70). FOCUS ON ALIEN LAND SNAILS Olivier Gargominy, Benoît Fontaîne & Vincent Prié If one decides to collect snails on Santo and particularly if one searches close to one’s house or hotel, most of what will be found could have been collected in Hawaii, Tahiti or Jamaica. Indeed, the land snail fauna of Santo is totally dominated by introduced species found on most tropical islands. Moreover, in some heavily disturbed areas such as the secondary forest close to Luganville, no native species remain, whereas introduced ones can be very abundant (Fig. 573). … Results and discussion This introduced fauna counts only 13 species, all recently introduced (Table 53, Figs 574 & 575). This figure fits with the general situation in the Pacific Ocean: most islands host between one to 20 alien terrestrial mollusc species. 495 Photo B. Fontaine … Methods At each collecting site, we searched at ground level and in the vegetation (leaves, bark) for live snails; then leaf-litter and a few millimeters of topsoil were collected. We processed this sample on-site with a Winkler sieve (1 cm mesh), checking the coarse material by eye for snails, then discarding it. The remaining material was bagged and sundried as soon as possible. The molluscs collected alive were drowned overnight and fixed in 95 % ethanol. Once dried, the leaf-litter was passed through 5 mm, 2 mm and 0.6 mm sieves. The two larger fractions were thoroughly searched by eye; the third one will be sorted later under a dissecting microscope. Figure 573: In degraded forests around Luganville, the ground is often littered with shells of introduced species, here Achatina fulica. Subulinidae, a family of cosmopolitan (sub)tropical snails, represent the bulk of introduced species on Santo. Subulina octona, Paropeas achatinaceum and Allopeas gracile are among the most common snails found on the island. The floor seldom lacks one of those species at any site and often supports ... Man and Nature ....... Figure 574: Introduced land snails of Santo. A: Subulina octona alive, with two eggs visible inside the penultimate whorl of the shell, Hiu, Torres Islands. B: Opeas hannense alive, Matantas, Santo. C: Allopeas cf. kyotoense (= A. clavulinum Auct.), Matantas, Santo, h = 6.1 mm. D: Allopeas gracile, Matantas, Santo, h = 7.2 mm. E: Allopeas cf. oparanum, Port Olry, Santo, h = 6.5 mm. F: Opeas hannense, Port Olry, Santo, h = 4.5 mm. G: Paropeas achatinaceum, Matantas, Santo, h = 11.2mm. H: Subulina octona, Matantas, Santo, h = 14.2 mm. I: Euglandina rosea, Peavot, Santo, h = 58.5 mm. J: Huttonella bicolor, Aore, h = 5.4 mm. Scale bar (shells only): 5 mm, x8. (Photos O. Gargominy). . . . 496 ....... The Natural History of Santo Figure 575: Introduced land snails of Santo. A: Subulina octona (same as Fig. 574H). B: Opeas hannense (same as Fig. 574F). C: Achatina fulica, W Luganville, Santo, h = 96.9 mm. D: Achatina fulica alive, same specimen as C. E: Euglandina rosea, Peavot, Santo, h = 58.5 mm. F: Euglandina rosea alive devouring a Partula species, Tahiti, French Polynesia. G: Bradybaena similaris, Butmas, Santo, d = 14.5 mm. H: Bradybaena similaris alive, Butmas, Santo. I: Veronicellidae, Penaoru, Santo. Scale bar (shells and slug only): 20 mm, x1. (Photos O. Gargominy). hundreds of shells, particularly in disturbed areas — far more than any indigenous species (Fig. 576). Subulinidae are the most common snails on Santo and can even be found in relatively undisturbed areas, such as the inner Cumberland Range. Despite their abundance and large distribution, taxonomy of the Subulinidae family remains confused, with no recent revision. Moreover, introduction of several species of this family throughout the tropics has led to many taxonomic and nomenclatural 497 problems, because a species collected in different areas of the world could have received different names, or the same name could have been given to two different taxa collected in distant areas. For instance, Allopeas oparanum was originally described from Rapa, one of the most remote islands in the world, where Subulinidae are definitely aliens, and mentions of Lamellaxis clavulinum from the Pacific are likely to refer to Allopeas kyotoense. Thus, the names we use in this publication may be provisional. ... ....... Man and Nature Beside Subulinidae, the Santo alien mollusc fauna includes two famous species listed in the IUCN 100 worst alien species: the rosy wolf snail, Euglandina rosea, and the giant African snail, Achatina fulica. Indeed, the introduction of the giant African snail and the subsequent introduction of the predatory rosy wolf snail are a famous example of a IUCN Family Species Date worst list biological control program that has led to the Achatinidae Achatina fulica Bowdich, 1822 1968-1969? (1967) * decline and extinction of dozens of endemic Bradybaenidae Bradybaena similaris (Férussac, 1821) 1944 land snail species in Oleacinidae Euglandina rosea (Férussac, 1821) 1982-1983? (1973-1974) * Pacific Islands. Achatina fulica, native to eastStreptaxidae Huttonella bicolor (Hutton, 1834) 2006 (2006) ern Africa, is a large species that can reach Subulinidae Allopeas gracile (Hutton, 1834) 1943 (1895) 200 mm in length. Subulinidae Allopeas oparanum (L. Pfeiffer, 1846) 2006 (1903) Since the beginning of the 19th century, it Subulinidae Paropeas achatinaceum (L. Pfeiffer, 1846) 2006 (2006) has been introduced 1944 (1944) Subulinidae Opeas hannense (Rang, 1831) 1 to most islands located between 30° N and Subulinidae Subulina octona (Bruguière, 1792) 1943 (1903) 30° S, and even to continental areas (Fig. 577). Subulinidae Allopeas kyotoense Pilsbry, 1904 2 2006 (2006) It reached the most Veronicellidae Angustipes plebeius (Fisher, 1868) 1925 (1925) remote islands during and after the WWII due Veronicellidae Laevicaulis alte (Férussac, 1822) 1958 (1958) to bulldozers, develVeronicellidae Semperula wallacei (Issel, 1874) 3 1958 (1958) opment and maritime trade increase. When established, the giant African snail populations increased rapidly due to the lack of predators and pathogens and became a major agricultural pest. A well-intentioned but ill-conceived biological control effort was planned to Nb. of specimens control these populations. It consisted per liter of soil of introducing snail predators such as 500 Gonaxis spp. and, more often, E. rosea. This latter species, native to south400 ern North America, was introduced to Hawaii in 1955. Hawaii then Guam played the role of stepping-stones, and, 300 during the 1960s and 1970s, the species was introduced to the most iso200 lated Pacific Islands, wherever people complained about damage caused by Introduced A. fulica (Fig. 578). 100 Table 53: Terrestrial alien snail species recorded on Espiritu Santo Island (Vanuatu). Date: date of first specimen in collection or date of first publication for Santo Island. Between brackets are dates of first record for Vanuatu. IUCN worst list: species that are listed in the IUCN 100 worst alien species. 1: usually recorded as Opeas pumilum in the Pacific. 2: usually recorded as Allopeas clavulinum in the Pacific. 3: described from Santo as Semperula solemi by Forcart, 1969. Native 0 Average (7 samples) km 0 10 Figure 576: Introduced vs native species: introduced species dominate the fauna in human impacted areas (mainly near the coast) where they seem to replace native ones almost. Wherever it was introduced, E. rosea spread out of cultivated areas and reached natural forests. Because E. rosea is not a specific predator of A. fulica, it fed on native snails, leading all endemic Achatinella from Hawaii to the verge of extinction, or even eliminating them. In the course of a few years, the island of Moorea in French Polynesia was totally invaded and seven endemic Partula species disappeared. Nowadays, almost all Polynesian . . . 498 ....... The Natural History of Santo Canton 1963 Japan 1935 Taiwan 1932 Calcutta 1847 China 1932 ca 1943 1911 NATIVE AREA East Africa Seychelles <1840 Prehistoric times <1800 1939 1928 Second World War Ogasawara 1937-38 Florida 1969 ? Hawaii 1936 Guadeloupe 1984 Martinique 1988 Guyana French Guyana 1995: 1976 A. immaculata ? Saipan 1938 Guam 1946 Caroline 1938 Philippines 1941 1937 Sri-Lanka 1900 Singapore 1917 Sumatra Okinawa ca 1934 Palau 1938 1921 1943 PNG Java 1935 ? New Ireland New Britain Mauritius 1803 Réunion 1821 Samoa Wallis 1977 1987 Futuna 1991 Vanuatu 1967 Marquises 1979 Minas Gerais São Paulo 1996 Parana Rio de Janeiro Santa Catarina T ahiti 1967 New Caledonia 1972 ? ? Established Eradicated Figure 577: The spread of Achatina fulica around the world. Grey area: native range. 1958 NATIVE AREA early 1960’s Okinawa 1958-61 Hong Kong Taiwan Andaman Sri-Lanka 1950’s Seychelles Mayotte 1970 Mauritius Réunion 1968 1960 Saipan 1958 GUAM 1968 North Borneo 1955 1952-61 1973-74 1958 1952-53 1980 1974-1977 1974-78 PNG HAWAII New Britain Vanuatu New Caledonia American Samoa Wallis & Futuna 1993 Bermuda 1960’s Bahamas 1958 Moorea 1977 Tahiti 1974 1960-74 First introductions First centre of introductions Second centre of introductions Figure 578: The spread of Euglandina rosea around the world. Grey area: native range. islands are invaded, and 55 endemic Partula species disappeared in only 20 years, while 10 others are following the same path. While those extinctions happened, A. fulica remained abundant, E. rosea having no impact on its demography. To date, the number of extinct snail species (302 according to the 2007 IUCN Red List) is greater 499 than the number of terrestrial vertebrate extinctions (271), mainly because of the disastrous impact of E. rosea on the unique snail fauna of Pacific Islands. Moreover, impact on minute species that are the bulk of the native fauna, but are overlooked by most naturalists, is completely unknown. ... Trinidad ....... … Conclusion E. rosea was introduced in 1982 or 1983 to Santo by There is virtually no way to remove a success- Man and Nature a Bob Wheeler, quarantine officer, who was asked to find a way to eradicate A. fulica. Except for this species, most mollusc introductions probably were accidental on Santo: eggs or even fully-grown adults are easily transported with soil, moss or vegetation spread by horticultural and agricultural trade. However, Santo was an important American base during the WWII and transport of military equipment (in particular vehicles, which can have soil on their wheels or tracks) has probably helped spread several alien species. After habitat loss, introductions are the second most significant cause of species extinction throughout the word and particularly on islands. Alien species either prey on native ones or compete with them, causing their decline and eventual extinction. These mechanisms are enhanced by habitat degradation, which often favours the settlement and dominance of alien species. fully established alien snail species, except in very restricted areas such as islets or exclosures. In this context, the only action that could (and should) be taken is preventing further introductions through raising public awareness and rigorous control in ports and airports. In Hawaii, one new alien species is introduced every year. It is important to keep excluding new introductions, especially since introductions are not inevitable: some Pacific island such as Fiji have succeeded in avoiding invasion by A. fulica. Faunas and floras throughout the world are becoming homogenized: some alien mollusc species such as Lamellidea pusilla, Achatina fulica, Allopeas gracile or Subulina octona, all found on Santo, are present on nearly every Pacific island. With rats, flies and subulinids replacing native species in the remotest islands all over the world, it is important to try to avoid further introductions. . . . 500 The Natural History of Santo The islands of the Pacific are renowned for the high levels of endemism of, and threats to, their unique faunas and floras. Espiritu Santo, affectionately known simply as Santo, is an island of superlatives: the largest and highest in Vanuatu, Santo is an extraordinary geographical and cultural microcosm, combining reefs, caves, mountains, satellite islands, and a history of human habitation going back 3 000 years. In the spirit of famous voyages of discovery of the past, the Santo 2006 expedition brought together over 150 scientists, volunteers and students originating from 25 countries. With contributions by more than 100 authors, The Natural History of Santo is a lavishly illustrated homage to the biodiversity of this "planet-island". Bridging the gap between scientific knowledge and conservation and education, The Natural History of Santo was written with local stakeholders as well as armchair naturalists from all over the world in mind. Les îles du Pacifique sont célèbres pour le très haut niveau d’endémisme et la grande vulnérabilité de leurs faunes et de leurs flores. L'île d'Espiritu Santo, ou Santo, cumule les superlatifs : la plus grande et la plus haute du Vanuatu, Santo est un extraordinaire microcosme géographique et culturel, avec récifs, grottes, montagnes, îles et îlots satellites, et une occupation humaine qui remonte à 3 000 ans. Renouant avec l'esprit des "Grandes Expéditions Naturalistes", l’expédition Santo 2006 avait mobilisé sur le terrain plus de 150 scientifiques, bénévoles et étudiants de 25 pays. Petit tour de force éditorial avec plus de 100 auteurs, ce Natural History of Santo est un éloge de la biodiversité de cette "île-planète". À la fois beau livre richement illustré et bilan des connaissances scientifiques, The Natural History of Santo se veut un outil de connaissance pour sa conservation durable. Il s'adresse autant aux acteurs locaux du développement et de l'éducation qu'aux naturalistes du monde entier. ISSN 1281-6213 ISBN MNHN : 978-2-85653-627-8 ISBN IRD : 978-2-7099-1708-7 9 782856 536278 Prix : 59฀฀TTC