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The East Melanesian Islands, also known as the Solomons-Vanuatu-Bismarck moist forests, is a biogeographic region notable for its unique flora and fauna and species richness. The region is designated a biodiversity hotspot
Biodiversity hotspot

A biodiversity hotspot is a biogeographic region with a significant reservoir of biodiversity that is threatened with destruction.The concept of biodiversity hotspots was originated by Dr....
 by Conservation International
Conservation International

Conservation International is a nonprofit organization headquartered in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area, that seeks to protect Earth's biodiversity "hotspots," high-biodiversity wilderness areas as well as important marine regions around the globe....
 (CI), and one of the outstanding Global 200 ecoregions
Global 200

The Global 200 is the list of ecoregions identified by the WWF as priorities for conservation. According to the WWF, an ecoregion is defined as a "relatively large unit of land or water containing a characteristic set of natural communities that share a large majority of their species, dynamics, and environmental conditions ."...
 by the World Wide Fund for Nature
World Wide Fund for Nature

The World Wide Fund for Nature is an Internationalism non-governmental organization for the Conservation biology, Environmental science and Restoration ecology of the environment , formerly named the World Wildlife Fund, which remains its official name in the United States and Canada....
 (WWF). As defined by CI, the hotspot lies east and northeast of New Guinea
New Guinea

New Guinea, located just north of Australia, is the List of islands by area, having become separated from the Australian mainland when the area now known as the Torres Strait flooded after the last glacial period....
 and encompasses some 1,600 islands with a land area of nearly 100,000 kmē, including the Bismarck Archipelago
Bismarck Archipelago

The Bismarck Archipelago is a group of islands off the northeastern coast of New Guinea in the western Pacific Ocean and part of Papua New Guinea....
, Admiralty Islands
Admiralty Islands

The Admiralty Islands are a group of 18 islands in the Bismarck Archipelago. These are also sometimes called the Manus Islands, named after the largest island....
, Solomon Islands
Solomon Islands

For the group of islands rather than the nation, see Solomon Islands .The Solomon Islands is a country in Melanesia, east of Papua New Guinea, consisting of nearly one thousand islands....
, and the islands of Vanuatu
Vanuatu

Vanuatu , officially the Republic of Vanuatu , is an island nation located in the South Pacific Ocean. The archipelago, which is of volcanic origin, is some east of northern Australia, north-east of New Caledonia, west of Fiji, and south of the Solomon Islands, near New Zealand....
.






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The East Melanesian Islands, also known as the Solomons-Vanuatu-Bismarck moist forests, is a biogeographic region notable for its unique flora and fauna and species richness. The region is designated a biodiversity hotspot
Biodiversity hotspot

A biodiversity hotspot is a biogeographic region with a significant reservoir of biodiversity that is threatened with destruction.The concept of biodiversity hotspots was originated by Dr....
 by Conservation International
Conservation International

Conservation International is a nonprofit organization headquartered in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area, that seeks to protect Earth's biodiversity "hotspots," high-biodiversity wilderness areas as well as important marine regions around the globe....
 (CI), and one of the outstanding Global 200 ecoregions
Global 200

The Global 200 is the list of ecoregions identified by the WWF as priorities for conservation. According to the WWF, an ecoregion is defined as a "relatively large unit of land or water containing a characteristic set of natural communities that share a large majority of their species, dynamics, and environmental conditions ."...
 by the World Wide Fund for Nature
World Wide Fund for Nature

The World Wide Fund for Nature is an Internationalism non-governmental organization for the Conservation biology, Environmental science and Restoration ecology of the environment , formerly named the World Wildlife Fund, which remains its official name in the United States and Canada....
 (WWF). As defined by CI, the hotspot lies east and northeast of New Guinea
New Guinea

New Guinea, located just north of Australia, is the List of islands by area, having become separated from the Australian mainland when the area now known as the Torres Strait flooded after the last glacial period....
 and encompasses some 1,600 islands with a land area of nearly 100,000 kmē, including the Bismarck Archipelago
Bismarck Archipelago

The Bismarck Archipelago is a group of islands off the northeastern coast of New Guinea in the western Pacific Ocean and part of Papua New Guinea....
, Admiralty Islands
Admiralty Islands

The Admiralty Islands are a group of 18 islands in the Bismarck Archipelago. These are also sometimes called the Manus Islands, named after the largest island....
, Solomon Islands
Solomon Islands

For the group of islands rather than the nation, see Solomon Islands .The Solomon Islands is a country in Melanesia, east of Papua New Guinea, consisting of nearly one thousand islands....
, and the islands of Vanuatu
Vanuatu

Vanuatu , officially the Republic of Vanuatu , is an island nation located in the South Pacific Ocean. The archipelago, which is of volcanic origin, is some east of northern Australia, north-east of New Caledonia, west of Fiji, and south of the Solomon Islands, near New Zealand....
. Politically, the hotspot includes parts of Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea

Papua New Guinea , officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is a country in Oceania, occupying the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and numerous offshore islands ....
 (the Bismarck Archipelago, Admiralty Islands, and Bougainville
Bougainville Island

political geography, Bougainville Island is the main island of the Autonomous Region of Bougainville, part of Papua New Guinea . This region is also known as Bougainville Province or the North Solomons....
), and all of the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu.

This hotspot includes a number of ecoregions
Ecoregion

An ecoregion , sometimes called a bioregion, is an ecology and geographically defined area smaller than a "realm" or "ecozone". Ecoregions cover relatively large areas of land or water, and contain characteristic, geographically distinct assemblages of natural community and species....
 that make up the northeastern portion of the Australasia ecozone
Australasia ecozone

The Australasian zone is an ecozone that is coincident, but not synonymous , with the geography region of Australasia. The ecozone includes Australia, the island of New Guinea , and the eastern part of the Indonesian archipelago, including the island of Sulawesi, the Moluccan islands and islands of Lombok, Sumbawa, Sumba, Flores, and Timo...
. The East Melanesian Islands have many plants and some animals whose ancestors arrived from neighboring New Guinea
New Guinea

New Guinea, located just north of Australia, is the List of islands by area, having become separated from the Australian mainland when the area now known as the Torres Strait flooded after the last glacial period....
 and New Caledonia
New Caledonia

New Caledonia , is a "sui generis collectivity" of France located in the subregion of Melanesia in the Oceania. It comprises a main island , the Loyalty Islands, and several smaller islands....
, but differ from those islands in that they were never joined to a continent
Continent

A continent is one of several large landmasses on Earth. They are generally identified by convention rather than any strict criteria, with seven regions commonly regarded as continents ? they are : Asia, Africa, North America, South America, Antarctica, Europe, and Australia ....
.

Ecoregions of the East Melanesian Islands

  • Admiralty Islands lowland rain forests (Papua New Guinea
    Papua New Guinea

    Papua New Guinea , officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is a country in Oceania, occupying the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and numerous offshore islands ....
    )
  • New Britain-New Ireland lowland rain forests (Papua New Guinea
    Papua New Guinea

    Papua New Guinea , officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is a country in Oceania, occupying the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and numerous offshore islands ....
    )
  • New Britain-New Ireland montane rain forests (Papua New Guinea
    Papua New Guinea

    Papua New Guinea , officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is a country in Oceania, occupying the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and numerous offshore islands ....
    )
  • Solomon Islands rain forests
    Solomon Islands rain forests

    The Solomon Islands rain forests are a terrestrial ecoregion which includes most of the Solomon Islands and the islands of Bougainville Island and Buka Island, which are part of Papua New Guinea....
     (Papua New Guinea
    Papua New Guinea

    Papua New Guinea , officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is a country in Oceania, occupying the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and numerous offshore islands ....
    , Solomon Islands
    Solomon Islands

    For the group of islands rather than the nation, see Solomon Islands .The Solomon Islands is a country in Melanesia, east of Papua New Guinea, consisting of nearly one thousand islands....
    )
  • Vanuatu rain forests
    Vanuatu rain forests

    The Vanuatu rain forests are a terrestrial ecoregion that includes the islands of Vanuatu, as well as the Santa Cruz Islands group of the neighboring Solomon Islands....
     (Solomon Islands
    Solomon Islands

    For the group of islands rather than the nation, see Solomon Islands .The Solomon Islands is a country in Melanesia, east of Papua New Guinea, consisting of nearly one thousand islands....
    , Vanuatu
    Vanuatu

    Vanuatu , officially the Republic of Vanuatu , is an island nation located in the South Pacific Ocean. The archipelago, which is of volcanic origin, is some east of northern Australia, north-east of New Caledonia, west of Fiji, and south of the Solomon Islands, near New Zealand....
    )


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