Mussau Island is the largest island of
St Matthias Islands
The St Matthias Islands (also known as the Mussau islands) are a small archipelago group of islands in the Bismarck Archipelago, in northern Papua New Guinea. They are within New Ireland Province.
Geography
There are at least 10 islands. The lar ...
,
Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea, officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is an island country in Oceania that comprises the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and offshore islands in Melanesia, a region of the southwestern Pacific Ocean n ...
,
[Müller, Chris J. "Butterflies of Mussau Island (Lepidoptera: Rhopalocera)." ''A Rapid Biodiversity Survey of Papua New Guinea’s Manus and Mussau Islands'' (2015): 21.] at . It is part of the
New Ireland Province
New Ireland Province, formerly New Mecklenburg (), and Nova Hibernia, is the northeasternmost Provinces of Papua New Guinea, province of Papua New Guinea.
Physical geography
The largest island of the province is New Ireland (island), New Irelan ...
of
Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea, officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is an island country in Oceania that comprises the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and offshore islands in Melanesia, a region of the southwestern Pacific Ocean n ...
. The island is a noted
biodiversity
Biodiversity is the variability of life, life on Earth. It can be measured on various levels. There is for example genetic variability, species diversity, ecosystem diversity and Phylogenetics, phylogenetic diversity. Diversity is not distribut ...
hotspot with pristine
primeval rainforest
Rainforests are forests characterized by a closed and continuous tree Canopy (biology), canopy, moisture-dependent vegetation, the presence of epiphytes and lianas and the absence of wildfire. Rainforests can be generally classified as tropi ...
covering most of Mussau's hilly landscape. The island has over 243 endemic plant species as well as at least 47 native butterfly species.
[Venter, Fanie, and Arison Arihafa. "Plants of Mussau Island." ''A rapid biodiversity survey of Papua New Guinea’s Manus and Mussau Islands''. Wildlife Conservation Society Papua New Guinea Program. Goroka, PNG (2015): 4-20.]
References
Islands of Papua New Guinea
Bismarck Archipelago
New Ireland Province
Volcanoes of Papua New Guinea
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