The Trobriand Islands rain forests are a

tropical moist broadleaf forest Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests (TSMF), also known as tropical moist forest, is a subtropical and tropical forest habitat type defined by the World Wide Fund for Nature. Description TSMF is generally found in large, discon ...

ecoregion An ecoregion (ecological region) or ecozone (ecological zone) is an ecologically and geographically defined area that is smaller than a bioregion, which in turn is smaller than a biogeographic realm. Ecoregions cover relatively large areas of ...

of southeastern

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ho, Papua Niu Gini), officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea ( tpi, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niugini; ho, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niu Gini), is a country i ...

.World Wildlife Fund.org: The Trobriand Islands rain forests (ID Code: AA0125) webpage
article originally from "Terrestrial ecoregions of the Indo-Pacific: a conservation assessment"; Island Press . accessed 3.17.2017. The islands of this ecoregion have been separated from mainland New Guinea since the

Late Pleistocene The Late Pleistocene is an unofficial age in the international geologic timescale in chronostratigraphy, also known as Upper Pleistocene from a stratigraphic perspective. It is intended to be the fourth division of the Pleistocene Epoch withi ...

, and much of the biota is unique, including four mammal species and two birds-of-paradise plant species. The ecoregion covers .

Geography

The ecoregion includes several island groups lying east of the eastern peninsula of the island of

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; id, Papua, or , historically ) is the world's second-largest island with an area of . Located in Oceania in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is separated from Australia by the wide Torres ...

, within

Milne Bay Province Milne Bay is a province of Papua New Guinea. Its capital is Alotau. The province covers 14,345 km² of land and 252,990 km² of sea, within the province there are more than 600 islands, about 160 of which are inhabited. The province has ...

, including the

d'Entrecasteaux Islands D'Entrecasteaux Islands () are situated near the eastern tip of New Guinea in the Solomon Sea in Milne Bay Province of Papua New Guinea. The group spans a distance of , has a total land area of approximately and is separated from the Papua New G ...

and

Trobriand Islands The Trobriand Islands are a archipelago of coral atolls off the east coast of New Guinea. They are part of the nation of Papua New Guinea and are in Milne Bay Province. Most of the population of 12,000 indigenous inhabitants live on the main isla ...

archipelagoes, and

Woodlark Island Woodlark Island, known to its inhabitants simply as Woodlark or Muyua, is the main island of the Woodlark Islands archipelago, located in Milne Bay Province and the Solomon Sea, Papua New Guinea. Although no formal census has been conducted sinc ...

. The largest portion of the ecoregion and the nearest to the New Guinea mainland is made up of three principal islands of the d'Entrecasteaux group:

Goodenough Island Goodenough Island in the Solomon Sea, also known as Nidula Island, is the westernmost of the three large islands of the D'Entrecasteaux Islands in Milne Bay Province of Papua New Guinea. It lies to the east of mainland New Guinea and southwest ...

Fergusson Island Fergusson Island is the largest island of the D'Entrecasteaux Islands, in Papua New Guinea. It has an area of , and mostly consists of mountainous regions, covered by rain forests. There are three large volcanoes on the island. Fergusson Island ...

, and Normanby Island.

Flora

The Trobriand Islands and Woodlark Island consist primarily of lowland rain forest on limestone substrates. Goodenough, Fergusson, and Normanby Islands consist mainly of lowland rain forest on acid soil. The major rain forest tree genera include ''Pometia, Octomeles,

Alstonia ''Alstonia'' is a widespread genus of evergreen trees and shrubs, of the family Apocynaceae. It was named by Robert Brown in 1811, after Charles Alston (1685–1760), professor of botany at Edinburgh from 1716 to 1760. The type species ''Alsto ...

Campnosperma ''Campnosperma'' is a genus of rainforest trees in the Cashew Family (Anacardiaceae). They are found in the East Indies, south Asia and the Seychelles. Species , the ''Plants of the World Online'' accepts 14 species: * '' Campnosperma auriculatu ...

Canarium ''Canarium'' is a genus of about 100 species of tropical and subtropical trees, in the family Burseraceae. They grow naturally across tropical Africa, south and southeast Asia, Indochina, Malesia, Australia and western Pacific Islands; includi ...

Dracontomelon ''Dracontomelon'' (Vietnamese: ''chi sấu''Phạm Hoàng Hộ (2003) ''Cây Cỏ Việt Nam: an Illustrated Flora of Vietnam'' vol. II publ. Nhà Xuẩt Bản Trẻ, HCMC, VN.) is a genus of flowering plants in the family Anacardiaceae, growing ...

Pterocymbium ''Pterocymbium'' is a genus in the family Malvaceae: in the subfamily Sterculioideae and previously placed in the Sterculiaceae. In Indonesia, ''P. tinctorium'' (''Kelumbuk'') is a significant timber tree. Species ''Plants of the World Online ...

, Cryptocarya,

Intsia ''Intsia'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Fabaceae. Selected species * '' Intsia acuminata'' Merr. (the Philippines) * ''Intsia bijuga'' (Colebr.) Kuntze (Southeast Asia, Pacific Islands) * '' Intsia moeleri'' Veill. * ''Intsia pa ...

Ficus ''Ficus'' ( or ) is a genus of about 850 species of woody trees, shrubs, vines, epiphytes and hemiepiphytes in the family Moraceae. Collectively known as fig trees or figs, they are native throughout the tropics with a few species extendi ...

'', and '' Terminalia''.
Tree species include: *''

Alstonia breviloba ''Alstonia breviloba'' is a species of plant in the family Apocynaceae Apocynaceae (from ''Apocynum'', Greek for "dog-away") is a family of flowering plants that includes trees, shrubs, herbs, stem succulents, and vines, commonly known as th ...

'' *''

Alstonia rubiginosa ''Alstonia rubiginosa'' is a species of plant in the family Apocynaceae Apocynaceae (from ''Apocynum'', Greek for "dog-away") is a family of flowering plants that includes trees, shrubs, herbs, stem succulents, and vines, commonly known as t ...

'' *''

Canarium vitiense ''Canarium vitiense'' is a rainforest tree species, of the plant family Burseraceae, growing naturally in Fiji, the Solomon Islands, Samoa, Tonga, New Guinea, Bismarck Archipelago, Admiralty Islands, Louisiade Archipelago, Torres Strait Isla ...

'' *''

Dracontomelon dao ''Dracontomelon dao'', the Argus pheasant-tree, is a tree in the family Anacardiaceae, native to tropical Asia. Description ''Dracontomelon dao'' grows as a tropical canopy tree distinguished mostly by its height (reaching up to about ), for it ...

'' *''

Intsia bijuga ''Intsia bijuga'', commonly known as Borneo teak, Johnstone River teak, Kwila, Moluccan ironwood, Pacific teak, scrub mahogany and vesi, is a species of flowering tree in the family Fabaceae, native to the Indo-Pacific. It ranges from Tanzania ...

'' *''

Octomeles sumatrana ''Octomeles'' is a monotypic genus of plant in family Tetramelaceae. The sole species is ''Octomeles sumatrana'', sometimes written ''O. sumatranum''. ''Octomeles sumatrana'', commonly called Benuang, or Ilimo, is found in Brunei, Indonesia, M ...

'' *''

Pometia pinnata ''Pometia pinnata'' is a large tropical hardwood and fruit tree species, with common names including matoa, taun tree, island lychee, tava, Pacific lychee of the plant family Sapindaceae. Naturally widespread, the trees are native to tropical So ...

'' *''

Terminalia catappa ''Terminalia catappa'' is a large tropical tree in the leadwood tree family, Combretaceae, native to Asia, Australia, the Pacific, Madagascar and Seychelles. Common names in English include country almond, Indian almond, Malabar almond, sea almon ...

Fauna

Animal species native to the ecoregion include: *'' Echymipera davidi'' *'' Phalanger lullulae'' *'' Dorcopsis atrata'' *'' Dactylopsila tatei'' *'' Nyctimene major '' *'' Kerivoula agnella'' *'' Pipistrellus collinus '' *'' Chiruromys forbesi'' * Greater tree mouse * Island tube-nosed fruit bat *

Woodlark Cuscus The Woodlark cuscus (''Phalanger lullulae'') is a species of marsupial in the family Phalangeridae endemic to Papua New Guinea, specifically on Madau and Woodlark Island, a part of the Milne Bay Province of Papua New Guinea. It happens to be the ...

left, 300px, Louisiade white-eye (''Zosterops griseotinctus'') on Duchess Island,

The ecoregion corresponds to the D'Entrecasteaux and Trobriand Islands endemic bird area. There are two endemic bird-of-paradise species, the curl-crested manucode (''Manucodia comrii'') and

Goldie's bird-of-paradise Goldie's bird-of-paradise (''Paradisaea decora'') is a species of bird-of-paradise. Endemic to Papua New Guinea, the Goldie's bird-of-paradise is distributed in the hill forests of Fergusson and Normanby Island of the D'Entrecasteaux Archipela ...

(''Paradisaea decora'').BirdLife International (2020) Endemic Bird Areas factsheet: D'Entrecasteaux and Trobriand Islands. Downloaded from http://www.birdlife.org on 30/05/2020.

Conservation and threats

The main threats to the ecoregion include logging by foreign companies and conversion of habitat into agricultural lands.

References

External links

* {{Melanesia Australasian ecoregions d'Entrecasteaux Islands Ecoregions of Papua New Guinea * *Trobiand Geography of Milne Bay Province Trobriand Islands Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests Woodlark Islands