From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The
East Melanesian Islands
, also known as the Solomons-Vanuatu-Bismarck moist forests, is a
biogeographic
region in the
Melanesia
subregion of
Oceania
. Biogeographically, the East Melanesian Islands are part of the
Australasian realm
.
It is notable for its unique flora and fauna and species richness.
The region is designated a
biodiversity hotspot
by
Conservation International
(CI), and one of the outstanding
Global 200 ecoregions
by the
World Wide Fund for Nature
(WWF).
Geography
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]
As defined by CI, the hotspot lies east and north-east of
New Guinea
and encompasses some 1,600 islands with a land area of nearly 100,000 km
2
, including the
Bismarck Archipelago
(including the
Admiralty Islands
), the
Santa Cruz Islands
, the
Solomon Islands Archipelago
(including
Bougainville Island
), and the
Vanuatu Islands
.
Politically, the hotspot includes the
Islands Region
of
Papua New Guinea
(including
Bougainville
) and all of
Solomon Islands
and
Vanuatu
.
The East Melanesian Islands has many plants and some animals whose ancestors arrived from neighboring
New Caledonia
and
New Guinea
, but differ from those islands in that they were never joined to a
continent
.
Ecoregions
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]
This hotspot includes a number of
ecoregions
that make up the northeastern portion of the
Australasian realm
.
See also
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]
External links
[
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]
