Biodiversity Hotspot

An island the size of New Jersey in the South Pacific Ocean, New Caledonia is the home of no less than five endemic plant families. It claims the world’s only parasitic conifer and nearly two-thirds off the world’s species of Araucaria trees, all of which are endemic. Nickel mining, forest destruction and invasive species threaten fauna like the kagu, an Endangered bird with a distinctive crest that is the only surviving member of its family.
海島新澤西的大小在南太平洋海洋，新卡裡多尼亞沒有少於五地方性植物類的地方。 它宣稱是世界的唯一地方性的寄生針葉樹和世界三分之二地方性的南洋杉樹的種類。 鍍鎳採礦，森林破壞，并且入侵的種類威脅像kagu，與是它的家庭的唯一的生存的親屬的特別冠的一隻危險的鳥的動物區系。

Hotspot Original Extent (km 2)
18,972
Hotspot Vegetation Remaining (km 2)
5,122
Endemic Plant Species
2,432
Endemic Threatened Birds
7
Endemic Threatened Mammals
3
Endemic Threatened Amphibians
0
Extinct Species
1
Human Population Density (people/km 2)
11
Area Protected (km 2)
4,192
Area Protected (km 2) in Categories I-IV*
497
熱點原始的程度(km2)
18,972
熱點植被保存(km2)
5,122
地方性植物種類
2,432
地方性被威脅的鳥
7
地方性被威脅的哺乳動物
3
地方性被威脅的兩棲動物
0
絕種種類
1
人口密度(人們/km2)
11
保護區域(km2)
4,192
在類別保護的(km2)區域I-IV*
497

overview
New Caledonia is one of the smallest hotspots in the world (the size of New Jersey). This group of islands is located in the South Pacific at the southern extremity of the Melanesian region, 1,200 kilometers east of Australia. Until recently a French Overseas Territory, New Caledonia is now in the process of becoming an Overseas Country, with substantial political autonomy that stops short of full independence. The region's 18,972 km² consist of the main island of Grande Terre and the smaller Loyalty Islands to the east, Belep and Surprise Islands to the north and Isle of Pines to the south. The Chesterfield Islands further to the west, and the uninhabited volcanic islands of Matthew and Hunter to the east, which are politically dependent on New Caledonia are included, though their value for terrestrial biodiversity is limited.
New Caledonia's ecosystems include several natural vegetation types. Evergreen rain forests, which once covered about 70 percent of the area, are now confined to a few scattered pockets in the central mountains. In drier areas on the western coast, there are a few small patches left of sclerophyllous forest. Maquis shrubland dominates the southern third of the island, at both high and low altitudes. High-altitude maquis occupies most of its original extent of around 100 km², while low-altitude maquis is now the most extensive natural formation in the country. This formation once occupied only about 5 percent of the country, but has now expanded, largely as a result of fire disturbance, to cover some 4,400 km², or 23 percent of New Caledonia. Other vegetation types include mangroves, along the west coast.
Grassland and niaouli ( Melaleuca quinquenervia; an invasive eucalypt) savanna today occupy more than 6,000 km² or 32 percent of the area, and are often mistaken by visitors and residents as the typical landscape of New Caledonia. These are, in fact, highly disturbed anthropogenic formations that are maintained by repeated fire and grazing by cattle and introduced deer.
概要
新卡裡多尼亞是其中一個最小的熱點在世界(新澤西的大小上)。 這個小組海島位于美拉尼西亞地區的南部的肢的南太平洋，在澳洲東邊的1,200公里。 近来法國海外領地，新卡裡多尼亞現在是在成為過程中海外國家，以幾乎充分的獨立的堅固政治自治權。 region' s 18,972 km ²包括重創的Terre和更小的洛應蒂群島主要海島對東部， Belep和驚奇海島對杉木北部和小島對南部。 切斯特菲爾德海島西部和無人居住的火山島的東部馬修和獵人，包括政治上依靠新卡裡多尼亞，雖然他們的地球生物多樣性的價值是有限的。 新卡裡多尼亞的生態系包括幾個自然植被類型。常青雨林，曾經報道大約面積的70%，現在被限制到在中央山的一些個疏散口袋。 在西部海岸的更加乾燥的區域，有一些個小補丁左硬葉的森林。 Maquis shrubland控制海島的南部的三，在到處高度。 而低空maquis現在是最廣泛的自然形成在國家，高空maquis佔領大多數大约100 km²的原始的程度。 由於火干擾，一次被佔領的這種形成僅大約國家的5%，但是現在擴展，主要，包括大约4,400 km ²或者新卡裡多尼亞的23%。 其他植被類型包括美洲紅樹，沿西海岸。 草原和綠花白千層(Melaleuca quinquenervia; 入侵的桉樹)大草原今天佔領超過6,000 km ²約當地的32%且由訪客和居民經常弄錯作為新卡裡多尼亞的典型的風景。 這些，實際上，是通過重複的火和草地維護由牛和被介紹的鹿高度的被干擾的人類形成。

資料來源:http://www.biodiversityhotspots.org/Pages/default.aspx