Australasia
and Oceania rainforests are
smaller than American, African and Asian jungles, but there are some
beautiful rainforests in eastern Australia, New Zealand, and Pacific
islands.
Australian
Tropical
Rainforests
Although the popular image of Australian landscape is the endless dry
deserts,
Australia was once covered in rainforest.
A few pockets still
remain. Australia's only remaining tropical rainforests are in north
and far
north Queensland (including Cape York),
where they
cover 32,700 square kilometers of World Heritage area. This is the
species-richest corner of Australia with forests deeming with large
amounts of large insects, spiders, rainforest frogs, snakes, dragons,
monitors, turtles, platypuses,
flying foxes, crocodiles, possums,
bandicoots, wallabies
and tree
kangaroos. 13 of the
430 species of birds
are endemic. Birds include the southern cassowary,
imperial pigeons,
fruit doves, kingfishers,
parrots
and cockatoos.
Australian
Temperate Rainforests In
southern Queensland
and New
South Wales are some subtropical
rainforests, while further south, in Victoria
and Tasmania,
are
Australia's temperate rainforests. These contain animals like brushtail
possums, platypus, echidna, wallabies and kangaroos,
forest dragons,
and numerous birds such as honeyeaters, cockatoos, parrots, kookaburras
and many more. Tasmanian rainforests also contain tasmanian
devils - an
animal not found on the mainland.
New
Zealand
New Zealand's rainforests are temperate. These forests contain numerous
tree ferns, southern beech, and giant kauri trees. There are no snakes,
but many insects, some of which grow very large, like wetas, which grow
at least 8cm long. New Zealand also has many distinctive birds like
keas, kiwis, takahe rails, kakapos and more. Birds fill all the
terrestrial niches as New Zealand lacks native terrestrial mammals
other than bats. But they do have introduced mammals such as domestic cats and
dogs, rabbits,
and possums
(introduced from Australia), whcih have become bad pests.
Fiji for
example has over 3000 plant species, animals such as iguanas,
mongooses, bats and cane toads; and 100 species of birds, 25 of which
are endemic. Some of the birds are wandering whistling duck, giant
forest honeyeater, whistling dove, barking pigeon, silktail, Fiji
petrel, Pink Billed parrot finch, red throated lorikeet, and long
legged warbler.
New Caledonia
rainforests are tropical moist broadleaf rainforests that contain
araucaria pines, kauri, houp, banyan, coconut, niaouli trees and 3200
species of flowering plants - 77% endemic. There are also 73 species of
birds but like in New Zealand and other Pacific islands, not many
native terrestrial mammals. The only ones in New Caledonia are bats. Niue has got
some dense tropical forest in the Huvalu Forest Conservation Area.
There are many birds, such as terns, hens, and parakeets, but again,
the only native mammals are rats and bats; and introduced species such
as feral cats are major problem for native wildlife. Rarotonga
and Cook Islands
also have some dense rainforest with creepers, ferns, pandanus, makatea
and towering trees. The only native mammals are fruit bats (flying
foxes), and some native endemic birds are kopeka and kakerori. As
elsewhere, introduced species such as cats, dogs and feral pigs are a
problem. Samoa and American Samoa
rainforests are partly temperate, with tree ferns, epiphytes, coleus
and banyan trees. Samoan rainforests also contain some 75 species of
medical plant species. There are not many native animals, except gata
(Pacific boa), mo'o (geckos), and a few species of bats. Solomon Islands
are surprisingly rich on wildlife compared to many other Pacific
islands. The islands are covered by tropical rainforests, and there are
4500 plant species, 230 orchid species, and 173 species of birds, 40 of
which (such as rennell fantail and slaty flycatcher) are endemic. And
there are four species of rats of the size of domestic cats or even
larger. Other terrestrial mammals include flying fox and cuscus. There
are also many reptiles, such as a few snakes including two species of
boas; monitor lizards and saltwater crocodile. And finally, there are
about 130 butterfly species, including world's two largest - Queen
Victoria Birdwing and Blue Mountain Birdwing.
Vanuatu has
got some rainforests too. The most common plants include banyan trees,
kauri trees, palm trees and 158 species of orchids. The only native
mammals are bats and flying foxes. There are 121 species of birds,
including many endemics, and 19 native reptiles, such as geckoes,
skinks, the harmless Pacific Boa, and the deadly saltwater crocodile. Papua New Guinea -
the world's second
largest island - consists of two different countries: the western half
belongs to Indonesia, and the eastern half is Papua New Guinea. New
Guinea's rainforests contain aleocarp trees, laurels, oaks, and many
mosses. There are about 730 species of birds including bowerbirds,
sunbirds, honeyeaters, berrypeckers, fantails, jewel-babblers,
kingfishers, bush turkeys, parrots and the beautiful Victoria crowned
pigeon (Goura victoria),
and the famous birds of paradise. Animals include spotted cuscus (Phalanger maculatus)
and at least five species of wallabies. New Guinea also has the world's
largest butterfly - the poisonous Queen Alexandra's Birdwing (Ornithoptera alexandrae).
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