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Five decades after a series of nuclear tests began, we provide evidence that 70% of the Bikini Atoll zooxanthellate coral assemblage is resilient to large-scale anthropogenic disturbance. Species composition in 2002 was assessed and compared to that seen prior to nuclear testing. A total of 183 scleractinian coral species was recorded, compared to 126 species recorded in the previous study (excluding synonomies, 148 including synonomies). We found that 42 coral species may be locally extinct at Bikini. Fourteen of these losses may be pseudo-losses due to inconsistent taxonomy between the two studies or insufficient sampling in the second study, however 28 species appear to represent genuine losses. Of these losses, 16 species are obligate lagoonal specialists and 12 have wider habitat compatibility. Twelve species are recorded from Bikini for the first time. We suggest the highly diverse Rongelap Atoll to the east of Bikini may have contributed larval propagules to facilitate the partial resilience of coral biodiversity in the absence of additional anthropogenic threats.

A group of researchers, managers and tribal leaders with extensive local knowledge from Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu and Papua, Indonesia, provided new information on the status of leatherback nesting populations in the western Pacific Ocean. Twenty-eight nesting sites were identified, of which 21 were previously unknown or poorly described. Although data are still incomplete, we estimate a total of ca. 5000-9200 nests currently laid at 4 sites along the northwest coast (Bird's Head Peninsula) of Papua, Indonesia. Genetic analysis by using mitochondrial deoxyribonucleic acid sequences identified a total of 6 haplotypes among the 106 samples analysed for Solomon Islands, Papua and Papua New Guinea, including a unique common haplotype that is only found in these western Pacific populations. There was no significant difference in haplotype that is only found in these western Pacific populations. There was no significant difference in haplotype frequencies among these rookeries, which suggests that they represent a metapopulation composed of a single genetic rock. Further work is needed to define the demographic structure within this metapopulation.

Internesting and migratory movements of female leatherback turtles (Dermochelys coriacea) from Kamiali Wildlife Management Area were tracked by satellite telemetry during the 2001-2002 and 2002-2003 nesting seasons, and an aerial survey of nearly 2800 km of the north Papua New Guinea coastline and New Britain Island was conducted during January 2004. Nesting occurred during November-March at the Mamiali Wildlife Management Area monitoring beach with peak activity during December-January. Telemetry results indicated that nesting females used Huon Gulf waters adjacent to the nesting beach and renested inside and outside the protected area within the Kamiali Wildlife Management Area. After nesting, the turtles migrated over deep waters in a southeastern direction to high latitude waters of the South Pacific Ocean.

In October 2005, my Google protected areas alert showed several links to the creation of new protected areas in Papua New Guinea (PNG). As I clicked on the links, I was already wondering if this issue could be my master's research topic in Summer 2006. I had no idea that the timing of this press release would be the focus of my efforts to understand who was actually achieving conservation in PNG.

This paper is based on presentations and discussions held during a marine managed areas (MMAs)2 session organised by NOAA, SPREP and Conservation International (CI) as part of the “Our Seas of Islands” Regional Forum for Oceania on MMAs convened by NOAA, UNESCO and partners held in Hawaii in January 2007. The overall objective of the session was to promote a shared understanding of the extent and diversity of MPA/MMA approaches and key lessons learned in their design, and to identify practical and strategic future actions to further apply these tools in the Oceania marine realm.

Sustainability achieved only when there is full reconciliation between (1) economic development (2) meeting, on and equitable basis growing and changing human needs and aspirations and (3) conserving the limited natural resources and the capacity of the environment to absorb the multiples stresses that are a consequence of human activities

Rattus rattus, or black rats, are rampaging through Tuvalu's atolls and gnawing through the country's chief export crop - coconuts. Coconuts and copra (dried coconut flesh from which coconut oil is made) are the islander's main source of revenue.

Questions: Do past disturbance, soil nutrients, or species diversity predict the invasion success of the alien tree Pittosporum undulatum in an island montane rain forest? What are the consequences of its invasion for forest composition and species diversity? Location: Blue Mountains, Jamaica. Methods: Censuses of trees ? 3 cm DBH in permanent plots in four sites within ca. 7 ha; 1974–2004 (intensive sites) and in 16 plots within 250 ha; 1990–2004 (extensive plots). Results: Pittosporum was unrecorded in the intensive sites before a severe hurricane in 1988: by 2004 all four sites were invaded. Pittosporum had invaded 25% of the extensive plots in 1990 and 69% in 2004, where its basal area increased from 0.5 ± 0.4 (SEM) m2.ha?1 in 1990 to 2.8 ± 1.3 m2.ha?1 in 2004. It had zero stem mortality and diameter growth rate exceeded that of native species fourfold. Pittosporum's basal area in the extensive plots in 2004 was positively related to the stand basal area damaged in the 1988 hurricane and negatively related to soil N concentrations. Pittosporum invasion was unrelated to stand-level tree species diversity in the extensive plots but as its basal area increased over time the basal area of native species and stand-level diversity declined. Conclusions: There are no obvious functional attributes of Pittosporum unrepresented in the native tree flora although it has high photosynthetic efficiency compared with native trees. More widespread invasion of these forests by Pittosporum seems inevitable since hurricanes, which accelerated the invasion, affect these forests frequently.

Disturbances are a primary facilitator of the growth and spread of invasive species. However, the effects of large-scale disturbances, such as hurricanes and tropical storms, on the broad geographic patterns of invasive species growth and spread have not been investigated. We used historical aerial imagery to determine the growth rate of invasive Phragmites australis patches in wetlands along the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts of the United States. These were relatively undisturbed wetlands where P. australis had room for unrestricted growth. Over the past several decades, invasive P. australis stands expanded in size by 6–35% per year. Based on tropical storm and hurricane activity over that same time period, we found that the frequency of hurricane-force winds explained 81% of the variation in P. australis growth over this broad geographic range. The expansion of P. australis stands was strongly and positively correlated with hurricane frequency. In light of the many climatic models that predict an increase in the frequency and intensity of hurricanes over the next century, these results suggest a strong link between climate change and species invasion and a challenging future ahead for the management of invasive species.

The hawksbill turtle gets its common English name from its sharp beak-like mouth which distinguishes it from other turtle species