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Invasive species threaten the natural resources of our islands

Ta'i'o (shearwaters and petrels) are very special birds in Smoa. They are seabirds. They find their food at sea. They nest on land, in burrows in forests.They return to the forests at night.

The Niue State of Environment (SoE) report provides our starting point, helping guide us as we journey towards our National Development Goals.

The Solomon Islands state of the environment (SoE) examines major drivers of change to the environment that emerge from global, regional and national factors.

Providing a comprehensive account of marine conservation, this book examines human use and abuse of the world's seas and oceans and their marine life and the various approaches to management and conservation. Healthy marine ecosystems - the goods and services that they provide - are of vital importance to human well-being. There is a pressing need for a global synthesis of marine conservation issues and approaches.

Protecting migratory marine species and their habitats is a critical component of efforts to ensure the health of the world's oceans. One of the biggest challenges facing the seas is the depletion of its top predators. Each year, 63 million to 273 million sharks are killed, far more than these species can endure. The demand for their fins, meat, liver oil, and other products coupled with this unsustainable fishing rates have driven declines in shark populations worldwide. The International Union for Conservation of Nature estimates that more than half of shark and ray species are Threatened or Near Threatened with extinction. Whether this catch is unintended, unwanted, or highly sought after, the effect on ocean ecosystems requires urgent action.

This year's State of the Environment for Oceania report focuses on people's changing relationship with the seas that surround us, and how Oceania communities and governments are responding to today's environmental challenges.

Summary of 48th PIFS Leaders Meeting in Apia, Samoa

Invasive species are one of the most serious threats to biodiversity. Up-to-date and accurate information on the distribution of invasive species is an important biosecurity risk analysis tool. Several databases are available to determine the distributions of invasive species and native species. However, keeping this information current is a real challenge. Ants are among the most widespread invasive species. Five species of ants are listed in the IUCN list of damaging invasive species, and many other species are also invasive in the Pacific. We sought to determine and update the distribution information for the 18 most problematic invasive ant species in the Pacific to assist in Small Island Developing States with risk analysis. We compared the information on six public databases, conducted a literature review, and contacted experts on invasive ants in the Pacific region to resolve conflicting information. While most public records were accurate we found some new records had not yet been incorporated into the public databases, and some information was inaccurate. The maintenance of public databases faces an enormous challenge in balancing completeness (~15 000 ant species in this case) with accuracy (the impossibility of constantly surveying) and utility.

Microplastics are widespread in the natural environment and present numerous ecological threats. While the ultimate fate of marine microplastics are not well known, it is hypothesized that the deep sea is the nal sink for this anthropogenic contaminant. This study provides a quanti cation and characterisation of microplastic pollution ingested by benthic macroinvertebrates with different feeding modes (Ophiomusium lymani, Hymenaster pellucidus and Colus jeffreysianus) and in adjacent deep water> 2200 m, in the Rockall Trough, Northeast Atlantic Ocean. Despite the remote location, microplastic bres were identi ed in deep-sea water at a concentration of 70.8 particles m 3, comparable to that in surface waters. Of the invertebrates examined (n ¼ 66), 48% ingested microplastics with quantities enumerated comparable to coastal species. The number of ingested microplastics differed signi cantly between species and generalized linear modelling identi ed that the number of microplastics ingested for a given tissue mass was related to species and not organism feeding mode or the length or overall weight of the individual. Deep-sea microplastics were visually highly degraded with surface areas more than double that of pristine particles. The identi cation of synthetic polymers with densities greater and less than sea water along with comparable quantities to the upper ocean indicates processes of vertical re-distribution. This study presents the rst snapshot of deep ocean microplastics and the quanti cationofmicroplasticpollutionintheRockallTrough.Additionalsamplingthroughoutthedeepseaisrequiredtoassesslevelsofmicroplasticpollution,verticaltransportationandsequestration,which have the potential to impact the largest global ecosystem.