Historic Biogeography of Polynesian Birds: Effects of Physical Characters of Islands on Faunal Attributes

小行星9714819 对南太平洋岛屿上现代陆鸟群落的分析对地理学理论做出了重要贡献。 然而，在东波利尼西亚（马克萨斯群岛、社会群岛、土阿莫土群岛、皮特凯恩群岛和库克群岛），陆地鸟类多样性和特有性的自然模式已被人类造成的灭绝所掩盖。 史前东波利尼西亚鸟类在物种丰富度方面比来自同一岛屿的现代鸟类更加同质（岛屿群之间和岛屿群内部），无论岛屿面积，海拔或隔离。 大多数特有物种仅限于不会飞的物种。 关于东波利尼西亚鸟类的数据并不早于2000年前人类的到来。 这项新的研究将通过收集和分析来自不太偏远的西波利尼西亚群岛汤加，萨摩亚和斐济的史前遗址的骨骼组合来研究南太平洋鸟类群落在更长时间尺度（长达10万年BP）的组成和稳定性。 在西波利尼西亚可以找到更古老的动物群记录，因为在人类出现之前，当地的食肉鸟类在洞穴中聚集了骨头。 新的数据将提供一个机会，以估计物种丰富度，分类多样性和营业额（灭绝/殖民化）率在西波利尼西亚陆鸟之前和之后的人类存在。 据预测，与经典的地理学理论相反，岛屿面积（10（-104平方公里），海拔（101-103米），和隔离（0-800公里）的变化对物种丰富度或分类多样性在西波利尼西亚鸟类在前人类时代的影响很小，周转率非常低。 换句话说，这些鸟类群落在自然条件下丰富而稳定，殖民和灭绝率极低。 从古生物学的角度来看，在真正的海洋岛屿上物种的存在可能并不像那些研究现代鸟类的人普遍认为的那样短暂。

9714819 Steadman Analyses of modern landbird communities on South Pacific islands have made important contributions to biogeographic theory. In East Polynesia (Marquesas, Society, Tuamotu, Pitcairn, and Cook island groups), however, natural patterns of diversity and endemism among landbirds have been obscured by human-caused extinction's. Prehistoric East Polynesian avifaunas were much more homogeneous than modern avifaunas from the same islands in species richness (both between and within island groups), regardless of island area, elevation, or isolation. Most endemism was restricted to flightless species. Data on East Polynesian birds do not precede the arrival of humans at 2000 yr BP. The new research will examine the composition and stability of South Pacific bird communities over much longer time scales (up to 100,000 yr BP) by collecting and analyzing bone assemblages from precisely dated prehistoric sites in the less remote West Polynesian island groups of Tonga, Samoa, and Fiji. Older faunal records can be developed in West Polynesia because indigenous predatory birds have concentrated bones in caves there during pre-human times. The new data will provide an opportunity to estimate species richness, taxonomic diversity, and turnover (extinction/colonization) rates in West Polynesian landbirds both before and after human presence. It is predicted that, counter to classic biogeographic theory, variation in island area (10( - 104 km2), elevation (101-103 m), and isolation (0-800 km) had little influence on species richness or taxonomic diversity in West Polynesian avifaunas in pre-human times, and that turnover rates were very low. In other words, these bird communities were rich but stable under natural conditions, with extremely low rates of colonization and extinction. From a paleontological perspective, the existence of species on true oceanic islands may not be as ephemeral as is generally believed by those who study modern birds.