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The islands of this archipelago contain a host of endemic species. This Global 200 ecoregion is made up of these terrestrial ecoregions: New Britain-New Ireland lowland rain forests; Vanuatu rain forests; Solomon Islands rain forests; New Britain-New Ireland montane rain forests Scientists have traveled all over the world cataloguing the diverse forms of life found in forests, deserts, oceans, and other ecosystems. But some relatively unexplored parts of the world probably contain plants and animals that scientists have never named or even seen! Each of the island groups that make up this ecoregion contains its own unique array of species, and it is likely that more remain to be discovered here.
More than 1,000 islands are contained within this ecoregion. New Ireland and New Britain are two of the biggest, with diverse lowland rain forests growing on volcanic soils, as well as higher-elevation montane forests.
Life flourishes on these tropical islands. The Solomon Islands harbor at least 148 species of resident birds alone, making for a great chorus of different birdsongs. In fact, the islands contain the highest number of endemic birds in the Indo-Pacific region. The Guadalcanal honeyeater calls per-twee, per-twee from its tree perch. The San Cristobal midget, a tiny brown bird, calls chip-chip-chip. And the Rennell white-eye emits a high, tinkling whistle. Among the islands' rare mammals are a small wallaby called the dusky pademelon and the great flying fox, which is actually a bat.
Multinational timber companies are intensively logging both lowland and montane forest habitats on these islands. In the future, pressures from a growing human population and the conversion of forests to oil-palm plantations will likely bring additional destruction to the wild forests. Introduced species are a growing problem as well. Cats, dogs, rats, pigs, and cane toads can all be detrimental to native species. Logging tends to increase the number of these invasives throughout the ecoregion.
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