Biodiversity Survey and Inventory: Terrestrial Arthropods of French Polynesia

National Science Foundation

PI’s: Rosemary Gillespie, George Roderick (UC Berkeley), Dan Polhemus (Smithsonian Institution), Jim Liebherr (Cornell University), Neil Evenhuis (Bishop Museum)

Summary

The islands of French Polynesia include some of the most isolated archipelagos in the world. This project will survey the arthropod fauna of the high islands, with emphasis on the native fauna, which is generally confined to middle/high elevations. The participants have been selected to cover groups of arthropods known from two previous expeditions (Mangarevan & Pacific Entomological Survey, MPES) to be diverse in French Polynesia, or hypothesized to be diverse from preliminary assessment of more recent surveys. Our goal is to identify native and endemic elements, including the diversity thereof. The proposal has 4 elements: (1) Diversity assessment of presumed native species and levels of endemism. (2) Databasing and mapping (coordinated by Gordon Nishida) with a GPS-GIS interface allowing spatial coordinates of the data to be overlain on topographic maps of different islands. (3) Information dissemination in French Polynesia through a workshop in French Polynesia for the participating scientists and local trainees as well as
French Polynesian educators and government officials. Open houses for school children will be held in conjunction with the workshop, and products (exhibits, brochures, CDs, etc) maintained at the Musée de Tahiti et ses Iles in Tahiti. (4) Development of the entomology (including arachnids) collection in Tahiti in conjunction with government officials in French Polynesia, in order to establish an Entomology Collection in Tahiti.