LONG-TERM ECOLOGICAL CHANGE IN A CONSERVATION HOTSPOT: THE VERTEBRATE FOSSIL RECORD OF NEW CALEDONIA

Through the continuing accumulation of fossil evidence, it is clear that first human arrival on islands around the world was linked to a rise in the extinction rate for vertebrates. Bones in such human-era fossil sites can reveal changes in the composition and structure of ecological communities due to human environmental impacts and may be important tools for the conservation of living species. New Caledonia is a large and biogeographically distinct island in the southwest Pacific and is considered a critical priority for biodiversity conservation. Here we discuss the vertebrate fossil record of New Caledonia, with emphasis on the avian record. We also report on new findings from a cave site on the east coast, excavated in 2011. Concentrating on birds, 18 of the 79 known native species are now extinct. The stratigraphic records at two well-studied sites in dry forest habitat on the west coast of the island, Me Aure and Pindai Caves, reveal substantial turnover in relative abundance of species over time, reflecting the severe reduction of dry forest habitat during the past few millennia. New findings from Boa Cave, located in wet forest habitat on the east coast, include the first record of extinct megafauna from the east side of the island and indicate that extinctions were not limited to the dry forest habitat. This ongoing work provides a temporal record of avifaunal and environmental change in threatened island habitats that should be particularly informative for ongoing conservation and restoration efforts.