ABSTRACT
Extending over a vast area of ocean, the Pacific islands encompass a great variety of mangrove floras. Papua New Guinea, in the west, lies at the heart of mangrove diversity with 43 recorded species and with extensive forests, particularly along the deltaic Gulf of Papua. Moving away from here, diversity declines rapidly. Mangrove areas tend to be most extensive on the large high islands – the Solomons, Vanuatu, Fiji and New Caledonia. Forests are also found on the smaller islands, particularly those with mountainous interiors where rainfall and sediment supply are good. The numerous low-lying limestone islands present a much more challenging environment, with no surface freshwater and generally poor soils; even so, mangroves are found on a few of these, where there are more protected lagoons and around inland brackish ponds.
