“RECONSTRUCTING THE PAST TO BETTER UNDERSTAND THE PRESENT AND PLAN FOR THE FUTURE ”

Tuatapapa i te arutaimareva no nanahi ra, teienei 'e ananahi

FRENCH POLYNESIA PALAEO- AND NEO-ECOLOGY SYMPOSIUM & WORKSHOP

Government of French Polynesia

Délégation à la Recherche, Tahiti

ProScience Te Turu ‘Ihi Tahiti

University of California, Berkeley Richard B. Gump South Pacific Research Station, Mo'orea

University of French Polynesia Centre International de Recherche Archéologique sur la Polynésie (CIRAP), Tahiti

MO'OREA November 29-December 1st, 2011

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Front page photo legend and credit:

a: extinct undescribed new genera of Endodontidae snails of Rimatara, Australs (O. GARGOMINY©); b: excavation on Taravai, Mangareva (P. KIRCH©); c: Candle-nut tree “ti’a’iri” Aleurites moluccana pollen grain (M. PREBBLE©); d: Tahiti endemic Daisy-tree “tiare anei” Fitchia nutans (J.-Y. MEYER©); e: Yellow crazy ant Anoplolepis gracilipes found in fossil records on Mo’orea (N. PORCH©); f: beetle Cryptamorpha desjardinsi in fossil records on Mo’orea (N. PORCH©); g: mont Rotui between the Opunohu and Pao Pao bays viewed from mont Tohi’e’a, the highest summit of Mo’orea (J.-Y. MEYER©); h: Nuku Hiva Imperial pigeon “upe” Ducula galeata feeding on endemic Marquesan Lantern tree “puka” Hernandia nukuhivensis (J.-Y. MEYER©); i: fossil bird bones on Taravai, Mangareva (P. KIRCH©); j: coconut Cocos nucifera gnawed by rats (J. WILMSHURST©); k: giant weevil Rhyncogonus englundi endemic to Raivavae, Australs (J.-Y. MEYER©); l: endangered endemic tree snail Microcystis saintjohni in Tubuai, Australs (O. GARGOMINY©)

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MAIN GOALS

This international scientific conference on ancient (« palaeo-») and modern (« neo-») environments in French Polynesia aims to bring together the different points of view of archaeologists, palaeontologists and ecologists conducting research studies in these islands and other Polynesian or Pacific islands, often independently. Considering the dramatic environmental changes during the last few centuries, it is often difficult to separate the anthropogenic impacts on natural habitats and native species, sometimes exaggerated by some authors or on the contrary underestimated. Collaboration between scientists from various disciplines and integration of the different ideas, theories, and datasets might be a solution to assess these complex interactions in a comprehensive way.

The organized symposium and workshop are also aimed at thinking about the

consequences of the current development of islands on the environment, proposing recommendations to the local authorities for acquiring knowledge, and encouraging better management and conservation of their natural resources and their cultural heritage.

The conference is funded by the Government of French Polynesia and the France-Berkeley Fund, and organized by the Délégation à la Recherche, Government of French Polynesia (Dr. Jean-Yves MEYER), the University of California at Berkeley, USA (Prof. Patrick KIRCH), and the Université de la Polynésie française, Tahiti (Prof. Eric CONTE), with the collaboration of the Association ProScience Te Turu ‘Ihi, an NGO dedicated to the promotion and development of science and technology in French Polynesia. It is held at the Richard B. Gump South Pacific Research Station (University of California, Berkeley) located on the island of Mo’orea.

The specific objectives are: (1) an assessment of all the research studies

conducted on palaeo-ecology in French Polynesia over the last few decades, with a particular focus on the evolution and transformation of landscapes, native and endemic species extinctions and non-native species introductions and invasions ; (2) to assess the palaeoecological data with those of modern plant and animal ecology recently obtained (particularly bio- and phylo-geography, conservation biology, restoration ecology) ; and, (3) to propose recommendations for future collaborative research programs to be conducted in French Polynesia that will fill the present gaps in knowledge, capacity and resource management.

The ultimate goal of the symposium and workshop is to contribute to the

strategies and action plans on biodiversity, climate change, and cultural heritage supported by the Government of French Polynesia, by providing a scientific-based view of the past history and projections for the future.

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LOCAL ORGANIZING COMMITTEE Délégation à la Recherche, French Polynesia: Priscille FROGIER, Jean-Yves MEYER, Ruth LENG-TANG

Association ProScience: Raymond BAGNIS

University of California at Berkeley & R. Gump Research Station, Mo’orea: Neil DAVIES, Hinano MURPHY, Valentine BROTHERSON

Université de la Polynésie française: Eric CONTE

SCIENTIFIC COMMITTEE Prof. Philippe BOUCHET (Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle, Paris, France) Prof. Eric CONTE (Université de la Polynésie française, Tahiti, French Polynesia) Prof. Patrick KIRCH (University of California, Berkeley, USA) Dr. Jean-Yves MEYER (Délégation à la Recherche, Tahiti, French Polynesia) Dr. Matiu PREBBLE (Australian National University, Canberra, Australia) Prof. Georges RODERICK (University of California, Berkeley, USA) Dr. Jean-Claude THIBAULT (Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle, Paris, France) Dr. Janet WILMSHURST (Landcare Research, Lincoln, New Zealand)

PARTICIPANTS Palaeo-environments: Melinda ALLEN (archaeology and human palaeoecology in Marquesas, FP, and Cook Is.), Stephen ATHENS (archaeology in Hawai’i and Micronesia, palynology in FP), Michel CHARLEUX (archaeology in Eiao, Marquesas), Eric CONTE & Guillaume MOLLE (archaeology in FP), Emilie DOTTE (anthracology in New Caledonia), Terry HUNT (palaeo-environments in Hawai’i and Rapa Nui), Jennifer KAHN (archaeology and paleocology in Mo'orea, Maupiti and Mangareva), Tamara MARIC (archaeology in FP), Paul NIVA (archaeology in FP), Nick PORCH (fossil insects in Hawai’i and FP), Matiu PREBBLE & Rose WHITAU (fossil pollens and seeds in FP and Cook), Stéphanie THIÉBAULT (anthracology), Janet WILMSHURST (palaeoecologist in New Zealand and Cook, fossil plants and seed predation).

Keynote speakers: Patrick KIRCH (archaeology in the Pacific Is.), Helen JAMES (bird extinctions in Hawai'i, Madagascar and the Pacific). Neo-environments: Raymond BAGNIS (marine micro-organisms in FP), Hervé BOSSIN (insect disease vectors in FP), Benoit FONTAINE & Olivier GARGOMINY (land molluscs in FP), Nabila MAZOUNI (marine ecology in FP), Jean-Yves MEYER (terrestrial ecology in FP), Serge PLANES (genetics of marine fishes in FP), Robin POUTEAU (remote sensing & vegetation mapping in FP), Ravahere TAPUTUARAI (native plants in FP), Jean-Claude THIBAULT (land and seabirds in FP).

Keynote speakers: Rosemary GILLESPIE (island biogeography and arthropod diversity in Hawai’i and FP), Don DRAKE (plant-animal interactions in Hawai’i and Tonga).

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PROGRAM

Day 1 (Tuesday, 29 Nov.): Public/open symposium at the R. Gump research station on Mo’orea, opening session with local authorities; 8 talks by keynote speakers and participants. Timetable Day 1 Speakers Themes & Titles 8:00 am Welcome coffee 8:30 am Hosting Chair Hinano MURPHY

8:35 am Papa MAPE Opening prayer 8:45 am Raymond VAN

BASTOLAER Welcoming address, Mayor of Mo’orea

8:55 am Tauhiti NENA Opening address, Minister of Education, in charge of Research

9:10 am Morning Chair E. CONTE Opening session 9:20 am Plenary Talk 1 P. KIRCH Archaeology and long-term

biodiversity dynamics in Polynesia 10:00 am Plenary Talk 2 H. JAMES Ecological change in Hawaii and the

Pacific as revealed by fossil birds 10:40 am Short break 10:50 am Plenary Talk 3 R. GILLESPIE Adaptive radiation on remote

islands: comparison of diversification across the archipelagos of Polynesia

11:30 am Plenary Talk 4 D. DRAKE Large-seeded tree species may decline as seed dispersers cease to play a functional role in island forests: an example from Tonga

12:10 am Lunch break 1:50 pm Afternoon Chair J.-Y. MEYER Opening session 2:00 pm Talk 5 M. PREBBLE Burning paths to treelessness: fossil

records of plant extinction in Polynesia

2:30 pm Talk 6 O. GARGOMINY Lost microcosms in argon capsules? A land snails and other losers perspective

3:00 pm Talk 7 N. PORCH A palaeo-perspective into insect diversity on Indo-Pacific islands: Long-terms patterns of biodiversity loss and community re-assembly

3:30 pm Talk 8 J.-C. THIBAULT An overview of the bird extinction in Eastern Polynesia

4:00 pm Closing session

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Day 2 (Wednesday, 30 Nov.): Cultural and natural field-trip for the participants in the 'Opunohu valley on Mo'orea, guided by R. TAPUTUARAI & R. POUTEAU for the flora & vegetation, and by P. KIRCH & J. KAHN for the archaeology. Workshop starting for participants at the R. Gump station on Mo’orea; 4 talks by participants. Timetable Day 2 Speakers Themes & Titles 8:00 am Departure Gump

station

8:30 am Field trip Opunohu 11:30 am Lunch at the Belvédère 1:30 pm Session A Chair : T. HUNT Human impacts on the

environment 1:35 pm Talk 9 S. ATHENS Prehistoric landscape and

vegetation changes in the Society islands: initial human settlement and impacts

2:05 pm Talk 10 J. KAHN Human settlement and changing paleo-Shorelines of Mo‘orea

2:35 pm Talk 11 M. ALLEN Emerging palaeoecological records from Nuku Hiva, Marquesas Islands: natural processes and anthropogenic impacts

3:05 pm Talk 12 S. THIEBAULT & E. DOTTE

What charcoals can tell us: anthracology and its application in the Pacific, case study in New Caledonia

3:35 pm Discussion 4:00 pm Closing session Day 3 (Thursday, 1st Dec.): Workshop continued for participants at the R. Gump station on Mo’orea; ; 6 talks by participants; synthesis delivered to local authorities Timetable Day 3 Speakers Themes & Titles 8:00 am Session B Chair :

J. WILMSHURST Plant-animal interactions

8:05 am Talk 13 D. DRAKE The complex roles of alien animals as pollinators, seed dispersers, and seed predators: examples from Hawaiian forests

8:35 am Talk 14 J. WILMSHURST Ghost animal-plant interactions in New Zealand: fossil evidence for past pollinators, seed dispersers, seed predators, and herbivory

9:05 am Discussion

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9:45 am Coffee break 10:00 am Session C Chair: R. GILLESPIE Extinctions, introductions &

invasions 10:30 am Talk 15 S. PLANES Colonisations, endemism and history

of the marine fauna in the Pacific 11:00 am Talk 16 H. BOSSIN Aedes mosquitoes and navigators:

sailing together across the South Pacific

11:30 am Talk 17 J.-Y. MEYER Plant introductions and invasions in Polynesian islands: new conservation challenges in novel ecosystems

12:00 am Lunch break 2:00 pm Closing Talk 18 T. HUNT Visibility of Prehistoric Colonization in

Eastern Polynesia 2:30 pm Discussion 3:00 pm Synthesis &

delivery Chairs: E. CONTE, P. KIRCH & J.-Y. MEYER

Future research projects & collaborations

4:00 pm Closing Workshop

T. NENA Closing address by the Minister of Education, in charge of Research

7:00 pm Dinner (ma’a tahiti)

WORKSHOP The goals of the workshop are for participants to discuss issues, theories and

methodologies and to propose future research programs, especially multidisciplinary projects associating both palaeo- and neo-ecologists. Identification and prioritization of key study sites and islands in French Polynesia would be proposed.

Among the themes and issues that will be discussed during the workshop: - can we use archaeological materials as sources of DNA to help identification of

species and reconstruction of phylogenies? - can we restore the endemic fauna (e.g. seabird and landbird translocations)? - can we evaluate biota extinction rates after Polynesian arrival in islands? - can we solve the status of some “cryptogenic” species : native or Polynesian

introductions (e.g. the invasive liana Merremia peltata, ants)? - What is the importance and frequency of plant and animal communities turn-

over and what are the ecological implications of these species re-assemblage?

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TALKS & PUBLICATION Keynote talks should be general overviews and critical issues in their field of expertise. Other participants talks should be syntheses based on their specific data and research conducted in French Polynesia or in other Pacific islands. Co-authorship with other participants (or non-participants) is recommended.

Multi-authors synthesis papers based on presentations of the invited keynote speakers and participants will be published in a special issue of the scientific journal “Pacific Science” (Editor: Prof. Curtis DAEHLER, University of Hawai’i at Manoa, Honolulu).

LIST OF PARTICIPANTS N° Name Institution (country) Email address

1 Melinda ALLEN University of Auckland (NZ) ms.allen@auckland.ac.nz 2 Stephen ATHENS International Archeological Research

Institute, Honolulu (Hawai’i) JSAthens@iarii.org

3 Raymond BAGNIS Association ProScience, Tahiti (FP) proscience@mail.pf 4 Hervé BOSSIN Institut Louis Malardé, Tahiti (FP) hbossin@ilm.pf 5 Michel CHARLEUX Université de Polynésie française, Tahiti

(FP) michel@charleux.com

6 Eric CONTE Université de Polynésie française, Tahiti (FP)

conte@upf.pf

7 Emilie DOTTE University of Western Australia (Australia)

emilie.dotte@uwa.edu.au

8 Donald DRAKE University of Hawai’i, Honolulu (USA) dondrake@hawaii.edu 9 Benoît FONTAINE Muséum national d’histoire naturelle,

Paris (France) fontaine@mnhn.fr

10 Olivier GARGOMINY Muséum national d’histoire naturelle, Paris (France)

gargo@mnhn.fr

11 Rosemary GILLESPIE University of California, Berkeley (USA) gillespie@berkeley.edu 12 Terry HUNT University of Hawai’i, Honolulu (Hawai’i,

USA) thunt@hawaii.edu

13 Helen JAMES Smithsonian Institution, Washington (USA)

JAMESH@si.edu

14 Jennifer KAHN Bernice P. Bishop Museum, Honolulu (Hawai’i, USA)

jennifer.kahn@bishopmuseum.org

15 Patrick KIRCH University of California, Berkeley (USA) kirch@berkeley.edu 16 Tamara MARIC Service de la Culture et du Patrimoine,

Tahiti (FP) tamara.maric@culture.gov.pf

17 Nabila MAZOUNI Université de Polynésie française, Tahiti (FP)

Nabila.Gaertner-Mazouni@upf.pf

18 Jean-Yves MEYER Délégation à la Recherche, Tahiti (FP) jean-yves.meyer@recherche.gov.pf

19 Guillaume MOLLE Université de Polynésie française, Tahiti (FP)

guillaume.molle@upf.pf

20 Hinano MURPHY R. Gump Research Station & Association Te Pu ‘Atiti’a, Mo’orea (FP)

hinanomurphy@gmail.com

21 Paul NIVA Association Tuihana, Rai’atea (FP) nivapaul@yahoo.fr

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22 Serge PLANES Université de Perpignan (France) & EPHE-CNRS-CRIOBE, Mo’orea (FP)

planes@univ-perp.fr

23 Nicholas PORCH Deakin University (Australia) nicholas.porch@deakin.edu.au 24 Robin POUTEAU Université de Polynésie française, Tahiti

(FP) r.pouteau@yahoo.fr

25 Matthew PREBBLE Australian National University, Canberra (Australia)

matthew.prebble@anu.edu.au

26 Ravahere TAPUTUARAI Association Te Rau Atiati a Tau A Hiti Noa Tu, Tahiti (FP)

rtaputuarai@gmail.com

27 Jean-Claude THIBAULT Muséum national d’histoire naturelle, Paris (France)

jncldthibault@aol.com

28 Stéphanie THIEBAULT CNRS-Muséum national d’histoire naturelle, Paris (France)

thiebault@mnhn.fr

29 Rose WHITAU Australian National University, Canberra (Australia)

rose_whitau@hotmail.com

30 Janet WILMSHURST Landcare Research, Lincoln (NZ) WilmshurstJ@landcareresearch.co.nz

FUNDING SUPPORT & ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS An agreement between the Government of French Polynesia and the Association ProScience Te Turu ‘Ihi (2 M CFP, ca. 20,000 USD) has been signed to cover the transportation, accommodation and food expenses for all participants on Mo’orea, as well as the travel expenses of some of the overseas participants. The France-Berkeley Fund (French Minister of Foreign Affairs) obtained by the University of French Polynesia and the University of California, Berkeley (10,000 USD) has covered the travel expenses of some of the overseas participants. The Moorea Biocode Project has funded a couple of overseas participants involved in this research program. The Richard B. Gump South Pacific Research Station (University of California, Berkeley) is providing the conference room, accommodation and food for all participants during the conference, and the logistics for the field-trip on Mo’orea. Mauruuru roa to “Tahiti Tourisme” (Taina MEYSSONNIER) for the bags and brochures, and to “Tahiti and Island - Tara” (Francis LAINE) for designing and producing the T-shirts.

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