Ogasawara (Bonin) Islands

-This beautiful island contains 30 subtropical and tropical islands.

-It is an administratively part of Tokyo, located 1,000 km south of the city.

Climate

• The islands are typically warm in the months of May-October and cool between December-March.

• Temperature: Warm/Cool• Humidity: Humid subtropical/tropical• Wind: 38 knots maximum• Precipitation: The islands receives about 48.4 inches of rain per year. That’s about

4.3 inches per month.

Terrain

• The Bonin Islands were formed over 40 million years ago by two plates (the Pacific Plate and the Philippine Sea Plate) colliding and pushing land up to form an underwater mountain range. Some parts of the mountain range extended above sea level and were present islands. Over time, primary succession changed the Bonin Islands to where they are today.

• The island mostly has very poor quality soil since it is made up of an under water mountain range.

• The inhabitants on the island can get water from many places: Oceans: Rivers:- Philippine Sea - Yatsuse R.- N. Pacific Ocean - Sakkara R.

- Shanghai R.• The island is made up mostly of igneous rock since it rests on top of a volcano

source. Some of the islands barely extend 6 feet-9 feet above sea level. • It has many beaches and coral reefs• Highest (volcanic) Point: South Iwo Jima Volcano (3,005 ft).

South Iwo Jima Volcano

Non Native Species

Many species non native to the Ogasawara Islands have been brought here. Here are some examples of some non native species.

Feral Goats

• The feral goat is the domestic goat as it has grown in the wild. Feral goats mostly come from Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, Great Britain, Hawaii, the Galapagos and many other parts of the world. When feral goats reach large populations in habitats that they are not adapted to, they sometimes become invasive species with negative effects, such as removing types of vegetation. But sometimes, they may become a natural component of the habitat, possibly replacing locally extinct wild goats. Feral goats are sometimes used for conservation grazing, to control the spread of scrub or weeds in natural habitats such as chalk grassland and heath land.

Feral Cat

• A feral cat is a descendant of a domestic cat that has returned to the wild. It is similar to a stray cat, which is a pet cat that has been lost, except feral cats are born in the wild. The offspring of a stray cat can be considered feral if they are born in the wild.

• In many parts of the world, feral cats are descendants of domestic cats that were left behind by travelers or tourists. Because cats are not native to all parts of the world, feral cats can cause harm to local environments by preying on local species. This is especially true on places like Bonin Island where feral cats have sometimes had a huge decrease of population effect on local fauna on the island.

Black Rats • The black rat is a common long-tailed rodent. This non-species came from tropical

Asia and spread to the east in Roman times before reaching Europe by the 1st century and spreading with Europeans across the world.

Feral Pig• Feral Pigs are a species of the pig family. The species includes many subspecies. It

is the wild version of domestic pigs, an animal that was once domestic until it was released into the wild again. Feral Pigs are native across much of Europe, and much of Asia as far south as Japan and Indonesia. Populations have also been artificially introduced in some parts of the world, mostly North and South America and Australia.

Bullfrog• The Bullfrog is an aquatic frog and a member of the Ranidae family or

the “True Frog” family. It is originally from much of North America. This frog is usually found near permanent water bodies, swamps, ponds, and lakes along the water's edge. On rainy nights, bullfrogs travel overland, and may be seen in numbers on roads.

• Bullfrogs tend to live longer in warmer weather. They have been widely introduced across North America.

• However, it was never intended to spread to the west on the Bonin Islands and Asia where some species reside today.

Green Anoles• The Green Anole is a lizard found primarily in the southeastern United States and

some Caribbean islands. It is sometimes referred to as the American chameleon because of its ability to change color from brown bright green. But many lizard can do this so the Green Anole is technically not considered a chameleon. Male adults are usually 6 inches long in adulthood and it can weigh from 3–7 grams. But some Green Anoles can grow up to about 8 inches long; this rarely occurs of course.

Common Buzzard• The Common Buzzard is a medium to large bird of prey, whose range covers most

of Europe and goes into Asia. It is usually present all year, except in the coldest parts of the year in the habitat it lives in.

• It can vary from almost pure white to black, but is usually shades of brown, with a pale 'necklace' of feathers.

• It measures between 16 and 23 in in length with a 43–54 in wingspan and a body mass of 0.94–3.01 lbs.

Snake-Eyed Skink• This small, slender lizard grows up to 5.9 in. long and lives in Eastern Europe and

southwestern Asia. • It is native to Greece• It is a shy and lives under stones and leaves in dry places, such as south slopes,

fields, and meadows. The skin is a bronze color, with dark sides. The eyelids are immovable, like many other skinks.

Native Species

• As you can see, many species were brought to the Ogasawara Islands. Now here are some examples of actual native species on the island.

Japanese Wood Pigeon• The Japanese Wood Pigeon is a species of bird on the Ogasawara Islands. It is

found in China, Japan, the southern part of the Korean peninsula, Russia, and Taiwan. It weighs at 1.2 lb and is 17 in long. Its natural habitats are temperate forests and subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests. It is becoming rare due to habitat loss. The species is in decline owing to habitat degradation, deforestation and hunting. This Wood Pigeon is endemic to the Laurel forest habitat.

Bonin White-Eye• The Bonin White-eye is a small yellow and grey bird that inhabits the Ogasawara

Islands of Japan. Until recently it was called the Bonin Honeyeater because of a confusion of its true genus and family.

• A distinctive feature of the bird is the white rim around the eyes, surrounded by a black masking. Now its habitat is restricted to the Haha-jima Island. Until several years ago it could also be found on Chichi-jima Island. Because of the bird's small range of habitat, its status is listed as "Vulnerable".

• A subspecies, the Mukojima White-eye, is extinct.

Bonin Flying Fox• The Bonin Flying Fox or the Bonin Fruit Bat is a species of mega bat. It is found on

four islands: Chichijima, Haha-jima, North Iwo Jima and South Iwo Jima in the Ogasawara Islands. Its natural habitat is subtropical forests. It is threatened by habitat loss.

Bonin Petrel• The Bonin Petrel is a seabird on the Ogasawara Islands. It is a small gadfly petrel

that lives in the waters of the north west Pacific and nests on islands south of Japan and in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. Its secretive habits and limited range have resulted in few studies and many aspects of the species biology are poorly known.

Cyanthea metteniana• Cyathea metteniana is a species of tree fern that grows in the Ryukyu Islands,

Ogasawara Islands and Taiwan, where it grows in wet forest, forest margins, and on hillsides. The trunk of this plant is up to 1 m tall, and 6-10 cm in diameter. The stipe is brown to purple-black in color. It is covered in long, broad-based scales that are usually multicolored.

• The specific epithet metteniana commemorates pteridologist Georg Heinrich Mettenius (1823-1866), who himself named several Cyathea species.

Hirasea operculina• Hirasea operculina is a species of small air-breathing land snails, a terrestrial

pulmonate gastropod mollusk.• This is an endangered species.• This species is found in Japan and the Ogasawara Islands.

Pseudomonas syringae (Bean Blight)

• Pseudomonas syringae (Bean Blight) is a rod shaped bacterium with polar flagella. It is a plant pathogen which can infect a wide range of plant species. It is unclear whether these pathovars represent a single species.

Pseudomonas syringae

Land Snails• A land snail is a name for any of the various species of snail that live on land. Land snails are terrestrial

gastropod mollusks that have shells. Those without shells are known as slugs. • The majority of land snails have a lung and breathe air. A minority however belong to much more ancient

lineages where their anatomy includes a gill and an operculum. Many of these land snails live in habitats or that are sometimes damp or wet, such as moss.

• Land snails have a strong muscular foot. They use mucus to enable them to crawl over rough surfaces, and in order to keep their soft bodies from drying out. Like other mollusks, land snails have a mantle and they have one or two pairs of tentacles on their head. Their internal anatomy includes a primitive brain. In terms of reproduction, the majority of land snails have a full set of organs of both sexes and most lay eggs in the soil. Tiny snails hatch out of the egg with a small shell in place, and the shell grows spirally as the soft parts gradually increase in size. Most land snails have shells that are right-handed in their coiling.

• A wide range of different vertebrate and invertebrate animals prey on land snails, and they are used as food by humans in various cultures worldwide, and are even raised on farms as food in some areas.

Dangers to Ecosystem• The Bonin islands’ greatest danger to its ecosystem is the

extinction of hundreds of endangered organisms. The islands house over 400 critically endangered species . Because the islands are so secluded and remote, it is nearly impossible to introduce the animals and plants to new environments.

• A great example of this is the Bonin Flying Fox. There are only 200 of the bats suspected to be alive today and their numbers are declining.

• Another great danger to this ecosystem is tourism. The Bonin Islands are a major tourist hub. Some tourists are not aware of the fragile environment and can damage their surrounding environment.

Adaptations• Many of the plants and animals of the Bonin Islands have adapted

to their environment to help them survive. For example, the Sclerophyllus Scrub. This plant has adapted to the subtropical environment by altering the shape of its leaves to be broader, enabling it to catch and conserve more rainwater.

• Another plant that has adapted to this environment is the Lobelia Boninensis. This plant has special roots that allow it to cling to the sides of cliffs and grow in cracks in rocks.

Human Involvement• Even though people are told to live in harmony with nature, the

islands are running out of space for wildlife to live. Humans have only inhabited for islands but may expand sometime in the near future.

• The Bonin islands are a major tourist hub getting more than 50,000 visitors a year. The tourists are instructed to not bring any for of life to the island for fear of more invasive species.

Regulations

There are many regulations in place to protect the Bonin islands, among them are the “Multi-Agency Ogasawara Islands Management Plan” and the “Ogasawara Islands Conservation Action Plan”

These two regulations deal with access to the islands and the elimination of invasive species.

Also, 76% of the islands are protected by national parks to help the plants and animals that live there.

Grass Algae Small Plants and fruits

Bonin White Eye

Flying Fox

Black rats

Common Buzzard

Feral Cats

Green Anoles

Skinks

Land Snails Bonin Petrel

Bonin Islands Food Web

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