Protected Areas and World Heritage Programme

NAME Tabuaeran (Fanning) Island

LOCATION 3^o52'N, 159^o20'W; in the northern Line Islands.

AREA Land area 3,370 ha; area of lagoon unknown.

ALTITUDE 0-4 m.

OVERVIEW A tidal lagoon with brackish marshes and unusual "estuarine" conditions on a "wet" atoll.

PHYSICAL FEATURES Tabuaeran is a low-lying atoll with a narrow fringing reef and three principal islets almost encircling a marine lagoon. The lagoon is tidal, and the surrounding brackish marshes and extensive intertidal mudflats create estuarine-like conditions. There are several small islets in the lagoon and some areas of salt pans. Tabuaeran is a wet atoll, with an average annual rainfall of about 2,000 mm.

ECOLOGICAL FEATURES Guinther (1971) has described the vegetation of the lagoon. Terrestrial vegetation includes atoll scrub and atoll forest with Pisonia grandis and Messerschmidia argentea (St. John, 1974). About half the land area has been planted to coconuts.

LAND TENURE Largely state owned. Some of the copra plantations are freehold.

CONSERVATION MEASURES TAKEN None.

LAND USE Coconut plantations, subsistence agriculture, salt production and fishing. Modern settlement dates from 1848, the resident population numbering 434 in 1978. There was some exploitation of guano and phosphate during the second half of the 19th century.

DISTURBANCES AND THREATS Feral cats and introduced Black Rats have doubtless contributed to the decline in numbers of terns, noddies and ground-nesting boobies, and the island has suffered in the past from the depredations of feral pigs. As long ago as 1925, it was noted that the disturbance to the native vegetation had been extensive enough to result in a considerable loss of traditional nesting sites for seabirds. Some breeding seabirds (e.g. Masked Booby Sula dactylatra) had already disappeared from the island by 1963.

HYDROLOGICAL AND BIOPHYSICAL VALUES No information.

SOCIAL AND CULTURAL VALUES No information.

NOTEWORTHY FAUNA Tabuaeran was formerly an important seabird rookery with 12 breeding species, but populations are now much reduced and only about six species still breed regularly White-tailed Tropicbird (Phaethon lepturus), Red-footed Booby (Sula sula), Great Frigatebird (Fregata minor), Brown Noddy (Anous stolidus), Black Noddy (A. minutus) and White Tern (Gygis alba). There is small population of the Scarlet-breasted or Kuhl's Lorikeet (Vini kuhlii) on the northwestern islet. This species is believed to have been introduced by early Polynesian colonists. Tabuaeran is one of only four islands on which the Christmas Island Warbler or Bokikokiko (Acrocephalus aequinoctialis) is known to have occurred, but according to Perry (1980), the species has disappeared from this island since 1924. There are five species of lizards on the island.

NOTEWORTHY FLORA The 22 native plant species include two endemics.

SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH AND FACILITIES Guinther (1971) has studied the ecology of the estuarine environments in the lagoon.

MANAGEMENT AUTHORITY AND JURISDICTION Ministry of Line and Phoenix Development.

REFERENCES Dahl (1980, 1986); Guinther (1971); Perry (1980); St. John (1974).

REASONS FOR INCLUSION 1d. A tidal lagoon with unusual estuarine conditions.

SOURCE See references.