Forest Status Across Micronesia from an Assessment of Micronesia Challenge Terrestrial Measures and Forest Inventory and Analysis Data

The Micronesia Challenge (MC) is an agreement initiated in 2006 by the
region’s political jurisdictions to conserve both marine and terrestrial natural resources. To
assess the success of the terrestrial goals of the challenge, the Micronesia Conservation
Trust (MCT) coordinated the compilation of a list of terrestrial measures and utilized them
to summarize data from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Forest
Service Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) program. The MCT and FIA programs added
and measured additional forest plots within conservation and special management areas on
Guam, within conservation, special management areas or previously unsampled islands in
the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM), and on previously unsampled islands in the
Republic of Marshall Islands (RMI). Data from these forested plots show that the special
management areas (MC areas) generally exhibited preferred forest conditions compared to
unmanaged areas (Non-MC areas) across Micronesia. In Guam and FSM, MC areas had
less forest area disturbed by people, less forest area with invasive plant species, higher ratios
of endemic to invasive tree species, and taller trees than Non-MC areas. In RMI, MC areas
had higher basal area and canopy cover than Non-MC areas. Among all jurisdictions, the
Republic of Palau had the highest species diversity and endemism and the highest average
canopy cover; the Mariana Islands (Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands and
Guam) had the smallest trees, the lowest basal area, the highest stem density, the lowest
average canopy cover, and the highest levels of disturbance and invasive species coverage;
FSM had the highest diversity of forest communities, the largest trees, the lowest stem
density, and the highest average basal area; RMI had the lowest levels of disturbance and
invasive species coverage. Results from this analysis can be used to understand the role of
management based on indicators of forested areas across the region.