Biodiversity Studies of Fiji Cryptogams (Ferns, bryophytes and
lichens) Summary of project: Conservation International
identified all the islands of Micronesia and Polynesia,
including the islands of Fiji, as one of the thirty-five
biodiversity hotspots in the world, and is referred to as the
Polynesia-Micronesia hotspot. Alarmingly, Conservation
International recognized this hotspot as the epicenter of the
current global extinction crisis. A international team of
collaborators, led by Matt von Konrat, are undertaking
biodiversity studies of a group of plants commonly called
bryophytes and a group of organisms called lichens. Only scant
data exist for both groups of organisms compared to many animal
and seed plant groups of the region. Both bryophytes and lichens
are considered to beof great biological and ecological
significance. Significantly, the results of this project and the
proposed framework will serve as model for bryophyte and lichen
survey work in other islands of the South Pacific, help to
develop