Fiji Research Articles

Description of two new micropterous species of Monasavuhygia Brailovsky, 1996 from the Fiji and Solomon Islands and a key to species (Heteroptera: Coreidae: Colpurini).

The genus Monasavuhygia Brailovsky, 1996 is revised. Two new species collected in the Fiji Islands and Solomon Islands, respectively, are described in the Tribe Colpurini (Heteroptera: Coreidae). A key to the known species is included, with photographs of the dorsal habitus and female genital plates provided.

Creating Deviance: Criminality and Elite Amateur Soccer in the Fiji Islands, 1975-2015

Creating Deviance: Criminality and Elite Amateur Soccer in the Fiji Islands, 1975-2015

Strategi Pemerintah Indonesia Meredam Isu Papua : Analisis Bantuan Luar Negeri Indonesia ke Tiga Negara Pasifik Selatan (Fiji, Kep. Solomon, dan Vanuatu) Tahun 2015-2019

The Papua issue is a criticism directed at the Indonesian government which is often raised by Pacific countries in the United Nations session, especially by the countries of Fiji, Vanuatu and also the Solomon Islands regarding their views on Papua which is part of Indonesia. Feeling a little swayed by the criticism, the Indonesian government then responded by providing foreign aid which had a motive in it, namely to reduce criticism regarding the Papua issue. Foreign aid carried out by the Indonesian government is implemented in the Triangular South-South Technical Cooperation (KSSY), where this SSTC itself will be a milestone in the strategy to reduce criticism from Fiji, Vanuatu and Solomon Islands regarding the Papua issue. The research method used in this journal is a qualitative-descriptive research method, where this method will assist the author in describing the results of this journal by better describing the mechanism and course of a foreign aid process implemented in SSTC to reduce the issue of Papua. The data to be used comes from in-depth interviews with resource persons, as well as from academic journal literature, the media, and official government data which includes books and official annual reports from the government. The results of the research obtained will explain the results of the foreign aid process that was able to reduce the Papua issue raised by Fiji, Vanuatu and Solomon Islands.

A decision tree approach to identify predictors of extreme rainfall events – A case study for the Fiji Islands

Extreme rainfall events often lead to excessive river flows and severe flooding for Pacific Island nations. Fiji, in particular, is often exposed to extreme rainfall events and associated flooding, with significant impacts on properties, infrastructure, agriculture, and the tourism sector. While these occurrences are often associated with tropical cyclones (TCs), the specific characteristics of TCs that produce extreme rainfall are not well understood. In particular, TC intensity does not appear to be a useful guide in predicting rainfall, since weaker TCs are capable of producing large rainfall compared to more intense systems. Therefore, other TC characteristics, in particular TC track morphology and background climate conditions, may provide more useful insights into what drives TC related extreme rainfall. This study aimed to address this problem by developing a decision tree to identify the most important predictors of TC related extreme rainfall (i.e., 95th percentile) for Fiji. TC attributes considered include; TC duration, the average moving speed of TCs, the minimum distance of TCs from land, seasonality, intensity (wind speed) and the geometry of TCs (i.e., geographical location, shape and length via cluster and sinuosity analyses of TC tracks). In addition, potential predictors based on the phases of Indo-Pacific climate modes were input to the decision tree to represent large scale background conditions. It was found that a TC's minimum distance from land was the most important influence on extreme rainfall, followed by TC cluster grouping, seasonality and duration. The application of this model could result in improved TC risk evaluations and could be used by forecasters and decision-makers on mitigating TC impacts over the Fiji Islands.

A new Diancta species of the family Diplommatinidae (Cyclophoroidea) from Vanua Levu Island, Fiji.

A new species of Diancta of the staircase snail family Diplommatinidae is described from Mt. Savusavu, Vanua Levu Island, Fiji. Due to its left coiling shell and a constriction before the last whorl, it is placed in the genus Diancta. Micro-CT imaging reveals two apertural teeth and an inner lamella that is situated at the zone of constriction. The shell abruptly changes coiling direction by 45 degrees before the last whorl. Up to now, this coiling modus had not yet been documented for any species of Diplommatinidae from the Fiji Islands.

Estimation of scabies prevalence using simplified criteria and mapping procedures in three Pacific and southeast Asian countries

BackgroundScabies causes considerable morbidity in disadvantaged populations. The International Alliance for the Control of Scabies (IACS) published consensus criteria in 2020 to standardize scabies diagnosis. However, these criteria are complex, and a WHO informal consultation proposed simplified criteria for mapping, to identify regions of high prevalence as targets for mass drug administration. We aimed to investigate the accuracy of simplified criteria in determining scabies prevalence, compared to the 2020 IACS criteria.MethodsWe obtained data relating to demographics, relevant history and skin lesions from all-age prevalence surveys from Fiji (n = 3365) and Solomon Islands (n = 5239), as well as school-aged children in Timor-Leste (n = 1043). We calculated prevalence using the 2020 IACS criteria and simplified criteria and compared these disease estimates.ResultsThere was no significant difference in the pooled prevalence using the two methods (2020 IACS criteria: 16.6%; simplified criteria: 15.6%; difference = 0.9, [95% CI -0.1, 2.0]). In Timor-Leste, the prevalence using simplified criteria was lower (26.5% vs 33.8%). Simplified criteria had a sensitivity of 82.3% (95% CI 80.2, 84.2) and specificity of 97.6% (95% CI 97.2, 97.9) compared to the 2020 IACS criteria.ConclusionsThe scabies prevalence estimation using simplified criteria was similar to using the 2020 IACS criteria in high prevalence, tropical countries. The prevalence estimation was lower in the school-based survey in Timor-Leste. Mapping using simplified criteria may be a feasible and effective public health tool to identify priority regions for scabies control. Further work assessing use of simplified criteria for mapping in a field setting should be conducted.

Study on Bhutan Census Grid Square Data Creation

It is highly demanded to urgently maintain accurate GIS statistical data as the importance of planning a sustainable development plan due to widening disparities and inequalities; addressing new social challenges arising from rapid development and urbanization. As a former study of this paper proved the significance of creating the grid square statistics and the effectiveness of adopting the World Grid Square system rather than developing a dedicated system for Bhutan, in the context of the United Nations General Assembly adopted the UN resolution on Global Geodetic Reference Frame for Sustainable Development that was led by the Republic of Fiji in 2015.Currently in Bhutan, important 
 GIS statistical data (e.g. population) is available only in large administrative levels, namely Gewog/Thromde (city-level), however GIS statistical data in smaller levels are required to conduct a detailed study on the new social challenges. This Grid Square system can be quickly adopted from open sources and provide granular information in smaller areas than cities and villages with a precise and globally adopted geodetic reference frame.There are two major objectives of this paper; (1) Creating practical GIS statistic data in the grid square format. (2) Clarifying the advantages, disadvantages and difficulties, in order to evaluate and improve the grid square format. Within the limitation of data availability in Bhutan, this study has assumed the population of each grid square covering the whole census area of Thimphu Thromde by an estimation model using sampled data in Enumeration Areas (EA) of ‘2017 Population & Housing Census of Bhutan’. Further, this paper discusses advantages and disadvantages between EA-units and grid squares on the presumption of taking suppression measurements and 
 resampling from EA-units to grid squares. Consequently, we conclude that using the grid square format in practice could improve the efficiency of GIS analysis and data availability although there is one drawback in accuracy. Moreover, the population of each EA-unit has been predicted by the model comprising GIS-based variables (e.g. distance from facilities). The result has been validated by the whole population in Thimphu thromde. Accessibility to health and educational facilities is the most significant factor for the number of people living in the area.

Information processing by community health nurses using mobile health (mHealth) tools for early identification of suicide and depression risks in Fiji Islands

ObjectivesHigh rates of depression and suicide and a lack of trained psychiatrists have emerged as significant concerns in the low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs) such as the Pacific Island Countries...

Indigenous chicken production in Fiji Islands: knowledge, constraints and opportunities.

ObjectiveThe objective of the study was to understand and document socio-economic characteristics, production parameters, challenges and management practices used by Fijian households which keep indigenous chickens.MethodsA survey involving 200 households was carried out in coastal and inland communities of Fiji’s wet and semi-dry ecoregions. Data on the influence of ecoregion and location of households relative to the sea on management practices, challenges and productivity of indigenous chickens were analyzed using logistic regression and general linear model of SAS software.ResultsIrrespective of location relative to the sea and ecoregion, households indicated that they kept indigenous chickens for food and income generation. The Welsummer was the most (p>0.05) preferred breed. Households in the semi-dry inland communities had the largest (p<0.05) flocks compared to those in semi-dry coastal communities and the wet region. Chickens in the semi-dry region performed better (p<0.05) than those in the wet region in terms of number of clutches per year and mature live weight. Predators and feed shortages were the biggest challenges faced by households in all areas. The mongoose was ranked as the most (p>0.05) common predator followed by domestic dogs. Most households in the wet ecoregion’s coastal communities housed their chickens at night, whereas communities in semi-dry ecoregion housed their chickens most of the time (p<0.05). In all regions, no households sold their chickens to commercial markets (p>0.05). Households in semi-dry ecoregion were more likely (p>0.05) to sell their chickens at the local market place.ConclusionThe productivity of local chickens in Fiji is low because of feed shortage, predators such as the mongoose and lack of market linkages.

Assessing the water quality of Suva foreshore for the establishment of estuary and marine recreational water guidelines in the Fiji Islands.

The Standards for water quality in Fiji defined in the Environment Management Regulations 2007 only relate to effluent discharge into the environment. Urbanisation is contributing to wastewater contamination in receiving estuary and marine recreational waters, thus requiring specific guidelines. To create a baseline for this, a sampling programme with relevant physico-chemical and biological parameters was implemented at 3 sites along the Suva foreshore, for 8 consecutive months, during low and high tides. Analysis was done in triplicates, using standard methods approved for the examination of water and wastewater. In the absence of relevant Fiji guidelines, the results were compared with ANZECC (2000) guidelines for estuary and marine waters. Low DO levels, high COD, TN, NH3, TP, OP and heavy metal concentrations were measured in all 3 sites. For instance, TN and NH3 concentrations as high as 4.44 ±0.99 mg/L and 2.58 ± 0.89 mg/L respectively were recorded in Wailea river (Site 2). The colony counts for the TC, FC and E. coli were in most cases above the limits. These results confirm that wastewater discharges add to the inherent levels of parameters in receiving water bodies and support the need for specific, robust Fiji standards to better monitor water quality in foreshore areas.

Understanding Traditional Healing Practices and the Categories of Practices from Fijian iTaukei’s Perspectives

This study takes an in-depth look at how traditional healing practices (THPs) are perceived by the iTaukei people living in villages and periurban areas in Fiji Islands. The research used both qualitative and quantitative knowledge/data gathered from six villages in Viti Levu, Fiji Islands, to determine, first, the perception(s) of THPs among the iTaukei; second, what THPs successfully survive and are still important to the iTaukei way of life; and third, what factors influence the iTaukei’s health-seeking behavior or choices between Western and traditional medical systems in their villages. Results confirm that the knowledge healers used to hold to cure common illnesses is now more dispersed and shared with community members; healers/elders’ roles in iTaukei villages are important for cultural–spiritual–social causes of illnesses, and for more complex cases, there are specialized iTaukei healers. Recommendations in the form of categories of practices are offered for practitioners to work more effectively and affectively with the iTaukei.

Trace metal content in sediment cores and seagrass biomass from a tropical southwest Pacific Island

A unique feature of seagrass among other ecosystem services is to have high phytoremediation potential that is a cost-effective plant-based approach and environmentally friendly solution for metal contamination in coastal areas. The goal of this study was to assess the phytoremediation prospective of seagrass for Cu, Fe, Mn and Zn in Fiji Islands. Heavy metal content was measured in sediments and tissues of the seagrasses Halophila ovalis, Halodule pinifolia and Halodule uninervis to test for local-scale differences. The local study shows that metal concentration in sediment and seagrass tissue was significantly variable, regardless of species and sediment type. Sedimentary concentration of Cu, Fe, Mn and Zn obtained in the present study seemed to be lower than that of previous studies. The results support that H. ovalis is a good bioindicator species since it accumulated up to 5-fold more of these metals compared to the Halodule species.

BOMB-PRODUCED RADIOCARBON ACROSS THE SOUTH PACIFIC GYRE—A NEW RECORD FROM AMERICAN SAMOA WITH UTILITY FOR FISHERIES SCIENCE

ABSTRACTCoral skeletal structures can provide a robust record of nuclear bomb produced 14C with valuable insight into air-sea exchange processes and water movement with applications to fisheries science. To expand these records in the South Pacific, a coral core from Tutuila Island, American Samoa was dated with density band counting covering a 59-yr period (1953–2012). Seasonal signals in elemental ratios (Sr/Ca and Ba/Ca) and stable carbon (δ13C) values across the coral core corroborated the well-defined annual band structure and highlighted an ocean climate shift from the 1997–1998 El Niño. The American Samoa coral 14C measurements were consistent with other regional records but included some notable differences across the South Pacific Gyre (SPG) at Fiji, Rarotonga, and Easter Island that can be attributed to decadal ocean climate cycles, surface residence times and proximity to the South Equatorial Current. An analysis of the post-peak 14C decline associated with each coral record indicated 14C levels are beginning to merge for the SPG. This observation, coupled with otolith measurements from American Samoa, reinforces the perspective that bomb 14C dating can be performed on fishes and other marine organisms of the region using the post-peak 14C decline to properly inform fisheries management in the South Pacific.

Homo Sapiens Sapiens Progressive Defaunation During The Great Acceleration: The Cli-Fi Apocalypse Hypothesis

Homo Sapiens Sapiens Progressive Defaunation During The Great Acceleration: The Cli-Fi Apocalypse Hypothesis

The complete mitochondrial genome of the barcheek trevally, Carangoides plagiotaenia Bleeker, 1857 from Beqa Lagoon in Fiji

The complete mitochondrial genome of the Barcheek trevally, Carangoides plagiotaenia Bleeker, 1857 from Beqa lagoon, Fiji Islands, was determined by high-throughput sequencing (HTS). Its mitogenome (16,551 bp) contained the typical 37 genes, including 13 protein-coding genes (PCGs), 2 ribosomal RNAs, 22 tRNAs, along with two non-coding regions: control region (D-loop) and the origin of light-strand replication (OL). In its mitogenome, one unusual start codon (GTG) was identified in COI and incomplete stop codons (TA-/T–) were predicted in seven PCGs including ND2, COII, ATP6, COIII, ND3, ND4 and CytB. The phylogenetic tree revealed that C. plagiotaenia is sister to C. bajad with 88.75% nucleotide identity in 13 PCGs and 90.49% in the complete mitogenomes.

Fault lines for unrest in the Pacific: Youth, livelihoods and land rights in driving and mitigating conflict

Instances of civil unrest and disorder have pockmarked the mainly peaceful functioning of multiple Pacific states in recent decades. This paper examines factors which can be seen as fault lines for predicting and mitigating such unrest, with a particular focus on Fiji and Solomon Islands. Drawing on data collected through interviews with youth advocates and activists, it becomes clear that the common justification of ‘ethnic tensions’ for past unrest and fears of future unrest being necessitated by a ‘youth bulge’ oversimplifies the complexity of factors that lead to disorder. Issues of land rights, uncertain livelihood futures and public perceptions of inequality provide more salient framings for understanding why citizens engage in unrest. Indeed, it is perceptions of injustice and inequality which may well prove to be the greater indicator of the likelihood of any future destabilisation.

Mobile Gene Sequence Evolution within Individual Human Gut Microbiomes Is Better Explained by Gene-Specific Than Host-Specific Selective Pressures.

Pangenomes—the cumulative set of genes encoded by a population or species—arise from the interplay of horizontal gene transfer, drift, and selection. The balance of these forces in shaping pangenomes has been debated, and studies to date focused on ancient evolutionary time scales have suggested that pangenomes generally confer niche adaptation to their bacterial hosts. To shed light on pangenome evolution on shorter evolutionary time scales, we inferred the selective pressures acting on mobile genes within individual human microbiomes from 176 Fiji islanders. We mapped metagenomic sequence reads to a set of known mobile genes to identify single nucleotide variants (SNVs) and calculated population genetic metrics to infer deviations from a neutral evolutionary model. We found that mobile gene sequence evolution varied more by gene family than by human social attributes, such as household or village. Patterns of mobile gene sequence evolution could be qualitatively recapitulated with a simple evolutionary simulation without the need to invoke the adaptive value of mobile genes to either bacterial or human hosts. These results stand in contrast with the apparent adaptive value of pangenomes over longer evolutionary time scales. In general, the most highly mobile genes (i.e., those present in more distinct bacterial host genomes) tend to have higher metagenomic read coverage and an excess of low-frequency SNVs, consistent with their rapid spread across multiple bacterial species in the gut. However, a subset of mobile genes—including those involved in defense mechanisms and secondary metabolism—showed a contrasting signature of intermediate-frequency SNVs, indicating species-specific selective pressures or negative frequency-dependent selection on these genes. Together, our evolutionary models and population genetic data show that gene-specific selective pressures predominate over human or bacterial host-specific pressures during the relatively short time scales of a human lifetime.

Identifying 3000-Year Old Human Interaction Spheres in Central Fiji through Lapita Ceramic Sand-Temper Analyses

Petrographic analyses of sand tempers in Pacific Island potsherds reveal information about ancient human interactions within archipelagic contexts. By comparison with bedrock mineralogy, analyses of 45 sherds from the Lapita settlement at Naitabale on Moturiki Island (central Fiji) show that most sherds were manufactured locally but that a minority is exotic. Using ternary plots of LF-QF-FM (LF—lithic fragments; QF—quartz + feldspar; FM—ferromagnesian), it is shown that exotic material (either pots or temper sands) most likely came from elsewhere in Fiji, probably southeast Viti Levu Island, central Lau, Lomaiviti and Kadavu. Geoscientific analyses of archaeological samples therefore gives us insights into how people likely interacted within the Fiji Archipelago three millennia ago.

Checklist of the Liverworts and Hornworts of French Polynesia

The present publication is the first modern catalogue of the liverworts and hornworts of French Polynesia and accepts 161 species of liverworts and 5 species of hornworts. In addition, 40 species are doubtful records of French Polynesia and 45 species are excluded. The checklist is mainly based on a compilation of published records; a few unpublished new records are included as well. The region has been explored very unevenly and liverwort and hornwort records are available for only ten islands of French Polynesia. Several islands of considerable surface area and elevation such as Futa Hiva, Tahuata, Ua Pou and Ua Huka in the Marquesas, and Huahine and Tahaa in the Society Islands remain completely unexplored. In the Tuamotu Archipelago, only one atoll of the 60 has been surveyed (Makemo) and the number of reports for Gambier islands is quite low. The hepatic flora of French Polynesia appears to be relatively poor in species as compared to other Pacific island groups, such as the Fiji Islands (301 spp.) and New Caledonia (475 spp.) which are large continental islands (over 18 000 km2). Nevertheless, their floras show strong similarities at the family level. One species, Treubia tahitensis (Nadeaud) Besch., is only known from French Polynesia and may be considered endemic. The lack of endemic hepatic species in French Polynesia may be explained by the relatively small size, rather low elevation, low habitat diversity and recent geological age of the islands. It supports the notion that oceanic barriers do not operate as a major impediment to bryophyte dispersal.

Diagnostic Accuracy of 10/66 Dementia Protocol in Fijian-Indian Elders Living in New Zealand.

The 10/66 dementia protocol was developed as a language and culture-fair instrument to estimate the prevalence of dementia in non-English speaking communities. The aim of this study was to validate the 10/66 dementia protocol in elders of Indian ethnicity born in the Fiji Islands (Fijian-Indian) living in New Zealand. To our knowledge, this is the first time a dementia diagnostic tool has been evaluated in the Fijian-Indian population in New Zealand. We translated and adapted the 10/66 dementia protocol for use in in Fijian-Indian people. Individuals (age ≥ 65) who self-identified as Fijian-Indian and had either been assessed for dementia at a local memory service (13 cases, eight controls) or had participated in a concurrent dementia prevalence feasibility study (eight controls) participated. The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and Youden’s index were obtained by comparing the 10/66 diagnosis and its sub-components against the clinical diagnosis (reference standard). The 10/66 diagnosis had a sensitivity of 92.3% (95% CI 70.3–99.5), specificity of 93.8% (95% CI 75.3–99.6), positive predictive value of 92.3% (95% CI 70.3–99.5), and negative predictive value of 93.8% (95% CI 75.3–99.6). The study results show that the Fijian-Indian 10/66 dementia protocol has adequate discriminatory abilities to diagnose dementia in our sample. This instrument would be suitable for future dementia population-based studies in the Fijian-Indian population living in Aotearoa/New Zealand or the Fiji-Islands.