Comisky (eds.) Forest Biodiversity Research, Monitoring and Modeling: A Conceptual Background and Old World Case Studies. Parthenon Publishing, Casterton, UK.
Marshall, A. J., and Beehler, B. M. (eds.). 2006. The Ecology of Papua. Singapore: Periplus Editions.
1.2. Biological Exploration of New Guinea
DAVID G. FRODIN
BIOLOGICAL EXPLORATION in New Guinea and its surrounding islands has a relatively long post-Columbian history, but until the 1760s it was casual, with "curiosa" and narrative descriptions the most tangible results. Even the "great voyages" of the subsequent decades paid but fleeting visits, with some—notably the Endeavour—actually rebuffed; the few contemporary attempts at settlement from outside were failures. Only in the last third of the nineteenth century did serious exploration begin, with the last large "white spaces" in the interior highlands "filled in" just as World War II approached.
The marvelous birds of paradise, whose center of diversity is in mainland New Guinea, were among the first objects of natural history to attract attention from Europeans, but for long they were known only from their legless skins, obtained in direct or market trade. But the land soon came to be seen as hostile to settlement, even for the Portuguese and Spanish and, after them, the Dutch East India Company, so no extended surveys were made. Indeed, until the latter part of the eighteenth century (thus through most of Linnaeus’s lifetime) New Guinea was effectively "beyond the frontier," with only its western fringes anywhere near a commercial realm (and so—fortunately for posterity—within the reach of Rumphius at Ambon). Otherwise, acquisition of geographical and natural history knowledge was casual, with Dampier among the few prominent contributors.
The "great voyages" of the seven decades preceding 1840 did touch upon several parts of mainland New Guinea and its neighboring islands, with the naturalists of one voyage demonstrating that birds of paradise indeed had legs. Yet, although they established the main geographical outlines of the region, their visits were brief and their collections, though primary, were generally small and from but few localities. Apart from these contributions—not all of them fully reported upon—the only substantial collections until 1870 were those made in the late 1820s on the southwestern coast by Zipelius and Macklot and later—mainly in the Vogelkop (Bird’s Head) peninsula—by Wallace in 1858 and von Rosenberg from then through the 1860s. Not even the formal annexation of western New Guinea by the Dutch Indian government in 1848 provoked significant activity.
The opening of the Suez Canal, the development of settlements in Australia, increasing commercial interest in the Pacific Islands, the growth of the plume trade, and scientific curiosity (particularly in the wake of Wallace’s Malay Archipelago) finally led to sustained outside interest in Papuasia and an opening up of its interiors. A veritable "rush" by explorers then ensued, particularly in the wake of the territorial acquisitions by Germany in the northeast and its large island neighbors, and Britain in the southeast—all under the gaze (and even sponsorship) of the now well-developed popular press.
By 1914 very considerable progress had been made, with after 1900 greater official interest—but largely in the Dutch and German spheres, surpassing the very effective work by Macgregor, administrator in British New Guinea over the decade leading up to 1898. Sadly, that was succeeded by relative indifference—particularly after 1901 with transfer of control to Australia. After World War I (though slightly later in western New Guinea), the rest of New Guinea also became something of a "backwater"—with few official undertakings in natural history. Exploration did, however, continue—though largely under outside sponsorship—leading to further major discoveries, particularly in the 1930s. By the end of that decade, the major outlines of the biota had become known—particularly after the prodigious efforts of the Third Archbold Expedition—and the age of "primary" exploration was over.
In contrast to the "Great War," during World War II New Guinea and its islands were a major theater of conflict, greatly increasing the region’s profile. The stage was now set for three decades of "secondary" exploration, much of it under the auspices of the administering countries (including their "metropolitan" organizations), and the establishment of local collections and research facilities. Through the 1960s, substantial resources were allocated to land, agricultural, forest, and marine surveys in both east and west; in 1959 the Dutch mounted a final, "major" exploring expedition to "the last white spot on the map," Juliana Top (now Mt Mandala) and the western Star Mountains. There was also much extra-official exploration and other activity, including the establishment of biological stations, beginning with what is now the Wau Ecology Institute, set up in 1961 by the late J. Linsley Gressitt.
After transfer of control of western New Guinea to Indonesia (1963/1969) and, in 1975, the independence of Papua New Guinea (PNG), official efforts fell away—particularly after 1980 in PNG. Biogeography and Ecology of New Guinea (1982; see section on "Collections" below) could thus be said to mark the end of an era. Individual and group exploration and research (under sponsorship or otherwise) has, however, continued over the subsequent quarter-century, now with ecology, conservation, and "sustainability" as guiding themes. In this, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs)—including universities in both west and east New Guinea as well as research stations—have played an increasing role. Though progress—perhaps inevitably—has been fragmented, there have been significant achievements, some of them recorded in the Post-World War II section, below. Future exploratory efforts should focus particularly on poorly known areas (documented in recent conservation assessments; see References section, below). But at the same time work must continue on consolidating, enhancing, preserving, and making more available our knowledge of what we already have to hand—not easy in the face of competition for research resources, changing interests, insecurity, and indeed a fall in new entrants to the sciences.
Before the Rush: Early History (1500–1875)
WHEN BIRDS OF PARADISE HAD NO LEGS (1500-1815)
1500–1760
Settled by humans in the late Quaternary, with two further waves of immigrants respectively in the early and post-historical Recent, New Guinea and its islands—particularly after the Lapita migrations—were initially visited by Malay (and perhaps also Chinese) traders from Dobo (in the Aru Islands) and elsewhere. The earliest recorded explorers were, however, post-Columbian Europeans, sailing from both west and east partly in search of the "great southern land" then thought to be necessary to balance the large masses in the north, particularly Eurasia. Not until the 17th century—and passing into general knowledge only much later—were the northern fringes of the supposed southern landmass shown to be a great island.
Although Magellan’s expedition—to which we owe the first European use of the word "Papua" and knowledge of its birds of paradise—sailed near New Ireland in 1521, the first to arrive in the waters off the mainland was the Portuguese Jorge de Meneses in 1527. But, reaching only as far as Biak and the north coast of the Vogelkop Peninsula, he would have had no idea of its extent. He was followed in 1528 by Alvaro de Saavedra and in 1537 by Hernando de Grijalva, neither in turn venturing beyond Yapen and Biak. In 1545 Ynigo Ortiz de Retes, also—like Saavedra—in an attempt to sail to Mexico, reached as far as Manam and the Schouten Islands (off the mouths of the Ramu and Sepik) as well as the western Admiralty Islands, Aua and Wuvulu, before having to turn back to Tidore. On the voyage back he called in near present-day Sarmi and named the land "Nueva Guinea" because the people looked like Africans. Entry from the Americas only came later: in 1567—two years before Mercator’s world map first appeared—the Spaniard Alvaro de Mendaña discovered the later-lost Solomon Islands. He attempted a return in 1595 but died at sea, with Pedro Fernández de Quirós eventually taking command of that expedition. In 1606 Quirós, with papal and other support, once more sailed to the South Pacific, discovering what is now Vanuatu; but there his expedition fell apart. His associate Luis Vaéz de Torres—aided by the southeasterly trade winds—continued
