Plates 93 



Appendix 1 135 



Appendix 2 136 



1.2 Ecological Studies on Caroline Atoll, Republic of Kiribati, South-central Pacific Ocean: 



Part 2. Seabirds, Other Terresterial Anmials and Conservation 139 



Introduction 139 



History of Ornithological Studies 139 



Methods 140 



Seabird Species Accounts 14! 



Other Birds on Caroline Atoll 147 



Other Vertebrates 149 



Coconut Crabs 150 



Conservation: Attributes of International Significance 151 



Tables 153 



Figures 157 



Plates 163 



1 .3 First Records of the Long-tailed Cuckoo (Eudynamis taitensis) on Caroline Atoll, Southern 



Line Islands, Republic of Kiribati 165 



1.4 A Study of the Benthic Communities of Caroline Atoll (Line Islands, Pacific Ocean) 166 



Chapter 1 References 171 



Chapter 2: INVESTIGATIONS AND ANTHROPOGENIC ECOLOGY 177 



2. 1 Distribution of Chlorinated Hydrocarbons in Ecosystems of the Equatorial Pacific 1 79 



2.2 Distribution of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons 183 



2.3 The Occurrence and Microbial Transformation of Benzo(a)pyrene in the Waters of the 



Tropical Pacific (Caroline Atoll, Line Islands, Phoenix Islands Transect. South China Sea) 186 



2.4 Cesium-137 in the Surface Waters of the Central Equatorial Pacific 191 



2.5 Quantity and Distribution of Plastics: An Analysis of Chemical Hazards to Marine Life 193 



2.6 The Role of Solar Irradiation in the Oxidative Transformation of Benzo(a)pyrene 197 



Chapter 2 References 203 



Chapter 3: BIOLOGICAL INVESTIGATIONS IN THE CENTRAL PACIFIC 205 



3.1 A Description of Bacterioplankton 207 



3.2 A Study of Primary Phytoplankton Production 212 



3.3 Mesozooplankton 213 



3.4 Zooneuston of the Tropical Pacific 223 



3.5 Observations of Seabirds along a 14.892-km Cruise Track in the Tropical Pacific Ocean and 



the Bohol, Sulu, and South China Seas 225 



3.6 Evidence for a Major Fall Land Bird Migration Corridor Across the South China Sea from 

 Indo-China to the Greater Sunda Islands 247 



Chapter 3 References 253 



General Conclusions 257 



Appendix A 259 



