Jacquemart Island, one of the
islet
An islet is a very small, often unnamed island. Most definitions are not precise, but some suggest that an islet has little or no vegetation and cannot support human habitation. It may be made of rock, sand and/or hard coral; may be permanent ...
s surrounding
Campbell Island in New Zealand, lies south of Campbell Island and is the southernmost island of New Zealand.
The name commemorates Captain J. Jacquemart, of the vessel FRWS ''Vire'', that supported the French
1874 Transit of Venus Expedition to Campbell Island.
Geography
Jacquemart Island consists of a
stack
Stack may refer to:
Places
* Stack Island, an island game reserve in Bass Strait, south-eastern Australia, in Tasmania’s Hunter Island Group
* Blue Stack Mountains, in Co. Donegal, Ireland
People
* Stack (surname) (including a list of people ...
with an area of , being about in length by in width and surrounded by precipitous cliffs at least high at their lowest. Its highest point is about
asl
American Sign Language (ASL) is a natural language that serves as the predominant sign language of Deaf communities in the United States of America and most of Anglophone Canada. ASL is a complete and organized visual language that is express ...
. It is an eroded remnant of
basalt
Basalt (; ) is an aphanite, aphanitic (fine-grained) extrusive igneous rock formed from the rapid cooling of low-viscosity lava rich in magnesium and iron (mafic lava) exposed at or very near the planetary surface, surface of a terrestrial ...
ic
lava
Lava is molten or partially molten rock (magma) that has been expelled from the interior of a terrestrial planet (such as Earth) or a moon onto its surface. Lava may be erupted at a volcano or through a fracture in the crust, on land or un ...
s originally laid down on a sedimentary base.
Because of its inaccessibility from the sea, the first visit by humans to the island did not take place until 29 December 1980 when a small party of scientists was landed by helicopter on the summit ridge for a 90-minute survey. Subsequent short visits were made in 1984 and 1997.
[Foggo, M.N.; & Meurk, Colin D. (1981)]
Notes on a visit to Jacquemart Island in the Campbell Island Group
''New Zealand Journal of Ecology'' 4: 29–32.[
]
Flora and fauna
Much of the area of the island above the cliffs is covered with tussock grassland Tussock grassland is a form of open grassland that is dominated by tussock grasses (also called bunchgrasses). It is common in some temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands ecoregions of the Southern Hemisphere. Tussock grasslands are usually ...
on a substratum of peat
Peat (), also known as turf (), is an accumulation of partially decayed vegetation or organic matter. It is unique to natural areas called peatlands, bogs, mires, moors, or muskegs. The peatland ecosystem covers and is the most efficien ...
undermined with petrel burrows. The environment includes herbfield
Herbfields are plant communities dominated by herbaceous plants, especially forbs and grasses. They are found where climatic conditions do not allow large woody plants to grow, such as in subantarctic and alpine tundra environments. Herbfield is ...
communities, rock and ledge communities, as well as lichen
A lichen ( , ) is a composite organism that arises from algae or cyanobacteria living among filaments of multiple fungi species in a mutualistic relationship.[cushion plant
A cushion plant is a compact, low-growing, mat-forming plant that is found in alpine, subalpine, arctic, or subarctic environments around the world. The term "cushion" is usually applied to woody plants that grow as spreading mats, are limited in ...]
s.[
Birds recorded as breeding on Jacquemart include the ]sooty shearwater
The sooty shearwater (''Ardenna grisea'') is a medium-large shearwater in the seabird family Procellariidae. In New Zealand, it is also known by its Māori name , and as muttonbird, like its relatives the wedge-tailed shearwater (''A. pacificus' ...
, northern giant petrel
The northern giant petrel (''Macronectes halli''), also known as Hall's giant petrel, is a large predatory seabird of the southern oceans. Its distribution overlaps broadly, but is slightly north of, the similar southern giant petrel (''Macronec ...
, grey-backed storm-petrel, light-mantled sooty albatross
The light-mantled albatross (''Phoebetria palpebrata'') also known as the grey-mantled albatross or the light-mantled sooty albatross, is a small albatross in the genus '' Phoebetria'', which it shares with the sooty albatross. The light-mantle ...
, brown skua
The brown skua (''Stercorarius antarcticus''), also known as the Antarctic skua, subantarctic skua, southern great skua, southern skua, or hākoakoa (Māori), is a large seabird that breeds in the subantarctic and Antarctic zones and moves furth ...
and Campbell shag
The Campbell shag (''Leucocarbo campbelli''), also known as the Campbell Island shag, is a species of bird in the family Phalacrocoracidae. It is endemic to Campbell Island. Its natural habitats are open seas and rocky shores. It is a medium- ...
. Other seabird
Seabirds (also known as marine birds) are birds that are adapted to life within the marine environment. While seabirds vary greatly in lifestyle, behaviour and physiology, they often exhibit striking convergent evolution, as the same enviro ...
s which may breed there are common diving-petrel
The common diving petrel (''Pelecanoides urinatrix''), also known as the smaller diving petrel or simply the diving petrel, is a diving petrel, one of four very similar auk-like small petrels of the southern oceans. It is native to South Atlanti ...
and Cape petrel. New Zealand pipit
The New Zealand pipit (''Anthus novaeseelandiae'') is a fairly small passerine bird of open country in New Zealand and outlying islands. It belongs to the pipit genus ''Anthus'' in the family Motacillidae.
It was formerly lumped together with th ...
s and common starling
The common starling or European starling (''Sturnus vulgaris''), also known simply as the starling in Great Britain and Ireland, is a medium-sized passerine bird in the starling family, Sturnidae. It is about long and has glossy black plumage ...
s have been seen. A species of cave weta
The orthopteran family Rhaphidophoridae of the suborder Ensifera has a worldwide distribution. Common names for these insects include cave wētā, cave crickets, camelback crickets, camel crickets, Hogan bugs, spider crickets (sometimes shorte ...
has also been recorded from the island, as well as the Campbell Island leaf-veined slug.[
The island is part of the Campbell Island group ]Important Bird Area
An Important Bird and Biodiversity Area (IBA) is an area identified using an internationally agreed set of criteria as being globally important for the conservation of bird populations.
IBA was developed and sites are identified by BirdLife Int ...
(IBA), identified as such by BirdLife International
BirdLife International is a global partnership of non-governmental organizations that strives to conserve birds and their habitats. BirdLife International's priorities include preventing extinction of bird species, identifying and safeguarding ...
because of its significance as a breeding site for several species of seabird
Seabirds (also known as marine birds) are birds that are adapted to life within the marine environment. While seabirds vary greatly in lifestyle, behaviour and physiology, they often exhibit striking convergent evolution, as the same enviro ...
s as well as the endemic Campbell teal
The Campbell teal or Campbell Island teal (''Anas nesiotis'') is a small, flightless, nocturnal species of dabbling duck of the genus ''Anas'' endemic to the Campbell Island group of New Zealand. It is sometimes considered conspecific with the br ...
and Campbell snipe
The Campbell snipe (''Coenocorypha aucklandica perseverance''), also known as the Campbell Island snipe, is a rare subspecies of the Subantarctic snipe, endemic to Campbell Island, a subantarctic island south of New Zealand in the Southern Ocea ...
.
Campbell snipe
Until the Campbell Islands were cleared of introduced rats in 2001, Jacquemart was also the last refuge of the Campbell snipe, a subspecies
In biological classification, subspecies is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (morphology), but that can successfully interbreed. Not all species ...
of Subantarctic snipe
The Subantarctic snipe (''Coenocorypha aucklandica'') is a species of snipe endemic to New Zealand's subantarctic islands. The Maori call it "Tutukiwi". The nominate race ''C. a. aucklandica'' (Auckland snipe) is found on the Auckland Islands (e ...
first discovered in 1997 and described in 2009. After the eradication of rats the snipe began to recolonise the rest of the group, with a small breeding population discovered in 2005 on southern Campbell Island opposite Jacquemart.
/ref>
See also
* Campbell Island group
The Campbell Islands (or Campbell Island Group) are a group of subantarctic islands, belonging to New Zealand. They lie about 600 km south of Stewart Island. The islands have a total area of , consisting of one big island, Campbell Isla ...
* Extreme points of New Zealand
This article lists the extreme points of New Zealand – the places that lie farther north, south, east or west than any other location in New Zealand.
State Highway 1 (New Zealand), State Highway 1 runs throughout the two main islands from Ca ...
* List of islands of New Zealand
New Zealand consists of more than six hundred islands, mainly remnants of a larger land mass now beneath the sea. New Zealand is the seventh-largest island nation on earth, and the third-largest located entirely in the Southern Hemisphere. T ...
* List of Antarctic and subantarctic islands
* New Zealand subantarctic islands
The New Zealand Subantarctic Islands comprise the five southernmost groups of the New Zealand outlying islands. They are collectively designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Most of the islands lie near the southeast edge of the largely ...
* Slope Point
Slope Point is the southernmost point of the South Island of New Zealand.
Slope Point lies just south of the small settlements of Waikawa and Haldane, near the southwestern edge of the Catlins and Toetoes Bay and 71 km (40 mi) east ...
References
{{reflist
External links
Map of Campbell Island
with several surrounding islets, including Jacquemart Island lying south of the main island and Dent island lying northwest of the main island
Islands of the Campbell Islands
Stacks of New Zealand
Important Bird Areas of the Campbell Islands
Extreme points of New Zealand