The Kaijende Highlands are a nearly uninhabited expanse of mountains near Porgera in Enga Province, Papua New Guinea. The highlands have been characterized as "some of Papua New Guinea's most pristine and scenic montane habitat". The Kaijende Highlands include Lake Tawa, Paiela Road, Omyaka Creek, Waile Creek and the Porgera Reservoir. The mountain range is 70 km north-west of

Mount Hagen Mount Hagen ( tpi, Maun Hagen) is the third largest city in Papua New Guinea, with a population of 46,250. It is the capital of the Western Highlands Province and is located in the large fertile Wahgi Valley in central mainland Papua New Guinea, ...

.BirdLife International (2010). According to a survey conducted in 2007, "areas like Kaijende are characterized by pronounced dominance of microtherm families, most notably by

Cunoniaceae Cunoniaceae is a family of 27 genera and about 335 species of woody plants in the order Oxalidales, mostly found in the tropical and wet temperate regions of the Southern Hemisphere. The greatest diversity of genera are in Australia and Tasmania ...

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Ericaceae The Ericaceae are a family of flowering plants, commonly known as the heath or heather family, found most commonly in acidic and infertile growing conditions. The family is large, with c.4250 known species spread across 124 genera, making it th ...

Geraniaceae Geraniaceae is a family of flowering plants placed in the order Geraniales. The family name is derived from the genus ''Geranium''. The family includes both the genus ''Geranium'' (the cranesbills, or true geraniums) and the garden plants called ...

Myrsinaceae Myrsinoideae is a subfamily of the family Primulaceae in the order Ericales. It was formerly recognized as the family Myrsinaceae, or the myrsine family, consisting of 35 genera and about 1000 species. It is widespread in temperate to tropical ...

Podocarpaceae Podocarpaceae is a large family of mainly Southern Hemisphere conifers, known in English as podocarps, comprising about 156 species of evergreen trees and shrubs.James E. Eckenwalder. 2009. ''Conifers of the World''. Portland, Oregon: Timber Pr ...

Ranunculaceae Ranunculaceae (buttercup or crowfoot family; Latin "little frog", from "frog") is a family of over 2,000 known species of flowering plants in 43 genera, distributed worldwide. The largest genera are ''Ranunculus'' (600 species), ''Delphinium' ...

, Rosaceae,

Theaceae Theaceae (), the tea family, is a family of flowering plants comprising shrubs and trees, including the economically important tea plant, and the ornamental camellias. It can be described as having from seven to 40 genera, depending on the sour ...

Violaceae Violaceae is a family of flowering plants established in 1802, consisting of about 1000 species in about 25 genera. It takes its name from the genus ''Viola'', the violets and pansies. Older classifications such as the Cronquist system placed t ...

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Winteraceae Winteraceae is a primitive family of tropical trees and shrubs including 93 species in five genera. It is of particular interest because it is such a primitive angiosperm family, distantly related to Magnoliaceae, though it has a much more s ...

." The Kaijende Highlands have received media attention since 2005 due to a number of new species discovered in the area. A notable study compiled samples of 759 specimens from the Kaijende Highlands, which is among the largest surveys by CI-RAP in Papua New Guinea, and discovered 24 new species of plants and frogs among them. Other surveys have found new species of jumping spiders and other fauna.

Biodiversity surveys

The Kaijende Highlands have received media attention between 2005 and 2010 due to a number of biodiversity studies which have discovered a plethora of new species of plants and animals. In August to September 2005, Conservation International and the Porgera Joint Venture, performed a biodiversity survey to "collect data on the species richness and conservation status of plants, herpetofauna, birds and mammals." According to the report published by Conservation International in 2007, "the flora and fauna of Enga Province are probably less well known than that of any other province in Papua New Guinea". The Porgera Joint Venture also participated in the development of a Wildlife Conservation Area in the Kaijende Highlands. Another study, performed by Wayne Takeuchi of the Forest Research Institute compiled samples of 759 specimens from the Kaijende Highlands, which is among the largest surveys by CI-RAP in Papua New Guinea. The survey discovered 24 new species, including 16 new plants (5

arborescent A rhizome is a concept in post-structuralism describing a nonlinear network that "connects any point to any other point". It appears in the work of French theorists Deleuze and Guattari, who used the term in their book ''A Thousand Plateaus'' to ...

taxa, 5 understory shrubs, 2

vine A vine (Latin ''vīnea'' "grapevine", "vineyard", from ''vīnum'' "wine") is any plant with a growth habit of trailing or scandent (that is, climbing) stems, lianas or runners. The word ''vine'' can also refer to such stems or runners themsel ...

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orchids Orchids are plants that belong to the family Orchidaceae (), a diverse and widespread group of flowering plants with blooms that are often colourful and fragrant. Along with the Asteraceae, they are one of the two largest families of flowering ...

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fern A fern (Polypodiopsida or Polypodiophyta ) is a member of a group of vascular plants (plants with xylem and phloem) that reproduce via spores and have neither seeds nor flowers. The polypodiophytes include all living pteridophytes exce ...

s), and 8 new species of frogs. According to Takeuchi, "New Guinea is home to one of the world’s richest floras." Subsequent research in the area has turned up other discoveries, including 6 new species of jumping spiders collected in 2009. Modern estimates approximate 15,000 to 20,000 species present on the island.Australian Survey Corps 1979. Papua New Guinea 1:100,000 Topographic Survey Map. Edition 1-AAS, Series T601: Koroba 7486.

References

External links

Conservation International, Kaijende Highlands Expedition
{{Mountain ranges of New Guinea Mountain ranges of Papua New Guinea Highlands