Lars-Åke Götesson – författare

EnglishBecause of their isolation, contrasting physiography and peripheral location towards the south-eastern edge of the vast Indo-Pacific region, the Pitcairn Islands are of great biogeographical interest. Since all the islands except Pitcairn have been uninhabited for hundreds of years, they provide a rare glimpse of insular marine ecosystems essentially untouched by human activities.The Pitcairn Islands are separated from the nearest continental landmasses of New Zealand and South America by a distance of more than 4500 km. Their nearest neighbour, Temoe Atoll in the Gambier Islands, is located about 390 km to the west, whereas Easter Island lies 1900 km to the south-east.Compared to other Polynesian archipelagos situated further to the west, the Pitcairn Islands have an impoverished fish fauna primarily due to their isolation, their more southerly location, their small size, and their lack of certain habitats such as estuaries, mangroves, and sea grass beds. Including offshore pelagics, the total fish fauna of the Pitcairn Group is composed of 380 species in 209 genera and 76 families. Thirty of the fish species presented in this book are offshore pelagics and about thirteen are identified to genetic level only. Pitcairn Island is the only inhabited island in the group and most of the islanders are descendants of the Bounty mutineers and their Polynesian followers who settled down on the island in 1790. Since 1887 the majority of the Pitcairners are members of the Seventh day Adventist Church. The largest island in the Pitcairn Group is Henderson Island which is of outstanding scientific value. Being the world´s best example of an uninhabited elevated coral atoll ecosystem, Henderson Island gained World Heritage Site status in 1993. It is home to two endemic fish species, four unique endemic land birds and a global stronghold of oceanic gadfly petrels. Henderson Island also hold nine endemic plant species, eight endemic snail species, dozens of unique invertebrates and a crucial nesting habitat for the endangered Green turtle.

EnglishConsisting of four widely separated islands of various geological ages and characters, the Pitcairn Group is located in the south-easternmost part of Polynesia. These isolated islands are separated from the nearest continental landmasses of New Zealand and South America by a distance of 4,800 kilometres. Famous for being inhabited by the descendants of the Bounty mutineers and their Polynesian companions, the main island of Pitcairn is of volcanic origin and has been populated for 223 years. The other three islands - Henderson, Ducie and Oeno - are uninhabited and mainly unaffected by human influences.With their remote location in the south-easternmost part of Central Polynesia, the islands of the Pitcairn Group offer an interesting bird fauna dominated by ocean-living seabirds and a small number of endemic land birds. The islands offer a natural laboratory for studying the evolution of birds and their behaviour in as near a natural state as perhaps is possible. The uninhabited islands of Henderson, Ducie and Oeno give undisturbed sanctuaries for birds living in isolation from people and their impact. Five of the seven terrestrial birds represented in the islands are endemic with four species living on Henderson Island and one on Pitcairn Island.A significant number of migratory shorebirds from North Eurasia and North America regularly spend the northern winter at the uninhabited islands in the Pitcairn Group. According to archaeological studies at least 15 additional bird species once lived on Henderson Island but are now extinct due to human impact.

Linnélärjungen och naturforskaren Daniel Solanders anknytning till Skåne har i den svenskspråkiga litteraturen tidigare endast berörts i förbigående. Innan sin resa till England i april 1760 vistades den 26-årige Solander ett helt år i sydvästskånska Västra Karaby sedan han drabbats av malaria. Det är framför allt denna Skånevistelse som belyses i föreliggande arbete vilket även behandlar Solanders tidigare och senare öden.Trots Linnés protester valde favoritlärjungen Daniel Solander att för resten av livet slå sig ned i London där han verkade som museiman på British Museum. Genom vänskapen med den förmögne aristokraten Joseph Banks kom han att delta i löjtnant James Cooks första världsomsegling med HMS Endeavour vilken bland annat förde honom till Tahiti, Nya Zeeland och Australien. Solanders ryktbarhet som en av senare delen av 1700-talets främsta botanister, zoologer och museimän har under senare tid oförtjänt hamnat i skymundan - något som föreliggande arbete försöker råda bot på.