Jean-François Butaud

Rapa Island, located in Eastern Polynesia, hosts 12 species of breeding seabirds, now primarily found on its ten peripheral islets. These seabirds face various threats, such as invasive mammals that prey on eggs and chicks, as well as invasive plants that encroach upon and degrade their breeding habitats. Major island restoration projects are curre...

Examination of specimens from the Marquesas Islands, French Polynesia, disclosed the presence of an undescribed species of Jacquemontia Choisy from the uninhabited island of Mohotani: the new species Jacquemontia mohotaniensis is described here and its conservation status is proposed as critically endangered. To place this novelty in context, a rev...

Abstract Background: In French Polynesia, traditional tō (Saccharum officinarum) have been re-exploited in the recent years to produce organic certified rum. Former botanists have described the sugarcane which were spread by Polynesians during their migrations of the Eastern Pacific. One of them, referred by botanists as Otahiti was the main cultiv...

Cultivated breadfruit comprises domesticated cultivars of Artocarpus altilis (breadfruit), a species native to Remote Oceania, with hybrid cultivars with A. mariannensis (dugdug), a species from Palau and Mariannas Islands. Artocarpus altilis is not a domesticated cultivar group of A. camansi (breadnut), as currently understood, but rather a geneti...

Background Traditional Polynesian medicine for children has been poorly documented, and few data are available on their efficacy and safety. In this context, the aim of this study was to identify traditional practices used for treating children and then assess the efficacy and safety of the most cited remedies by reviewing the literature. Methods...

Hibiscus denisonii Burb. came to international attention in English horticulture in 1876, having been sourced from Australian gardens, and generally believed to have come from the South Pacific Islands. It was described as a distinctive creamy white-flowered hibiscus with thick-leathery, dark-green, ‘ivy-like’ leaves that were different from those...

La Polynésie française possède l’espèce la plus à l’Est du genre Atractocarpus Schltr. & K.Krause pour l’Océanie. Le genre n’était connu que d’une seule espèce dans les îles de la Société, Atractocarpus tahitensis (Nadeaud) Puttock, limitée à Tahiti et Raiatea. L’espèce y est restée non vue pendant plus d’un siècle. Des prospections de terrain dans...

A new species of Meryta (Araliaceae) from the Tuamotu Archipelago, French Polynesia. A new species of Araliaceae, Meryta puruhi Butaud, J.Florence, Lowry & F.Tronchet, sp. nov., endemic to the raised atolls of Anaa and Niau in the Tuamotu archipelago, French Polynesia, is described. Based on floral and fruit morphology, it clearly belongs to Meryta...

A major difficulty encountered in ethnopharmacology concerns traditional herbal medicine combining several plants. In this case, it is difficult for the ethnopharmacologist to correlate the traditional use of plants with their therapeutic or chemical properties. The use of a combination of numerous plants as ingredients for each medicinal recipe is...

Le tiare tahiti, Gardenia taitensis DC. (Rubiacées), plante emblématique de Polynésie française, reste très peu étudié, à l’exception de ses molécules odorantes. Nous nous sommes intéressés à l’histoire de cette plante racontée par pas moins de 78 enquêtés et notamment aux savoirs traditionnels auxquels elle est associée. À travers 68 recettes diff...

The Tahitian Gardenia or tiare tahiti (Gardenia taitensis DC. - Rubiaceae) is, together with the coconut almond, one of the two ingredients of the designation of origin « Monoï de Tahiti ». It is also, among the scented plants, one of the most well-known for its fragrance and most appreciated for cosmetic or medicinal usage in Polynesian monoi prod...

Annoncée comme vouée à disparaître en 1979 [1], la médecine traditionnelle de Polynésie française demeurait en 1992 un mode de soin considéré comme aussi important que la médecine conventionnelle [2]. À ce jour, l’emploi de cette médecine persiste comme le confirme cette première enquête ethnopharmacologique réalisée sur les îles de Raiatea et de T...

Fehi bananas are a Pacific Islands and eastern Indonesian assemblage of parthenocarpic diploid and triploid cultivars in Musa series Australimusa. Fehi cultivars were derived principally from M. maclayi, M. lolodensis and M. bukensiss.l. and related entities. Eleven Fehi cultivar groups comprising morphologically similar cultivars are described, al...

Recent linguistic, morphological, and DNA studies have shown that the Polynesian hibiscus known as kautekoute, aute, and other cognatesis an undescribed eastern Polynesian Hibiscus species in sect. Lilibiscus. It is described here as Hibiscus kaute L.A.J. Thomson & Butaud, and appears to be extremely rare, if not extinct in the wild. The French bot...

A preliminary ethnopharmacological survey, achieved in French Polynesia, led to the collection of the most cited plants among 63 species used to treat “infectious” diseases, with a description of their medicinal uses. Bibliographical investigations and antimicrobial screening permitted the selection of the botanical species Syzygium malaccense (Myr...

Ethnopharmacological relevance In French Polynesia, many pathologies common or endemic to the territory cause diarrhea. This is the case for rotavirus gastroenteritis, salmonella food poisoning, ingestion of water contaminated by bacteria, and ciguatera. To treat these ailments, the population may employ traditional medicine for cultural reasons, g...

Title: Human impact decreases the predictive ability of island biogeography models: the case of Pacific atolls. Humans may alter natural biogeographic patterns through increasing species extinction rates, but it is not documented whether this change now overwhelms expected natural biogeographic patterns across islands. Atolls provide a useful syste...

Fagraea berteroana is a tree used in traditional medicine in various islands of the South Pacific. Here, we studied its hair growth-inducing properties as suggested by one of its Marquesan ethno-uses in haircare. The ethyl acetate extract of the fruits of F. berteroana (FEAE) and four resulting fractions (FEAE-F0, FEAE-F1, FEAE-F2, and FEAE-F3) wer...

Hair loss is becoming increasingly prevalent as dietary and living habits change. The search for natural products to limit hair loss has led to tapping into traditional cosmetic knowledge. We studied three plants of the Polynesian cosmetopoeia, Bidens pilosa, Calophyllum inophyllum and Fagraea berteroana, to determine their ability to promote hair...

Pupoidopsis hawaiensis Pilsbry & C.M. Cooke, 1921, and its monospecific genus, is the only representative of Pupillidae in tropical Pacific Islands. Although most of native species from that region are single island endemics, P. hawaiensis has been recorded from Hawaii to the Tuamotus. However, it has not been recorded alive since 1965. Here we rep...

A new species belonging to Rubiaceae, Psychotria niauensis Butaud & J.Florence, sp. nov., is described from the uplifted atoll of Niau in the Tuamotu archipelago in French Polynesia. Morphologically isolated in French Polynesia, this new species is close to P. leiophylla Merr. & L.M. Perry from Melanesia and Western Polynesia, a species linked with...

We document substantial and critical differences between the two populations of the fascinating genus Paladoxa, establish the validity and resurrect the name of a second species from synonymy, discuss molecular data, phylogeny and phytogeography, ethnobotany and conservation and what impact, if any, they might have had in its speciation and insular...

The new species Pandanus papateaensis Butaud, F. Jacq & Callm. (Pandanaceae) is described from the uplifted atoll of Makatea located in the Tuamotu Archipelago of French Polynesia. The new species can be distinguished from other Polynesian species by its completely fused drupes with usually two seminal chambers and by its reddish-brown to dark-purp...

When dealing with the taxonomy of Pacific coastal species within the region of New Caledonia and Vanuatu, one should examine all names published in Australasia and other Pacific islands. When the putative new species is also closely related to a highly praised ornamental species with many cultigens and with many old horticultural names, the task be...

The glucosinolate (GL) profiles in leaf and stem of Rorippa sarmentosa (G.Forst. ex DC.) J.F.Macbr., Lepidium bidentatum Montin var. bidentatum, and Capparis spinosa subsp. cordifolia (Lam.) Fici indigenous to French Polynesia were investigated for the first time using LC-MS analysis. In the present study, we have established the presence of 8 know...

Leaves (108 samples) of six Santalum insulare (Santalaceae) varieties, i.e. raivavense, margaretae, marchionense, raiateense, alticola, and insulare from French Polynesia, have been investigated for their O- and C-glycosylflavone contents. Apigenin-7-O-neohesperidoside was found in low amts. in all varieties except in some samples of variety insula...

Three qualities of Eastern Polynesian sandalwood oil were analyzed using GC and GC-MS. Sixty-six constituents were identified: 5 monoterpenes, 58 sesquiterpenes and 3 others. The main constituents of the essential oils were (Z)-α-santalol and (Z)-β-santalol. Beside chemical composition, olfactory evaluation and chiral gas chromatography of β- and e...

Two new dihydroxysesquiterpene derivatives, elvirenol (1) and elvirol (2), along with five known compounds, (Z)-2β-hydroxy-14-hydro-β-santalol (3), (Z)-2α-hydroxyalbumol (4), (Z)-campherene-2β,13-diol (5), bisabola-2,10-dien-7,13-diol (6) and 2R-(Z)-campherene-2,13-diol (7) were isolated from the n-hexane extract of Santalum insulare (Santalaceae)...

Aim The final island ontogeny of the general dynamic model (GDM) (i.e., before island submergence) in tropical oceans corresponds to the coral atoll stage. Here, we examined whether the species richness of native vascular plants (indigenous and endemic species) on atolls is controlled by spatial and/or physical processes. We also predicted that ato...

Calophyllum inophyllum L. (Calophyllaceae), locally called “tamanu” in French Polynesia, is an evergreen pantropical tree growing mostly along the seashores. Its barks, leaves, and fruits are still used in traditional medicine. The oil expressed from the nuts has been also traditionally used. Tamanu oil is topically applied on skins as well as muco...

Calophyllum inophyllum L. (Calophyllaceae), grown in French Polynesia, yield "tamanu oil" from its nuts which was traditionally used to heal skin ailments and affections and now recorded as an active cosmetic ingredient by the International Nomenclature of Cosmetic Ingredients [1]. The skin-active effect of "Tamanu Oil Emulsion" (TOE) was investiga...

Enregistré à la Présidence du Sénat le 1 er juin 2018 RAPPORT D´INFORMATION FAIT au nom de la délégation sénatoriale aux outre-mer sur les actes du colloque « Biodiversités du vaste Pacifique : quelle valorisation d'un endémisme exceptionnel ? » du 31 mai 2018, Par M. Michel MAGRAS, Sénateur

Souvent caricaturée à l'extrême sous la forme d'une forêt de palmiers niu (Paschalococos disperta) dominant un sous-bois arbustif de toromiro (Sophora toromiro), la végétation originelle de l'Île de Pâques était pourtant beaucoup plus diverse comme l'ont montré de nombreuses études paléoécologiques depuis la fin des années 1970, en identifiant plus...

Seedling transfer is commonly used for restoration ecology, however, still many projects do not take into consideration the risk of invasive species contaminants, especially invisible contaminants such as eggs, seeds, spores, mycelium, and small-sized organisms. Here we reviewed literature in order to provide a low cost and simple protocol to avoid...

Cette étude présente la faisabilité de translocation d’une espèce de ptilope sur l’atoll de Anaa pour rétablir la fonctionnalité de dispersion de graines par cet oiseau frugivore. Le ptilope des Tuamotu (Ptilinopus coralensis) qui devait être l’espèce présente dans le passé est à favoriser pour une réintroduction. La population de l’atoll de Niau q...

The Tahiti monarch (Pomarea nigra) is an endemic flycatcher of Tahiti Island critically endangered with extinction with less than 70 individuals living in 2017. The main threats are the invasive exotic species (IES) which predate them directly (rats, cats, alien birds) or which transforms their habitat (Miconia trees, goats, pigs, etc). The surviva...

The genus Pritchardia includes 27 species of fan palms, of which 24 are restricted to the Hawaiian Islands and three are widespread in the South Pacific – P. pacifica, presumably from Fiji but known exclusively from cultivated specimens, P. thurstonii from Fiji and Tonga, and P. mitiaroana from the Tuamotu Archipelago in French Polynesia and the Co...

Marquesas Islands (French Polynesia), have a strong culture which is still very conspicuous today. Natural fragrance is an important characteristic of Marquesan beauty concern, flowers and fragrant plants being omnipresent in traditional cosmetic preparations. This study, the first specific inquiries on the French Polynesian "cosmetopoeia", is base...

In this study, eight abiotic factors were tested to explain the spatial pattern of native vascular plant species richness on 49 remote atolls with complete botanical surveys in Eastern Polynesia (east Pacific Ocean). We hypothesize that native plant species richness on the atolls is influenced by simple atoll characteristics such as atoll area, sho...

Le Monarque de Tahiti ou ‘omama’o (Pomarea nigra) est classé en danger critique d’extinction (CR) d’après les critères de la liste rouge de l’UICN. Aujourd'hui Tahiti est envahie par les rats noirs qui dévastent ses nids, des oiseaux introduits qui perturbent sa reproduction, mangent ses poussins voire même les adultes. Des plantes invasives modifi...

Background: Cosmetic plants and their uses have often been neglected in ethnobotanical surveys which focus mainly on plants with medicinal or food uses. Thus, this survey was carried out to specifically investigate cosmetics in a small community and to establish a cosmetopoeia, based on the model of pharmacopoeia for medicinal plants. The geographi...

Les collections du Musée de Tahiti et des Iles ne se limitent plus aux objets ethnologiques figés ou aux échantillons d'herbier séchés. En effet, elles comportent aujourd'hui dans ses jardins plus de 200 espèces végétales bien vivantes et qui sont valorisées depuis 2015 par des cartels d'identification. Ces plantes ont, pour la plupart, été sélecti...

Study of herbarium specimens for Convolvulaceae from French Polynesia brought to light several specimens with a distinctive morphological appearance. These are here described as Stictocardia tiliifolia subsp. marquesensis, subsp. nov., from the Marquesas Islands. Morphological evidence is presented in support of this conclusion. Published on-line w...

Oil from the nuts of Calophyllum inophyllum, locally called "Tamanu oil" in French Polynesia, was traditionally used for wound healing and to cure various skin problems and ailments. The skin-active effect of "Tamanu oil emulsion" was investigated on human skin cells (keratinocytes and dermal fibroblasts) and showed cell proliferation, glycosaminog...

Résumé La cosmétopée concerne le recueil des usages traditionnels et des plantes employées en cosmétique. C’est un concept novateur à développer du fait qu’actuellement ce sujet est très peu documenté et les écrits peu disponibles, bien que les usages populaires des plantes pour la cosmétique aient toujours existé dans de nombreux pays et cultures...

Fitchia nutans (astéracée), plante d'un genre endémique de Polynésie française, autrefois utilisée traditionnellement pour les soins de la peau comme ingrédient des monoï sacrés, fait partie de la cosmétopée polynésienne. Les extraits de feuille de F. nutans ont été soumis à des tests d'activité anti-âge, sur explants de peau ex vivo montrant leurs...

Which abiotic factors influence the number of native plant species on remote atolls is an important question to understand better the spatial pattern of the species observed on these low and vulnerable coral islands. However, this issue is still very poorly documented, often due to human degradation, partial botanical surveys or the difficult geogr...

Sandalwoods encompass 19 species restricted to southeast Asia and the Pacific. The species Santalum austrocaledonicum Vieill. (Santalaceae) is endemic to New Caledonia (Grande-Terre, Isle of Pines, Loyalty Islands) and Vanuatu, where several varieties are recognized. The Loyalty Islands sandalwood variety is here reinstated as Santalum austrocaledo...

A new species of Stigmaphyllon (Malpighiaceae) is described: Stigmaphyllon patricianum-firmenichianum Butaud. It is restricted to the coral islands of Ouvéa, Lifou and Maré in the Loyalty Islands Province (New Caledonia) and is most similar to Stigmaphyllon discolor (Gand.) C.E.Anderson, known from New Caledonia and Solomon Islands. Previously, pla...

Des enquêtes ethnopharmacologiques ont été menées entre 2009 et 2012 dans la plupart des îles habitées de l'archipel des Marquises, afin d'étudier les pratiques thérapeutiques traditionnelles actuelles, en recueillant le nom des plantes, leurs usages, les modes de préparations des remèdes et la terminologie médicale marquisienne associée aux prépar...

The "strategic analysis" has been conducted in 2012-2014 as part of the process of creation of the Coral Sea nature park, an MPA located in New Caledonia. This document aims at giving a synthesis of the available knowledge and identifying key conservation and socio-economic issues that will be adressed by the Park's management plan in the future. A...

The first chapter of this booklet presents a synthesis of the management issues identified through the strategic analysis of the maritime space of New Caledonia, as a basis for the creation of the "Coral Sea Nature Park" in New Caledonia, one of the biggest MPA in the world in 2014. The second part of the book presents the boundaries, the manageme...

Ce guide présente 248 espèces végétales se dévelop-pant sur les îles de Hiva Oa, Tahuata et Fatuiva. Il s'agit de la quasi-totalité des plantes reconnues et nommées par les habitants de ces trois îles. Parmi ces 248 espèces, 101 sont des plantes indigènes, 65 sont des introductions polynésiennes et 82 sont des introductions modernes. Les espèces, o...

Ce petit guide présente un peu plus de 150 espèces se développant sur les atolls soulevés de Makatea (mkt), Niau (niau) et Anaa (anaa). Il s'agit de la to-talité des plantes indigènes connues à ce jour sur ces atolls ainsi que les autres plantes locales considé-rées comme ayant été introduites lors des migrations polynésiennes. Par ailleurs, quelqu...

Ce guide présente 232 espèces végétales se développant sur les îles de Rimatara (rmt), Rurutu (rur), Tubuai (tub) et Raivavae (rvv). Il s'agit de la quasi-totalité des plantes reconnues et nommées en langues vernaculaires par les habitants de ces quatre îles. Parmi ces espèces, 111 sont des plantes indigènes, 75 des introductions polynésiennes et 8...

Ce guide présente 230 espèces végétales se dévelop-pant sur les îles de Nuku Hiva (nkh), Ua Huka (uh) et Ua Pou (up). Il s'agit de la quasi-totalité des plantes reconnues et nommées par les habitants de ces trois îles. Parmi ces 230 espèces, 105 consistent en des plantes indigènes, 65 en des introductions polynésiennes et 60 en des introductions mo...

Hatuta‘a (or Hatutu) is a small, remote, uninhabited island located in the northern Marquesas Islands (French Polynesia) that supports a rich seabird assemblage of at least 15 breeding species and four landbird species, including the largest population of the rare Marquesas Ground Dove Gallicolumba rubescens. We present data collected from 1922 to...

The flora and vegetation types of the seven uninhabited islands of the Marquesas archipelago have been intensively studied through literature and field surveys. They have been assessed with regard to their species richness and originality, the indigenous nature of their vegetation, and the human activities which have caused significant disturbances...

Only a few of the 76 atolls in the Tuamotu Archipelago have a monograph summarizing their fauna and flora. The classics are for Raroia Atoll (Morrison, 1954) and for Moruroa Atoll (Chevalier et al. 1968). This type of synthesis is important, plus its accessibility via published journals or "online" is indispensable. Of primary importance is buildin...

A reassessment of collections of Marquesan Apocynaceae assigned to the genera Neisosperma Raf., Ochrosia Juss., and Rauvolfia L. revealed that two nomenclatural changes are necessary: 1) transfer of Neisosperma brownii Fosberg & Sachet to the genus Ochrosia, as Ochrosia brownii (Fosberg & Sachet) Lorence & Butaud, comb. nov., and 2) transfer of Och...

We surveyed wildlife species on Hatu-iti, a small, remote island in the northern Marquesas Islands of French Polynesia. Our visits during 2009 and 2010 were the first by a group of avian researchers since the 1922 Whitney South Seas Expedition. We recorded 23 species of birds, including 16 breeding species, and several insect and lizard species. Ou...

Le santal polynésien (Santalum insulare) endémique de Polynésie orientale a fait l’objet de recherches pluridisciplinaires menées en collaboration par plusieurs organismes de recherche et de développement : Université de la Polynésie française (UPF), Centre de coopération internationale en recherche agronomique pour le développement (CIRAD) et Serv...

Pritchardia comprises 27 species of solitary, small to large, palmate-leaved, unarmed, pleonanthic, hermaphroditic, tree palms restricted to islands of the South Pacific (3 spp.) and Hawaii (24 spp.). In the most recent classification of the palm family, Pritchardia is in the Livistoninae subtribe of the Livistoneae tribe in the Coryphoideae subfam...

Although rats have clearly contributed to bird extinctions on islands, their role in plant extinctions is not as clear. Paleoenvironmental studies suggest rats were responsible for the demise of several island palm species. French Polynesia’s islands provide an opportunity to evaluate “modern” impacts of rats on native flora. Our study shows that 1...

Overexploited for its fragrant heartwood during the 19th century,the Polynesian sandalwood (Santalum insulare) is now an endangered tree scattered among the islands of Eastern Polynesia where several botanical varieties are recognized [1 In order to sustainably manage this natural resource, chemodiversity approach was carried out to highlight resta...