Search

Islands make up a large proportion of Earth's biodiversity, yet are also some of the most sensitive systems to environmental perturbation. Biogeographic theory predicts that geologic age, area, and isolation typically drive islands' diversity patterns, and thus potentially impact non‐native spread and community homogenization across island systems. One limitation in testing such predictions has been the difficulty of performing comprehensive inventories of island biotas and distinguishing native from introduced taxa. Here, we use DNA metabarcoding and statistical modelling as a high throughput method to survey community‐wide arthropod richness, the proportion of native and non‐native species, and the incursion of non‐natives into primary habitats on three archipelagos in the Pacific – the Ryukyus, the Marianas and Hawaii – which vary in age, isolation and area. Diversity patterns largely match expectations based on island biogeography theory, with the oldest and most geographically connected archipelago, the Ryukyus, showing the highest taxonomic richness and lowest proportion of introduced species. Moreover, we find evidence that forest habitats are more resilient to incursions of non‐natives in the Ryukyus than in the less taxonomically rich archipelagos. Surprisingly, we do not find evidence for biotic homogenization across these three archipelagos: the assemblage of non‐native species on each island is highly distinct. Our study demonstrates the potential of DNA metabarcoding to facilitate rapid estimation of biogeographic patterns, the spread of non‐native species, and the resilience of ecosystems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Preventing weight regain after the loss of excess weight is challenging for people, especially for ethnic minorities in the United States. A 6-month weight loss maintenance intervention designed for Pacific Islanders, called the PILI Lifestyle Program (PLP), was compared with a 6-month standard behavioral weight loss maintenance program (SBP) in a pilot randomized controlled trial using a community-based participatory research approach. Adult Pacific Islanders (N = 144) were randomly assigned to either PLP (n = 72) or SBP (n = 72) after completing a 3-month weight loss program. Successful weight maintenance was defined as participants' postintervention weight change remaining less than or equal to 3% of their preintervention mean weight. Both PLP and SBP participants achieved significant weight loss maintenance (p less than or equal to 0.05). Among participants who completed at least half of the prescribed sessions, PLP participants were 5.1-fold (95% confidence interval = 1.06, 24; p = 0.02) more likely to have maintained their initial weight loss than SBP participants. The pilot PLP shows promise as a lifestyle intervention to address the obesity disparities of Pacific Islanders and thus warrants further investigation. (Contains 1 figure and 5 tables.)

The article talks about the Pacific Island Food Models developed by the Center for Native and Pacific Health Disparities Research in the Department of Native Hawaiian Health at the John A. Burns School of Medicine in 2004 for nutrition education and counseling among Native Hawaiians and other Pacific Islanders (NHOPI). Topics discussed include prevalence of obesity, diabetes, and heart disease among NHOPI, and designing of the PIFM Toolkit including custom-manufactured food models for NHOPI.