How Ecoststems Work

How Ecosystems Work

Good morning ladies and gentleman, today we will be discussing the social factors that brought about the collapse of the Easter Island civilization. Easter Island is an island located in the Pacific about 2,000 miles west of the coast of Chile (www.abc.net.au/science/features/societies/default.htm). It is also about 1,250 miles away from the nearest inhabitable land. As we know Easter Island is famous for it’s out of the way location or remoteness. However, it is also known for the deforestation and the housing of thousands of stone statues. Easter Island was once dominated by the world’s largest palm tree and forestry covered the land (www.sciencemang.org).

Easter Island was once a promising society in which now has become something of a waste. Easter Island is considered dry land with about 40 inches of rain per year (www.abc.net.au/science/features/societies/default.htm).

Farmers use to plant crops between the giant palms that provided shade, fertilizer and soil protection. The giant palm trees provided food and nutrients distributing out 400 liters of sap from each tree (www.sciencemag.org). They also provided nuts and palm hearts that were used to produce; baskets, sails and mats (www.abc.net.au/science/features/societies/default.htm). The trees also yielded fruits that you could, fiber to make ropes, bark cloth for clothing and wood for canoes, levers, and carvings (www.sciencemag.org). The stone statues were about 80 tons in which the Polynesians moved and raised them by hand or by pure muscle (www.abc.net.au/science/features/societies/default.htm).

When the Polynesians settled in Easter Island they began to clear areas by cutting down the trees to cultivate their gardens. They cleared the forest for firewood and to make large rollers and levers to move their statues, fuel for heating and cooking; construction material for household goods and pole-and-thatch houses; and canoes for fishing (www.blurtit.com/q940545.html)....