{"id":534,"date":"2013-06-04T01:12:12","date_gmt":"2013-06-04T01:12:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/imaginaisladepascua.com\/?page_id=534"},"modified":"2023-11-02T16:17:27","modified_gmt":"2023-11-02T16:17:27","slug":"easter-island-flora","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/imaginarapanui.com\/en\/easter-island-flora\/","title":{"rendered":"Easter Island Flora"},"content":{"rendered":"<h1>Easter Island Flora<\/h1>\n<figure><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" aligncenter wp-image-4500\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/imaginarapanui.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/Flora3.jpg?resize=600%2C339&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Easter Island flora\" width=\"600\" height=\"339\" \/><\/figure>\n<!-- Widget Shortcode --><div id=\"custom_html-13\" class=\"widget_text widget widget_custom_html widget-shortcode area-arbitrary \"><div class=\"textwidget custom-html-widget\"><div class=\"content-box-redes-sociales\"><div class=\"addtoany_shortcode\"><div class=\"a2a_kit a2a_kit_size_32 addtoany_list\"><a class=\"a2a_button_whatsapp\" href=\"https:\/\/www.addtoany.com\/add_to\/whatsapp?linkurl=&amp;linkname=\" title=\"WhatsApp\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><\/a><a class=\"a2a_button_facebook\" href=\"https:\/\/www.addtoany.com\/add_to\/facebook?linkurl=&amp;linkname=\" title=\"Facebook\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><\/a><a class=\"a2a_button_x\" href=\"https:\/\/www.addtoany.com\/add_to\/x?linkurl=&amp;linkname=\" title=\"X\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><\/a><a class=\"a2a_button_email\" href=\"https:\/\/www.addtoany.com\/add_to\/email?linkurl=&amp;linkname=\" title=\"Email\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><\/a><a class=\"a2a_dd addtoany_share_save addtoany_share\" href=\"https:\/\/www.addtoany.com\/share\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><!-- \/Widget Shortcode -->\n<p>Easter Island flora doesn&#8217;t have a great variety, unlike the other Polynesian islands. <a href=\"https:\/\/imaginarapanui.com\/en\/\">The island<\/a> is 90% covered by grassland, 5% by wooded land or crops and the remaining 5 % by sparse vegetation.<\/p>\n<p>However, botanical and archaeological studies indicate that the vegetation wasn&#8217;t always like this. In the last 40,000 years there have been great changes in the abundance and distribution of the flora. Among them, it is of importance to point out the existence of vast forests surrounding the big <a title=\"Easter Island Volcanoes\" href=\"https:\/\/imaginarapanui.com\/en\/easter-island-sightseeing\/easter-island-volcanoes\/\">volcanoes<\/a>.<\/p>\n<!-- Widget Shortcode --><div id=\"text-47\" class=\"widget widget_text widget-shortcode area-arbitrary \">\t\t\t<div class=\"textwidget\"><p style=\"text-align: center; font-size: 0.7em; color: #c4c4c4; margin-top: 40px; margin-bottom: 5px;\">ADVERTISING<\/p>\r\n<div class=\"anuncio\">\r\n<script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-9974337153208599\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<!-- Banner_Central Rapa Nui -->\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:inline-block;width:300px;height:250px\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-9974337153208599\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"4035446418\"><\/ins>\r\n<script>\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div><!-- \/Widget Shortcode -->\n<p>With the arrival of the first Polynesian settlers in the 5th century AD, the ecosystem suffered great changes. New species were introduced, such as yams or uhi (Discorea Alata), the taro (Colocasia Esculenta), the sugar cane or Toa (Sacharum Officinarum), the Maika or plantain, the sweet potato or kumara (Ipomoea Batatas), the pumpkin or Hue or the Mako&#8217;i.<\/p>\n<p>They used systems like the \u201cManavai\u201d, small gardens surrounded by stone walls of different shapes and sizes, where they planted the more fragile species to protect them from the wind and conserve their moisture at the same time.<\/p>\n<figure style=\"width: 590px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/imaginarapanui.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/Flora1.jpg?resize=600%2C339&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"easter island flora manavai\" width=\"600\" height=\"339\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Manavai<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The \u201cPu\u201d was another system used to preserve the flora, which were holes in the ground of about 50 to 60 centimeters in diameter located in rocky places. You could see plants like the taro and \u201cuhi\u201d in these.<\/p>\n<p>Unfortunately, the Polynesians used the slash and burn system for their intensive agriculture, which led to the extinction of species like the island&#8217;s endemic palm tree (Paschalococos Disperta) and the Sandalwood. Simultaneously, the arrival of the Polynesian rat, which bred thanks to the lack of predators, contributed to the loss of species due to the fact that they fed mainly on seeds and palm tree coconuts.<\/p>\n<p>It&#8217;s believed that the excessive use of wood in the great megalithic constructions may have led to the extinction of the forests, since they used enormous amounts of palm trunks and rope made from the bark of the Hau Hau (Triumfffeta Semitriloba).<\/p>\n<p>When the first Europeans navigators arrived in the 18th century, they noticed the poor vegetation of the island, describing some small wooded masses of Toromiro, Mako&#8217;i and Ahu Ahu.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_4499\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-4499\" style=\"width: 590px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-4499 \" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/imaginarapanui.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/Flora2.jpg?resize=600%2C386&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"easter island flora toromiro\" width=\"600\" height=\"386\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-4499\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Toromiro tree<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>During the 19th century, new vegetable species were introduced and intensive sheep breeding began, rushing the extinction of the few surviving endemic species such as the Sandalwood, the toromiro tree, and the Hau Hau.<\/p>\n<p>Currently, a total of 212 different plant species have been identified, of which 46 are native and 166 were introduced to the island at different times in <a title=\"Easter Island History\" href=\"https:\/\/imaginarapanui.com\/en\/easter-island-history\/\">Easter Island&#8217;s history<\/a>. The latter dominate the island\u2019s current terrain, with the Eucalyptus, Melias, and guavas standing out.<\/p>\n<figure style=\"width: 590px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" \" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/imaginarapanui.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/Flora4.jpg?resize=600%2C339&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Erythrina flower on the way to Terevaka easter island flora\" width=\"600\" height=\"339\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Erythrina flower on the way to Terevaka<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Certain parts of the island are presently undergoing environmental restoration. This involves increasing reforestation, controlling the erosion and protecting the biodiversity, as well as channeling the tourism flow through paths so that they\u2019ll only travel along these.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s important to educate and spread environmental consciousness among the island\u2019s visitants so that they\u2019ll be careful of the vegetation and to restore endangered species, as has been done recently with the toromiro tree and the Moka&#8217;i. We encourage you to follow the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.conaf.cl\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">CONAF<\/a> staff\u2019s instructions on how to contribute and maintain such a fragile ecosystem as Rapa Nui\u2019s.<\/p>\n<p><!-- Widget Shortcode --><div id=\"text-15\" class=\"widget widget_text widget-shortcode area-arbitrary \">\t\t\t<div class=\"textwidget\"><p style=\"text-align: center; font-size: 0.7em; color: #c4c4c4; margin-top: 40px; margin-bottom: 5px;\">ADVERTISING<\/p>\r\n<div class=\"anuncio_the_moneytizer\" id=\"83795-19\" style=\"text-align: center; margin-top: 5px; margin-bottom: 30px;\"><script src=\"\/\/ads.themoneytizer.com\/s\/gen.js?type=19\"><\/script><script src=\"\/\/ads.themoneytizer.com\/s\/requestform.js?siteId=83795&formatId=19\"><\/script><\/div>\r\n<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div><!-- \/Widget Shortcode --><br \/>\n<!-- Widget Shortcode --><div id=\"custom_html-13\" class=\"widget_text widget widget_custom_html widget-shortcode area-arbitrary \"><div class=\"textwidget custom-html-widget\"><div class=\"content-box-redes-sociales\"><div class=\"addtoany_shortcode\"><div class=\"a2a_kit a2a_kit_size_32 addtoany_list\"><a class=\"a2a_button_whatsapp\" href=\"https:\/\/www.addtoany.com\/add_to\/whatsapp?linkurl=&amp;linkname=\" title=\"WhatsApp\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><\/a><a class=\"a2a_button_facebook\" href=\"https:\/\/www.addtoany.com\/add_to\/facebook?linkurl=&amp;linkname=\" title=\"Facebook\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><\/a><a class=\"a2a_button_x\" href=\"https:\/\/www.addtoany.com\/add_to\/x?linkurl=&amp;linkname=\" title=\"X\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><\/a><a class=\"a2a_button_email\" href=\"https:\/\/www.addtoany.com\/add_to\/email?linkurl=&amp;linkname=\" title=\"Email\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><\/a><a class=\"a2a_dd addtoany_share_save addtoany_share\" href=\"https:\/\/www.addtoany.com\/share\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><!-- \/Widget Shortcode --><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Easter Island Flora Easter Island flora doesn&#8217;t have a great variety, unlike the other Polynesian islands. The island is 90% covered by grassland, 5% by wooded land or crops and the remaining 5 % by sparse vegetation. However, botanical &#8230; <a title=\"Easter Island Flora\" class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/imaginarapanui.com\/en\/easter-island-flora\/\" aria-label=\"Read more about Easter Island Flora\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"_bos_mb_destination":[""],"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-534","page","type-page","status-publish","no-featured-image-padding"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/imaginarapanui.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/534","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/imaginarapanui.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/imaginarapanui.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/imaginarapanui.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/imaginarapanui.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=534"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/imaginarapanui.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/534\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25123,"href":"https:\/\/imaginarapanui.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/534\/revisions\/25123"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/imaginarapanui.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=534"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}