4 ms·
> they say that stowaway rats that accompanied the original Polynesian settlers to the island were largely responsible for the rapid deforestation that happened
by azakai 11y ago
> they say that stowaway rats that accompanied the original Polynesian settlers to the island were largely responsible for the rapid deforestation that happened there
How would rats cause deforestation, especially rapid deforestation?
- INTPenis 11y agoAnd how could you miss a rat in a canoe for 1000 miles? In a european medieval ship I can see it happening but there's no evidence that these people built anything more than tree trunk canoes.
- jvdh 11y agoThat is the point, the rats would have been introduced by the Europeans when they visited.
- azakai 11y agoNo, the quote says the original Polynesian settlers brought the rats, not the much later-arriving Europeans in larger ships.
- versteegen 11y agoThey may well have been intentionally introduced. Here in New Zealand the Maori ate polynesian rats, and have a legend about how they were brought here [1]. Who knows whether the legend is based on an intentional introduction or not, but it seems likely. 1: http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/1966/rat-maori http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/1966/rat-maori
- markdown 11y agoDrua could be up to 30m long and could carry 200 people. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drua https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drua
- gyardley 11y agoPolynesian rats eat palm seeds, roots, and sprouts. That's not going to kill a mature tree, but it'll keep trees from replenishing themselves. According to the theory, when the rats were introduced to Easter Island, where they had no natural predators, the rat population did exactly what you'd expect. Only issue I see with this theory - there were other types of trees on Easter Island, including trees Polynesian rats don't eat.