atoll research bulletin no. 392 the flora of - Smithsonian Institution ...

mortality (Zimmet et al. 1977, 1978; Speake et al. 1979; Taylor 1983; Coyne 1984;
Thaman 1982, 1983, 1985, 1988a).
In terms of Nauru's economic future, the phosphate deposits on Nauru are
projected to be depleted shortly after the turn of the century. Fortunately, a significant
proportion of recent phosphate returns have been wisely invested in overseas properties,
businesses and investment funds to provide income in post-phosphate-mining Nauru. A
further source of income is derived from Nauru's status as a "financial center" or "tax
haven" for overseas companies wishing to register there. Finally, negotiations and
litigation arising out of a recent Commission of Inquiry into the Rehabilitation of the
Worked-out Phosphate Lands in Nauru to determine culpability and the extent of damages
to the Nauruan culture and environment are currently in process and could lead to
substantial payments to Nauru and the development of plans for the rehabilitation of the
island.
Impact on the Flora
Due to environmental factors described above - extreme isolation from major plant
source regions, small island size, extremely poor soils, and climatic and physiological
drought - the indigenous flora of Nauru is among the poorest and most restricted on
earth. Moreover, the long settlement history, widespread destruction during World War
11, monocultural expansion of coconut palms as the sole cash crop, increasing ur-
banization and contact with, and importation of plants from the outside world, and over
75 years of open-cast phosphate mining (in Nauru and Banaba), have all played a role in
the serious degradation, disturbance, and displacement of the indigenous flora and
vegetation.
VEGETATION TYPES
The terrestrial primary vegetation types of Nauru are limited to:
1. coastal strand vegetation;
2. limited areas of mangroves and coastal marsh vegetation;
3. relict stands of inland forest; and,
4. limestone escarpment or pinnacle vegetation.
Secondary and cultural vegetation types include:
1. coconut-palm-dominated lands under various degrees of maintenance;