Islets of many different age and size classes provide 

 excellent examples of soil and vegetation development, 

 accompanied by an increasing diversity of bird life. 

 On account of its relatively low human disturbance and rapid 

 recovery to a more natural state, especially over the last 

 70 years, Caroline is one of the few Pacific islands that is truly 

 an "outdoor ecological laboratory." Many of its disturbed 

 islets have recovered so remarkably they are almost 

 indistinguishable from those that have remained pristine. 



An analysis of ecological succession on motus of increasing 

 size reveals that by the time a motu reaches 0.8 ha in size, all 

 the natural plant communities, most plant species, and most 

 species of seabirds are present. This is in striking contrast to 

 species-area relationships on inhabited atolls with more 

 introduced plant species. 



Foreach motu, the main physiographic features, vegetation 

 patterns, seabird colonies, miscellaneous biota (coconut crabs 

 and rats), and the effects of human activity (if any), are 

 described in detail. Included are vegetation maps for each 

 motu, and tables and figures relating to species-area 

 relationships. 



Permanent protection of Caroline is currently being sought 

 by The Nature Conservancy of Hawaii as it negotiates with the 

 government of Kiribati for a Southern Line Islands Wildlife 

 Preserve, which includes Caroline, Vostok, and Flint. 



Geography 



Caroline Atoll* (Chapter Frontispiece; Figs. 1,2) is a 

 small, low coral atoll situated at LOWS latitude, 150°13'W 

 longitude in the south-central Pacific Ocean. It lies 2.800 km 

 south of Hawaii. 830 km north of Tahiti, and 1 .030 km west of 

 the Marquesas Islands. Its nearest neighbors are Vostok and 

 Flint, 230 km to the west and southwest, respectively. 



A recent geographic survey of Caroline by the ICBP 1990 

 Line and Phoenix Islands Expedition, using a compact satellite 

 navigation computer, indicates that the atoll lies one nautical 

 mile east of its previously charted longitude position, 1 50° 1 4" W. 

 Its range of coordinates are 09°54' to 10°01'S latitude and 

 150°12'to 1 50° 14'W longitude. The actual coordinates given. 

 10°00'S and 150°13'W, intersect in the lower lagoon just west 

 of the "blind passage." 



Caroline is the southeasternmost of the Line Group 

 (Fig. 1 ), a widely scattered group of five atolls, five islands, and 

 two submerged reefs lying in the south-central Pacific Ocean 

 between 06°N and 12°S latitude and 162 and 1 50°W longitude. 

 Scattered across 250.000 km 2 of ocean, the Line Group falls 

 naturally into two parts: the Northern Line Islands, four atolls 

 and one reef north of the equator, and the Southern Line 

 Islands, five islands, one atoll, and one reef to its south. The 

 name, Line Group, reflects its equator-straddling location. 



■Note: Caroline Atoll is neither physically, geographically, 

 nor politically associated with the Caroline Islands, now part of 

 the Federated States of Micronesia, more than 6.000 km to the 

 northwest. Because of this confusion, we use the name "Caroline 

 Atoll" instead of "Caroline Island." 



Although archaeologically and geographically within 

 Polynesia, the Line Group was uninhabited when discovered 

 by Europeans; its islands have been variously claimed by the 

 United States and England. With the exception of US-owned 

 Jarvis, Palmyra, and Kingman Reef, all are now governed by 

 the Republic of Kiribati (formerly Gilbert Islands). 



Caroline. 9.7 km long by 2.3 km wide at its widest point, 

 is a crescentic coral ring 26.9 km in circumference. It is 

 composed of 39 islets (Fig. 2) and a few incipient islets, 

 centered on a continuous reef flat, submerged at high tide, that 

 encloses a relatively shallow lagoon. The total land area above 

 high water is 399 ha. Entirely of coralline origin, its geology, 

 soils, climate, and vegetation are typical of low-latitude atolls. 

 It is relatively unmodified by man. 



History of Caroline Atoll 



Pre-European History: Tuamotuan Period 



Centuries before Europeans encountered Caroline, this 

 lonely atoll was inhabited by Polynesians. No oral traditions of 

 this occupation are known, but evidence of former habitation 

 was evident when de Quiros found the atoll in 1606. He noted 

 "an old canoe, lying on her side." and a small grove of coconuts 

 planted on South Island (Bennett. 1840; Markham. 1904). 



No further clues to the atoll" s early history were unearthed 

 until Messrs. Brown, Brothers, and Arundel exposed about 50 

 ancient Polynesian sites in the 1870's while digging for guano 

 (Holden, 1884; Arundel, 1890). Although the largest two were 

 marked as "graves" on Arundel's 1883 map (Fig. 4). no bones, 

 ashes, or human remains were found. Natives living on 

 Caroline called them "marai" (marae). Arundel photographed 

 and drew plans of them (Fig. 3): depicted are a platform of coral 

 and conglomerate rock, surrounded by 10 smaller slabs 

 resembling gravestones, all arranged in a rectangular plan. 

 Their findings were later identified as Tuamotuan manic 

 ( Emory. 1 947). Manic, according to ancient belief, "bound the 

 ancestral spirits and gods of the kindred to the land, putting it 

 under their eternal guardianship" (Emory. 1947). The largest 

 manic was on northwest Nake Island, and a smaller one was 

 found near the southern tip of Long Island. Both locations 

 conform to such prerequisites for building manic as nearby 

 shorelines and birds ( see Description and Ecology of the Motus 

 section [Nake Island]), which Tuamotuans believed housed 

 divine spirits (Emory, 1947. p. 123). Although members of the 

 ICBP 1990 Line and Phoenix Islands Expedition located them 

 and took photographs and measurements of the Nake site 

 (PI. 36). no field work by archaeologists has been conducted. 



Post-European History: 17th to 19th Centuries 



On 21 February 1606. the Portuguese explorer Pedro 

 Fernandez de Quiros. employed by Spain, "discovered" Caroline 

 Atoll (Markham. 1904; Stevens & Barwick. 1930). naming it 

 San Bernardo. Despite its remote location. Caroline was 

 encountered early in Pacific history, long before Tahiti. 

 Rarotonga, and Hawaii. This is possibly due to its location, for 

 early navigators tended to sail due west from South America 

 along lines of latitude, and 10 S was an obvious choice. De 

 Quiros. the last ad\ enturer in the Spanish age of discovery, was 



