PRECIPITATION introduc tion 
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On Howland and other similar atolls just south of the equator one 
of the most potent factors in influencing the flora, and fauna 01 the island 
is the extreme fluctuation in rainfall from year to year • Sometimes more 
than a year may elapse with no rain ate at all. In other times more than 
the s nrerrsrg gy annual average may fall in one month. Under such conditions 
the general aspect is much drier than than the average annual rainfall would 
suggest. And the luxuriance may vary so much that discretions written severa 
val years apart scarcely sound as though the same island were described. On 
islands with large populations ftf sea hirda the injurious effects of high con 
srarar centrations of guano seem to he greatly accentuated by these severe dry 
periods. Trees may be severely damaged or killed, as was the case witht the 
Eou trees, on Howland. (I’osberg, 1953) 
