C.R, Long 
19d5 
Phoenix Island illustrates very well the importance of localized topo¬ 
graphical features in the distribution of the plant and animal life. In 
islands only a few feet above sea level the disposition and placement of 
the parent materials whether it be slab beach rock, sand, windblown sand pockets 
inner flat gravel or rock terraces, slopes of various degree with varieties of 
surface and subsurface components, height of lagoon floor above sea level, 
presence or absence of raised heads in the lagqon with fossil marine material 
- all play a role in the present distribution of vegetation and animals on 
these islands. Certainly the exposure of these components to the sometimes 
violent action of wave and wind (not to mention the more even, predictable 
action Oj. these forces) and the equally unsettling action of man whether it 
be construction dictated by military expediency or digging fertilizer for the 
1 arms will determine to a largeextont the distribution and sum total of living 
things to be found. Not to be disregarded are the slight earth tremors or high 
waves which might effect the height of the entire island or its parts and the 
deposition of new material on the peripheral part of' the island or on the 
interior. 
