Contributions of paleoecology to Easter Island’s prehistory: A thorough review

Rull, Valentı́

doi:10.1016/j.quascirev.2020.106751

Cited by 18 publications

(19 citation statements)

References 101 publications

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“…Similar collapsing processes occurred in, e.g. the Roman Empire, Greenland-Iceland Norse culture [ 15 ] and Easter Island in the Pacific Ocean [ 16 , 17 ]…”

mentioning

confidence: 79%

Catastrophic climate change and the collapse of human societies

Peñuelas

Nogué

2023

National Science Review

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“…Similar collapsing processes occurred in, e.g. the Roman Empire, Greenland-Iceland Norse culture [ 15 ] and Easter Island in the Pacific Ocean [ 16 , 17 ]…”

mentioning

confidence: 79%

Catastrophic climate change and the collapse of human societies

Peñuelas

Nogué

2023

National Science Review

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“…Since the pioneering efforts of Heyerdahl and Ferdon (1961) and Flenley and King (1984) through more recently published analyses (See Rull, 2021, for a review), the temporal resolution of the pollen records performed on sedimentary cores used to infer landscape changes has improved significantly. As documented by Margalef et al.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Clarifying the Role of ENSO on Easter Island Precipitation Changes: Potential Environmental Implications for the Last Millennium

Delcroix

Michel

Swingedouw

et al. 2022

Paleoceanog and Paleoclimatol

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El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) events yield precipitation deficits and ensuing droughts, often damaging regional forests, in many parts of the world. The relative roles of ENSO, other natural climate changes, and anthropogenic factors on the forest clearing of Easter Island over the last millennium are still debated. Here, we analyze Easter Island precipitation changes using in situ, satellite‐derived and reanalysis products spanning the last 4–7 decades, and 46 monthly 156‐year‐long (1850–2014) simulations derived from 25 CMIP5 and 21 CMIP6 (Coupled Model Intercomparison Project phases 5 and 6) General Circulation Models. Our analysis shows that La Niña events, the cold phases of ENSO, cause precipitation deficits of −0.2 to −0.3 standard deviation (relative to long‐term mean) in all analyzed data types. ENSO‐like events are further examined over the last millennium (850–1981). A new multiproxy reconstruction of the NINO3.4 index based on proxy records from the Past Global Changes 2k database and Random Forest method is produced. Our reconstruction reveals unusual high recurrences of La Niña‐like situations during the fifteenth to seventeenth centuries, which likely induced significant precipitation deficits on the island. These situations are compared to published vegetation reconstructions based on pollen analyses derived from sedimentary cores collected in three island sites. We conclude the environmental consequences of cumulative precipitation deficits over long‐lasting La Niña‐like situations reconstructed here over the fifteenth to seventeenth centuries were likely favoring drought and forest flammability. La Niña events should be better accounted for among the causes of forest clearing on Easter Island.

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“…Last‐millennium climatic, ecological and cultural shifts on Easter Island with emphasis on the Little Ice Age (LIA) drought bracketed by dashed lines (climatic phases after Nunn, 2007). (a) Summary of vegetation and cultural developments mentioned in the text (Rull, 2021). A, Aroi mire; K, Lake Kao; R, Lake Raraku; TD, total island deforestation.…”

Section: Figurementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Until recently, these interpretations were based on a few paleoecological, mostly palynological, records by a single research team. Regarding the potential causes for the Rapa Nui LIA drought, it was observed that this event occurred during a prolonged dominance of La Niña conditions but no further considerations were made (Rull, 2021). In the last few years, additional independent evidence for the LIA drought from other proxies and research teams has emerged that supports the occurrence of this climatic reversal across the island and sheds light on its potential causes, in terms of the climatic mechanisms involved.…”

Section: Figurementioning

confidence: 99%

“…More recently, Delcroix et al (2022) have suggested that the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) variability could be an important driver of the Rapa Nui climate, especially in relation to the occurrence of century-scale aridity phases. This statement is based on the observation that, during the last 4-7 decades, the colder ENSO phases known as the La Niña events have caused significant (Rull, 2021). A, Aroi mire; K, Lake Kao; R, Lake Raraku; TD, total island deforestation.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Contributions of paleoecology to Easter Island’s prehistory: A thorough review

Cited by 18 publications

References 101 publications

Catastrophic climate change and the collapse of human societies

Catastrophic climate change and the collapse of human societies

Clarifying the Role of ENSO on Easter Island Precipitation Changes: Potential Environmental Implications for the Last Millennium

The Rapa Nui Little Ice Age drought: Evidence, potential causes and socioecological impact

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