The Flora of Tuvalu: Lakau Mo Mouku o Tuvalu

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The Flora of Tuvalu: Lakau Mo Mouku o Tuvalu

Thaman 2016. ATOLL RESEARCH BULLETIN NO. 611

This paper is a compilation and analysis of vascular plants that have been reported present on the eight atolls of the independent nation of Tuvalu in the Central Pacific. It is based on field inventories conducted by the author and collaborators between 1991 and 2016 plus available published and unpublished records of vascular plant collections and observations made since the late 1800s. The indigenous vegetation and flora of Tuvalu are highly disturbed and the flora is now numerically dominated by introduced exotic species. This has been the result of a long post–European contact and British colonial heritage, including over a century of planting monocultural coconut plantations; extensive habitat destruction, excavation and conversion of much of the best cultivable land from “borrow pits” to build airstrips during World War II; rapid population growth, including the migration from outer atolls to, and the expansion of, the main settlement and government center on Funafuti Atoll; and increased shipping and air services and agricultural development projects that have facilitated the introduction of new plants.