Post #202104 by christiki295 on Wed, Dec 7, 2005 6:57 PM

Here is an interesting model re issues of rats on Easter Island:

1. Rats have a positive effect on people births. The birth rate of people will increase with more rats (and the birth rate will decrease if rats are low).

2. Rats have a negative effect on human death. The death rate of people will increase if rats are too low.

3. People have a positive effect on the harvesting of trees. People cut down more trees because they need them for fishing and to cultivate land for crops.

4. Rats have a negative effect on the rate of palm fruit germination. The percentage of new palm seeds that germinate successfully is decreased by the number of rats because the rats chew on the seeds.

5. Palm trees have a positive effect on rat births, because the rats eat the palm fruit.

http://web.pdx.edu/~rueterj/courses/casestudies/easterisland/case1-easterisland.html

Mahalo, Filslash.