Well, I thought it was well-known why there were no trees on Easter Island.

According to http://www.unmuseum.org/easteri.htm

"Now archaeologists exploring Easter have pieced together a history that is
almost as strange as an alien encounter and perhaps more frightening. 

Archaeologists have done this by taking a "core" of the ground under a swamp or
pond and looking at the pollen grains found there. Grains are dated by a method
known as radiocarbon dating, and the number of grains found indicate how numerous
the plant was at that particular time in history. Archaeologists have also
examined trash pits left by humans to understand what they were up to during
different periods of Easter Island history."
[snip]
"The Islanders started chopping down the palm trees to make rollers and sledges
to move the statues. They cut the hauhau trees to make the ropes needed to pull
and erect the monuments. By 1400 the palms were well on their way to becoming
extinct, and only a few of the hauhau trees survived. 

When the last palm was cut down there was no longer the wood to make the heavy
canoes needed for long sea voyages or to hunt the porpoises that were an
important part of the Islanders diet. With the porpoises gone the people had to
turn even more to the seabirds, and then the rats, as a source of food. When they
were gone, starvation resulted, the government collapsed and cannibalism
appeared. Human bones started to find their way into trash pits."

That about sums it up to me. No mystery.

Cheers,

John









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