Long-term climatic change in the western Indian Ocean

Analysis of rainfall records for stations on Mahé (Seychelles), Mauritius, Minicoy and Amini Divi (Laccadives), and other western Indian Ocean stations, shows substantial fluctuations in mean annual rainfall over the past 100 years, with high rainfalls at the beginning of this century, at about 1930, and at the present day, with troughs during 1915-20 and 1940-50. Overlapping series of more recent records for Aldabra, Assumption and the Iles Glorieuses also suggest substantial variations, and the existence of these is supported by episodic historical records. The consequences of such changes for the land biota of Aldabra, especially for the giant tortoises, are discussed, and brief reference is made to other types of evidence for climatic change on the atoll.