Editing Howland Island (section)

==Flora and fauna==
The climate is equatorial, with little rainfall and intense sunshine. Temperatures are moderated somewhat by a constant wind from the east. The terrain is low-lying and sandy: a coral island surrounded by a narrow fringing [[reef]] with a slightly raised central area. The highest point is approximately {{convert|20|ft}} above [[sea level]].

There are no natural [[freshwater|fresh water]] resources.<ref name="CIA">{{Cite web |title=United States Pacific Island Wildlife Refuges |url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/united-states-pacific-island-wildlife-refuges/ |website=CIA: The World Factbook |date=October 18, 2024 |publisher=Central Intelligence Agency |issn=1553-8133}}</ref> The landscape features scattered grasses along with prostrate vines and low-growing [[pisonia]] trees and shrubs. A 1942 eyewitness description spoke of "a low grove of dead and decaying [[Cordia subcordata|kou trees]]" on a very shallow hill at the island's center. In 2000, a visitor accompanying a scientific expedition reported seeing "a flat bulldozed plain of coral sand, without a single tree" and some traces of buildings from colonization or World War II building efforts, all wood and stone ruins overgrown by vegetation.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Payne |first=Roger |date=December 4, 2000 |title=At Howland Island |url=https://www.pbs.org/odyssey/odyssey/20001204_log_transcript.html |website=[[PBS]]}}</ref>

Howland is primarily a nesting, roosting, and foraging habitat for seabirds, shorebirds, and marine wildlife. The island, with its surrounding marine waters, has been recognized as an [[Important Bird Area]] (IBA) by [[BirdLife International]] because it supports [[seabird]] [[bird colony|colonies]] of [[lesser frigatebird]]s, [[masked booby|masked boobies]], [[red-tailed tropicbird]]s and [[sooty tern]]s, as well as serving as a migratory stopover for [[bristle-thighed curlew]]s.<ref name=bli>{{cite web |url=http://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/howland-island-iba-united-states-minor-outlying-islands-(to-usa)|title= Howland Island|author=<!--Not stated--> |date=2021|website= BirdLife Data Zone|publisher= BirdLife International|access-date= 23 January 2021}}</ref>