Publications

This report assesses the trends in brown booby (Sula leucogaster), masked booby (S. dactylatra), and red-footed booby (S. sula) counts collected on Farallon de Medinilla and Mariana common moorhen (Gallinula chloropus guami) counts on Tinian, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands to help elucidate patterns in bird numbers. During either monthly or quarterly surveys between 1997...

Baseline water-quality sampling was conducted for dissolved nutrients and for chemical and isotopic tracers at Kaloko-Honokōhau National Historical Park on the Island of Hawai'i. Existing and future urbanization in the surrounding areas have the potential to affect water quality in the Park, and so the National Park Service and the U.S. Geological Survey designed a water-sampling...

In February 2011, a rancher in the rural southern part of Hawaii Island reported a large mammal on her land. Her call mobilized several agencies led by the Big Island Invasive Species Committee (BIISC), a partnership to prevent, detect, and control the establishment and spread of invasive species, to sit up and take notice. Agency biologists installed camera traps to identify the animal...

Conservation of genetic biodiversity in endangered wildlife populations is an important challenge to address since the loss of alleles and genetic drift may influence future adaptability. Reintroduction aims to re-establish species to restored or protected ecosystems; however, moving a subset of individuals may result in loss of gene variants during the management-induced bottleneck (i.e

American Samoa makes up the eastern end of the Samoan Archipelago. On the islands of Tutuila, Taʽū and Ofu, the National Park of American Samoa (NPSA) protects about 4,000 ha of coastal, mid-slope and ridge-top forest. While the ant fauna of the Samoan Archipelago is considered relatively well documented, much of NPSA has never been surveyed for ants, leaving the fauna and its...

Harsh habitats dominated by invasive species are difficult to restore. Invasive grasses in arid environments slow succession toward more desired composition, yet grass removal exacerbates high light and temperature, making the use of “nurse plants” an appealing strategy. In this study of degraded subtropical woodlands dominated by alien grasses in Hawai'i, we evaluated whether...

Hawaiian forest birds have declined dramatically since humans arrived in the archipelago. Birds from all foraging guilds have been affected but insectivorous species are currently at greatest risk of extinction. On the island of Maui, populations and ranges of the insectivorous kiwikiu (Maui parrotbill; Pseudonestor xanthophrys) and Maui ‘alauahio (Maui creeper; Paroreomyza montana) have...

This proceedings is a compilation of 15 of the 27 papers and posters that were presented at the 2009 International Miconia Conference. The Conference was held in Keanae Hawaii May 4th to 7th 2009, hosted by the Maui Invasive Species Committee. *No official abstract was available for the proceedings...K. Keck

A massive outbreak of the koa moth (Geometridea: Scotorythra paludicola) defoliated more than a third of the koa (Acacia koa) forest on Hawai‘i Island during 2013−2014. This was the largest koa moth outbreak ever recorded and the first on the island since 1953. The outbreak spread to sites distributed widely around the island between 800−2,000 m elevation and in wet rainforest to dry...

Rose Atoll, at the eastern end of the Samoan Archipelago, is a small but important refuge for seabirds, shorebirds, and sea turtles. While the vertebrate community is relatively well-studied, the terrestrial arthropod fauna, and its role in ecosystem function, are poorly known. Arthropods may be influencing the decline of Pisonia grandis, an ecologically important tree that once...

Hawai‘i has some of the most endangered avian species in the world, which face numerous threats from habitat loss, disease, climate change, and introduced species. This report details the results of a two-year productivity study of all forest bird species at Hakalau National Wildlife Refuge, Hawai‘i Island. We found and monitored nests from seven native species and three common non...

Knemidokoptic mange was first observed on two Hawai‘i ‘Amakihi (Hemignathus virens) mist netted in Manuka Natural Area Reserve (NAR) on the Island of Hawai‘i in June 2007. Microscopic examination of skin scrapings from lesions of the infested individuals revealed the scaley-leg mite, Knemidokoptes jamaicensis. Continued surveillance at Manuka NAR (2007-2009) documented a 24% (15/63)...