Regional Ecosystems Research
Regional Ecosystems Research
Ecosystems science helps achieve sustainable management and conservation of biological resources in wild and urban spaces, and places in between.
Filter Total Items: 76
Malo‘o ka lani, wela ka honua (When the sky is dry, the earth is parched): Investigating the Cultural Dimensions of Indigenous Local Knowledge Responses to Changing Climate Conditions
Hawai‘i’s isolation, paired with limited water resources, make the archipelago sensitive to reductions in water availability. Drought can take different forms, varying across Island geographies with respect to frequency, intensity, duration, and extent. A drought event can exert hydrological, agricultural, ecological, and socio-economic impacts – and these impacts have been growing over...
Predicting the Effects of Climate Change on the Spread of Fire-Promoting Plants in Hawai‘i: Assessing Emerging Threats to Rare Native Plants and Ecosystems
2018 was a record-breaking year for wildfires in Hawai‘i with over 30,000 acres burned statewide, including the habitat of the Oʻahu chewstick, a critically endangered flowering plant with less than 50 individuals remaining. The frequency and severity of wildfire in Hawai‘i has been increasing, and this trend is predicted to worsen with climate change. Wildfires are promoted by highly...
New Technologies and Groundwork for Mosquito Control in the Alakai Plateau
Introduced mosquito-borne avian diseases, avian pox and avian malaria, are key limiting factors for endemic Hawaiian forest birds and are, in part, likely responsible for past extinctions and the continued decline of extant species populations. In the last 40 years on the island of Kaua‘i a number of species have become increasingly rare and several are now presumed extinct. Coinciding with these...
Using Plant Physiologic Responses to Environmental Conditions to Improve Species and Habitat Management in Hawaii
Recent studies show that past and ongoing environmental changes have been substantial and have likely already affected conservation efforts in Hawai‘i. Much of the state has experienced substantial drying, including decreases in mean annual precipitation since the 1920s, longer rainless periods, and decreasing stream flow. Temperatures have been increasing in Hawai‘i for the last 40 years...
Climate and Management Effects on Soil Infiltration and Runoff in Hawaiian Forests
Hawai‘i's precipitation is greatest in upland areas that are typically forested. This precipitation provides water for both people and ecosystems. Precipitation can either run off and contribute to streamflow, or infiltrate into the ground and provide water for plants, base flow to streams, or recharge to aquifers. The exact routing that water takes is controlled by many factors, including the...
Pathways for Movement and Rate of Spread of Rapid ‘Ōhi‘a Death on the Island of Hawai‘i
Rapid ‘Ōhi‘a Death (ROD) is an emerging and rapidly spreading disease of ‘ōhi‘a ( Metrosideros polymorpha), a keystone native forest tree in the Hawaiian Islands. The disease is highly pathogenic in native ‘ōhi‘a and can lead to significant mortality once symptoms become evident. This emerging pathogen is a significant threat to native forests throughout the state because of its potential impacts...
Avian Pathogens and Vectors - Kahuku Unit of Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park
While the Hawaiian avian disease system has been well-studied in the forests of the older section of Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park (HAVO), and in many other locations throughout the state, nothing was known about avian disease in the new Kahuku Unit of HAVO and the adjacent Ka‘u Forest Reserve. The high elevation forests of Kahuku are the only habitat located on National Park Service lands where...
Studies on the Rapidly Eroding Reef
This study focuses on assessing changes in vegetation cover and composition inside and outside a fenced exclosure within the USGS Ridge-to-Reef study area on the island of Moloka‘i. This information will be delivered to federal, state, and private land managers who are trying to determine best management practices to reduce erosion and sediment runoff from this dry habitat which has been heavily...
Expanding a Dynamic Model of Species Vulnerability to Climate Change for Hawai‘i and Other Pacific Island Ecosystems
Initial studies suggest terrestrial Hawaiian plant species may be vulnerable to climate change. However, these models lack information on species-specific traits that affect ecological and evolutionary responses of species to climate change. Research is needed to refine current vulnerability models and apply these to Pacific Islands outside Hawai‘i.
Adaptation in Montane Plants
Montane plant communities in widely separated intact natural environments of the world have responded to changes in precipitation and temperature regimes by shifting both margins and core distributional ranges upward in elevation. Reduced evapotranspiration rates in cooler climate zones at higher elevation may compensate for less precipitation and higher temperatures within species’ former ranges...
Efficacy of Avian Botulism Surveillance and Mitigation Using Detection Canines
Avian botulism causes waterbird mortality in Hawai‘i's wetlands and elsewhere. We evaluated bird mortality using trained scent-detection canines (sniffer dogs) as a new tool to survey for the presence of avian botulism. Biologists compare variables influencing detection probability and detection rates with traditional search methods. The pilot study tested the feasibility of this approach as a new...
Invasive Mammals of the Pacific
The terrestrial biota of the Central Pacific is primarily defined by its degree of isolation. At the center lies the Hawaiian Archipelago, which is more than 3,200 km from any continental land mass. After tens of millions of years of evolutionary isolation from all mammals except bats, islands of the Central Pacific were quite suddenly besieged by a number of alien rodents, carnivores and both...