James Jacobi, Ph.D.
Biography
Education:
Ph.D. 1990 Botanical Sciences, University of Hawai‘i at Manoa, Honolulu, HI
B.A. 1970 Biology, University of California, Riverside, Riverside, CA
Specialty: A major focus of his research has been mapping the distribution of plant communities throughout the Islands initially utilizing photo interpretation and, more recently, digital image analysis. He is currently a co-PI on the USGS Hawai‘i Ridge-to-Reef project that has been studying watershed and sedimentation dynamics in two study areas on the islands of Kaua‘i (Hanalei watershed) and Moloka‘i (Kawela and Kamalo watersheds). This research includes components that address vegetation mapping and plant community dynamics, erosion and landside dynamics, water and sediment transport, sediment impacts on reef ecosystems, and modeling to integrate the various components. He has also recently worked with both the NPS Inventory and Monitoring Program and the Department of Defense (Army) developing protocols for monitoring plant species and communities.
Research Interests: Hawaiian species and ecosystem conservation; alien species impacts; vegetation ecology; plant community mapping; GIS applications for conservation; plant species and community modeling; vegetation monitoring; assessment of forest bird populations; bringing science to conservation planning.
Personal Interests: The conservation of Hawaiian biodiversity
Science and Products
Global Climate Change Impacts on Plants of Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park
Climate change is expected to alter the seasonal and annual patterns of rainfall and temperature in the Hawaiian Islands. Warming temperatures and altered precipitation patterns both impact ecological systems, but managing these impacts is difficult without detailed information on the magnitude and timing of these climate-related changes.
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...
Hawai‘i Carbon Storage and Greenhouse Gas Flux Assessment
In recent years, the U.S. Geological Survey has been conducting a national biologic carbon sequestration assessment in the conterminous U.S. The assessment is designed to meet the requirements of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007, which calls for coverage of all 50 states and all ecosystems (including forests, grasslands, wetlands, agricultural lands, and rivers, lakes, and...
Monitoring Hawaiian Biodiversity: Changes to forest birds and their habitat
Hawaiian forests are beset by many stressors, resulting in a complex pattern of altered ecosystems, impeirled species, and (in some areas) substantial protection and restoration. Short-term studies focused on specific sites or biota have limited value in understanding landscape-level change. Long-term and spatialy extensive data are needed to understand how ecosystems are reacting to both...
Status and Trends of Hawaiian Flora and Fauna
Hawai‘i has more endangered species than any other state - over 394 species. In spite of this fact, there is not a central clearing house for information on the status and trends of these species. Information is spread over the following areas:
1. USGS maintains some information on Forest Birds.
2. USFWS maintains summary data on listed and proposed plants.
3. The...
Climate change impacts on the landscape
Conduct research needed to provide the information and knowledge necessary for decision-makers to make informed decisions pertaining to management of biological resources in Hawai‘i and the Pacific island ecosystems relative to changing climate conditions.
Assessing the Potential Effects of Climate Change on Vegetation in Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park
Climate change in Hawaiʻi is expected to result in increasing temperatures and varying precipitation through the twenty-first century. Already, high elevation areas have experienced rapidly increasing temperatures and there has been an increase in the frequency of drought across the Islands. These climatic changes could have significant impacts on Hawaiʻi’s plants and animals. Changes in...
Modeling Climate-Driven Changes to Vegetation in the Hawaiian Islands
Hawaiʻi is home to a rich diversity of native plants, about 90 percent of which are found nowhere else in the world. However, changing climate conditions may reduce the amount of suitable habitat for native plants and contribute to the spread of invasive plant species. The goal of this project was to better understand how Hawaiian native and invasive plants will respond to climate change....
Hawaii Land Cover and Habitat Status
These two raster data layers depict the land cover and degree of human disturbance to plant communities on the seven main Hawaiian Islands, and were developed as part of a comprehensive USGS assessment of carbon sequestration potential by natural ecosystems in the State of Hawaii.
Hawaiian Islands Coastal Vegetation Survey 2013-2015
This dataset provides information on the current status and various other habitat and descriptive attributes of the native coastal vegetation for seven of the main Hawaiian Islands (i.e., does not include Ni`ihau). Report available.
Local to landscape-level controls of water fluxes through Hawaiian forests: Effects of invasive animals and plants on soil infiltration capacity across substrate and moisture gradients
Given the potential effect of invasive plants and animals to water fluxes through forests, the invasive-driven degradation of native ecosystems is a topic of great concern for many downstream land and water managers. The infiltration rate determines the partitioning between runoff and infiltration into soil in Hawaiian forests and beyond. Thus, to...
Fortini, Lucas B.; Leopold, Christina; Perkins, Kimberlie; Chadwick, Oliver A.; Yelenik, Stephanie G.; Jacobi, James D.; Bishaw, Kaiena; Gregg, Makani; Rosa, Sarah N. The evolving threat of rapid Ohia death (ROD) to Hawaii’s native ecosystems and rare plant species
Hawai‘i’s most widespread native tree, ‘ōhi‘a lehua (Metrosideros polymorpha), has been dying across large areas of Hawai‘i Island mainly due to two fungal pathogens (Ceratocystis lukuohia and Ceratocystis huliohia) that cause a disease collectively known as Rapid ‘Ōhi‘a Death (ROD). Here we examine patterns of positive detections of...
Fortini, Lucas B.; Kaiser, Lauren R.; Keith, Lisa; Price, Jonathan; Hughes, R. Flint; Jacobi, James D.; Friday, J. B. Regeneration of Metrosideros polymorpha forests in Hawaii after landscape‐level canopy dieback
Questions(a) Have Metrosideros polymorpha trees become re‐established in Hawaiian forests previously impacted by canopy dieback in the 1970s? (b) Has canopy dieback expanded since the 1970s? (c) Can spatial patterns from this dieback be correlated with habitat factors to model future dieback in this area?Study SiteAn 83,603 ha study...
Mertelmeyer, Linda; Jacobi, James D.; Mueller-Dombois, Dieter; Brinck, Kevin W.; Boehmer, Hans Juergen Identifying opportunities for long-lasting habitat conservation and restoration in Hawaii’s shifting climate
Conservation efforts in isolated archipelagos such as Hawaii often focus on habitat-based conservation and restoration efforts that benefit multiple species. Unfortunately, identifying locations where such efforts are safer from climatic shifts is still challenging. We aimed to provide a method to approximate these potential habitat shifts for...
Fortini, Lucas B.; Jacobi, James D.
Potential impacts of projected climate change on vegetation-management strategies in Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park
Climate change is expected to alter the seasonal and annual patterns of rainfall and temperature in the Hawaiian Islands. Land managers and other responsible agencies will need to know how plant-species habitats will change over the next century in order to manage these resources effectively. This issue is a major concern for resource managers at...
Camp, Richard J.; Berkowitz, S. Paul; Brink, Kevin W.; Jacobi, James D.; Loh, Rhonda; Price, Jonathan; Fortini, Lucas B. Potential impacts of projected climate change on vegetation management in Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park
Climate change will likely alter the seasonal and annual patterns of rainfall and temperature in Hawai`i. This is a major concern for resource managers at Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park where intensely managed Special Ecological Areas (SEAs), focal sites for managing rare and endangered plants, may no longer provide suitable habitat under future...
Camp, Richard J.; Loh, Rhonda; Berkowitz, S. Paul; Brinck, Kevin W.; Jacobi, James D.; Price, Jonathan; McDaniel, Sierra; Fortini, Lucas B.
Vegetation response of a dry shrubland community to feral goat management on the island of Moloka‘i, Hawai‘i
The Hawaiian Islands are well known for their unique ecosystem assemblages that have a high proportion of endemic flora and fauna. However, since human colonization of this archipelago—starting with the arrival of Polynesian sailors approximately 1,200 years ago, and particularly following western contact in 1778—thousands of non-native species...
Jacobi, James D.; Stock, Jonathan Monitoring Hawaiian biodiversity: Pilot study to assess changes to forest birds and their habitat
Biological diversity, or biodiversity, is the variety and abundance of species in a defined area, and is one of the oldest and most basic descriptions of biological communities. Understanding how populations and communities are structured and change over space and time in response to internal and external forces is a management priority. Effective...
Gorresen, P. Marcos; Camp, Richard J.; Gaudioso, Jacqueline; Brinck, Kevin W.; Berkowitz, Paul; Jacobi, James D. Assessing the potential of translocating vulnerable forest birds by searching for novel and enduring climatic ranges
Hawaiian forest birds are imperiled, with fewer than half the original >40 species remaining extant. Recent studies document ongoing rapid population decline and pro- ject complete climate-based range losses for the critically endangered Kaua’i endemics ‘akeke’e (Loxops caeruleirostris) and ‘akikiki (Oreomystis bairdi) by end-of-century due to...
Fortini, Lucas B.; Kaiser, Lauren R.; Vorsino, Adam E.; Paxton, Eben H.; Jacobi, James D. Vegetation map for the Hakalau Forest Unit of the Big Island National Wildlife Refuge Complex on the island of Hawai‘i
This vegetation map was produced to serve as an updated habitat base for management of natural resources of the Hakalau Forest Unit (HFU) of the Big Island National Wildlife Refuge Complex (Refuge) on the island of Hawai‘i. The map is based on a vegetation map originally produced as part of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Hawai‘i Forest Bird...
Jacobi, James D. Potential impacts of sea level rise on native plant communities and associated cultural sites in coastal areas of the main Hawaiian Islands
Hawaiian coastal vegetation is comprised of plant species that are adapted to growing in extremely harsh conditions (salt spray, wave wash, wind, and substrates with limited nutrients) found in this habitat zone. Prior to human colonization of Hawai‘i coastal vegetation extended as a continuous ring around each of the islands, broken only by...
Jacobi, James D.; Warshauer, Frederick R.
Baseline and projected future carbon storage and carbon fluxes in ecosystems of Hawai‘i
This assessment was conducted to fulfill the requirements of section 712 of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 and to improve understanding of factors influencing carbon balance in ecosystems of Hawai‘i. Ecosystem carbon storage, carbon fluxes, and carbon balance were examined for major terrestrial ecosystems on the seven main...
Selmants, Paul C.; Giardina, Christian P.; Jacobi, James D.; Zhu, Zhiliang