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Hawaiʻi Experimental Tropical Forest

The Hawaiʻi Experimental Forest provides an opportunity to study how the land responds to challenges and helps to develop methods for land managers to help sustain Hawaiʻi's unique ecosystems as well as their ecological functions, for future generations.

The Hawaiʻi Experimental Forest has four main goals:

  1. Promote a better understanding of how to restore, preserve, and sustainably manage native tropical forests, streams, and entire watersheds of the Pacific and to provide information to land managers challenged with management of these important landscapes;
  2. Serve as a center for demonstration, training and outreach on tropical forestry, conservation biology, and natural resource research management;
  3. Provide sites dedicated to long-term research and tropical forestry, ecology, hydrology, conservation biology, and natural resource management; and
  4. Foster research cooperation and collaboration between State and Federal ahencies, educational and other institutions in tropical forestry research.

Ecology

Hawaiʻi Experimental Tropical Forest Ecology

The Hawaiʻi Experimental Tropical Forest (HETF) represents a significant contribution in the global effort to understand and protect some of the most threatened and endangered ecosystems in the world.

About 1,033 plant species, 10,000 invertebrates and 140 birds are native to the Hawaiian Islands, of which 87 percent of the plants, 95 percent of the invertebrates and 100 percent of the forest birds are found nowhere else on earth. They represent centuries of adaptation to unique environmental conditions:

Laupāhoehoe Unit 

Laupahoehoe Unit
Climate

Located on the eastern, windward flanks of Mauna Kea from about 1,700 to 6,100 feet elevation. Annual rainfall in the lower part of the unit averages about 160 inches and between 60 to 100 inches at the upper part.

Soils

Three distinct and continuous soil substrates of differing ages which occur along broad elevational ranges and 10 soil types.

Vegetation

Five primary native communities as well as areas of non-native dominated vegetation covers and includes four life zones. The native forest communities contain rare plants and provide important forest bird habitat.

Puʻu Waʻawaʻa Unit

Puu Waawaa Unit
Climate

located on the western, leeward side (Kona side) of the Big Island. It lies on the northern flank of Hualalai volcano, extending from sea level to within a mile of the mountain summit, about 6,300 feet elevation.

Soils

Seven distinct substrates of differing ages and over 25 soil types of varying slopes.

Vegetation

Covers the gradient of the major dry and mesic forest types in Hawaii including five life zones. It contains examples of highly degraded as well as intact native forests. Much of the mesic forests at the upper elevations are dominated by the culturally, ecologically and economically important koa.

Facilities Information

HETF Unit Locations

The HETF covers about 51,000 acres on Hawaiʻi Island, is part of the U.S. Forest Service's experimental forest and range network, and is co-managed in partnership with Hawaiʻi's Department of Land and Natural Resources' Division of Forestry and Wildlife.

The experimental forest is comprised of two "units" on opposite sides of Hawaiʻi Island, which epitomize both wet and dry forest tropical ecosystem conditions. The Laupāhoehoe Unit (wet forest) encompasses about 12,000 acres of tropical rain forest on the island's eastern Hamakua Coast, and the Puʻu Waʻawaʻa Unit (dry forest) is comprised of about 39,000 acres, near North Kona on the west side of Hawaiʻi Island. Each unit represents a unique and diverse tropical ecosystem with distinctive:

  • Climate
  • Soil types
  • Forest types
  • Life zones

For more information about our partners, visit the State of Hawaii, Department of Land and Natural Resources' Division of Forestry and Wildlife.

Approximate Reference Locations for the HETF

Laupāhoehoe Unit, Lat. 19.80528 N, Long. 155.26917 W
Puʻu Waʻawaʻa Unit, Lat. 19.73194 N, Long. 155.88611 W

Map of Hawaiʻi Island highlighting the Puʻu Waʻawaʻa and Laupāhoehoe Units of the HETF.

Map of Hawaiʻi Island highlighting the Puʻu Waʻawaʻa and Laupāhoehoe Units of the HETF.

Laupāhoehoe Unit

The Kahikina Learning Center is located about 28 miles (or 45 minutes) from the USDA Forest Service, Institute of Pacific Islands Forestry headquarters on the University of Hawaiʻi-Hilo campus, where the Hawaiʻi Experimental Tropical Forest's (HETF) administrative, greenhouse and laboratory support are located.

Laupāhoehoe facilities, in support of the HETF mission, are located on 55 acres of old sugar cane lands within the Laupāhoehoe community, about 4 miles from the HETF boundary. Facilities include:

  • bunkhouses
  • kitchen
  • restrooms/showers
  • classroom/meeting space

There is no internet available at the facility, but most cellular phone providers get moderate reception. The facility site includes opportunities for research, education and demonstration. A weather station, installed in 2009, is also located on site.

Puʻu Waʻawaʻa Unit

Currently there is focus on rehabilitating existing State infrastructure (Meeting and Lake houses) owned and operated by the Hawaii State Division of Forestry and Wildlife (DOFAW) in Puʻu Waʻawaʻa. Although plans have been delayed due to additional requirements needed to expend federal funds on state owned facilities, the eventual rehabilitation of these existing facilities will greatly benefit all members of the HETF community, by providing upgraded, safe, and more useable bunkhouse and meeting facilities.

Environmental Assessments, Projects and Plans

Since the establishment of the HETF in 2007, plans have been underway to construct education and science facilities at both the Laupāhoehoe and Puʻu Waʻawaʻa Units of the HETF.

Contact

Long-term Monitoring and Data

Two researchers meausure the diameter of a tree. Forest Inventory and Analysis employees take measurements in Hawaiʻi Experimental Tropical Forest, Laupāhoehoe, Island of Hawaiʻi. (Forest Service)

The Hawaiʻi Experimental Tropical Forest (HETF) participates in statewide and international monitoring efforts tracking climatic, hydrologic and vegetative conditions.

HETF climate stations are part of the EPSCoR-ENDER (Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research - Environmental Dynamics and Ecosystem Responses) Climate Network, an island-wide network of climate stations at locations across the island of Hawaiʻi.

  • Laupāhoehoe equipment includes a stream gauge in Manowaiʻopae Stream and a free-standing aluminum weather station located within the Forest Reserve. The purpose of the stream gauge is to measure natural stream flows, water quality and sediment in a non-destructive manner. The weather station, installed in 2009, extends 10 feet above the forest canopy and collects daily rainfall, temperature, relative humidity, wind-speed, solar radiation (sunlight), soil moisture, soil temperature, and wind direction.
  • Puʻu Waʻawaʻa Unit hosts multiple weather stations including two in the Forest Reserve, installed in 2003 (RAWS station) and 2011, and one in the Forest Bird Sanctuary, installed in 2012.

Long-term vegetation plots are available in both units, including:

Potential changes in infiltration in Hawaiian forests caused by climate change and invasive species

Makani Gregg (HCSU) measuring soil infiltration rates at an invaded understory site.

The overall objective of the study by Lucas Fortini, USGS Pacific Islands Ecosystems Research Center, and Hawaiʻi Cooperative Studies Unit staff (under the direction of Sharon Ziegler-Chong, University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo), was to understand how rapidly expanding invasive plant population distributions throughout Hawaiʻi's forests, coupled with changes in inter-species competitive dynamics (caused by projected shifting rainfall patterns) will impact water resources into the future.

Image: Makani Gregg (HCSU) measuring soil infiltration rates at an invaded understory site.

Local studies have highlighted how invasive plants and disturbance of the ground-cover vegetation by feral ungulates may alter soil characteristics critical to determining runoff and groundwater recharge. Other efforts have suggested that invasive species, both plant and animal, have altered whole watershed water balances and possibly landscape groundwater recharge. However, a landscape-level understanding of the impact of invasive species on water resources both island and statewide is still lacking. This project, supported by the USGS Pacific Island Climate Science Center attempts to quantify differences in groundwater recharge between native and non-native forests, providing information as to how water resources are currently affected by forest type.

Information gathered will be used to project future conditions under multiple climate scenarios. This research studied the differences in key soil characteristics that control runoff and groundwater recharge across managed and relatively intact native mesic and wet forest communities. To explore the ecohydrological impact of invasion in these communities, researchers conducted similar sampling in animal disturbed and invasive-dominated community types that most frequently replace the native communities considered. Specifically, the conduction of basic vegetation and forest canopy cover assessments, ungulate surveys; measurements of water infiltration and soil hydrophobicity (repellence of water) rates; small soil samples; and temperature and humidity was collected at all sites.

Diversity, distribution, and biology of the native Hawaiian bark beetles (Coleoptera: Scolytinae)

Hawaiian bark beetles (Coleoptera: Scolytinae)

Dr. Conrad Gillett of the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa has found that a total of 6 species of native Hawaiian bark beetles have so far been recorded, including the rediscovery of Xyleborus pele, a species which had not been recorded since its description in 1981 (and the last known specimen was collected 89 years ago). Four species of native bark beetles in the genus Xyleborus were collected at Laupāhoehoe, and 2 species were collected at Puʻu Waʻawaʻa. Despite this positive outcome, native Xyleborus are far outnumbered by exotic bark beetles. The specimens have been preserved for molecular phylogenetic analyses which will be undertaken during the course of the next year. A manuscript describing the rediscovery of Xyleborus pele has been accepted for publication. A manuscript is currently in preparation detailing the survey for native bark beetles on Big Island, including additional sites at Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park, with special comparison of the diversity and abundance of native species to those of exotic

Hawaiian Hoary Bat Conservation Biology

Ōpeʻapeʻa (Hawaiian hoary bat; Lasiurus cinereus semotus) in hand.

A three year field study has been initiated to advance understanding of key aspects of the endangered Ōpeʻapeʻa (Hawaiian hoary bat; Lasiurus cinereus semotus) ecology and population biology listed as priority research goals for the State of Hawaiʻi's Endangered Species Recovery Committee (ESRC) and the USFWS 1998 Recovery Plan for the Ōpeʻapeʻa. The study will provide information to help managers make decisions assisting the recovery of Ōpeʻapeʻa and for improved selection and design of bat restoration-mitigation areas. The study results will improve understanding of the roosting habitat needs and key host plant species for the insects that are the diet of this insectivorous, tree-roosting bat. Tissue samples collected from captured bats will be used for studies to improve understanding of genetic variation and population structure of the Ōpeʻapeʻa. During the first year of field work in the Laupāhoehoe Unit of the HETF, 15 Ōpeʻapeʻa were captured, of which 5 were lactating females. Radio-tagged bats were tracked to roost trees in a variety of tree species and forest types in the vicinity of the HETF. Aerial insect sampling to initiate diet studies was conducted during 6 nights.

Image: Ōpeʻapeʻa (Hawaiian hoary bat; Lasiurus cinereus semotus) in hand.

Evaluating koa as a restoration tool In Hawaiʻi

Clarice Esch, Ph.D. candidate at Michigan State University, measuring grass biomass by clipping grass plots under Koa stands.

Acacia koa is often planted in restoration because it grows relatively quickly and is easy to propagate. However, Koa can have the unanticipated effect of facilitating exotic grass growth under its canopy. This likely occurs because Koa fixes nitrogen leading to higher levels of soil nitrogen, and its canopy allows relatively high amounts of light to pass through, both of which benefit grass growth. Researchers asked the question: How do these Koa-soil-grass interactions vary across gradients of climate and Koa density? Cool temperatures and/or low precipitation could slow rates of decomposition and nutrient cycling and could diminish Koa's facilitative effects. High densities of Koa may also limit pasture grasses by shading. Researchers then selected sites spanning dry to mesic forest across the island of Hawaiʻi. At Puʻu Waʻawaʻa, they established two sets of plots: one in the drier region and one in the wetter region of the Forest Bird Sanctuary. In general, grass was still present even under the highest stem densities of Koa. Less light reached the forest floor and more leaf litter fell with more Koa stems. Decomposition rates of Koa leaf litter tended to be faster where there were more Koa stems suggesting that the layer of leaf litter persists for a shorter time period than in plots with fewer Koa stems.

Image: Clarice Esch, Ph.D. candidate at Michigan State University, measuring grass biomass by clipping grass plots under Koa stands.

During the last decade, the Hawaiʻi Experimental Tropical Forest (HETF) has hosted and participated in many community events. Connecting community members to the experimental forest and the research performed in it is a primary value of the HETF.

Hawaiʻi Youth Conservation Corps (YCC)

Youth Conservation Corps programs in Hawaiʻi are administered by Kupu, a non-profit community organization. HETF participates in two Kupu/AmeriCorps Youth Conservation Corps (YCC) programs: The Hawaiʻi Youth Conservation Corps (HYCC) Summer Program is a 7-week summer team experience designed for young adults (ages 17-20) and the Conservation Leadership Development Program (CLDP) yearlong program offers an intensive entry-level 11-month experience where members (ages 18+) assist with projects that equip them with job skills and leadership growth opportunities to move ahead in their career. In addition to gaining valuable insight in the conservation field, members also receive a living allowance and an AmeriCorps education award for their time. The HETF did not participate in the HYCC program in 2020 due to the pandemic.

Conservation Leadership Development Program (CLDP)

The HETF hosted one CLDP Kupu member from January to December 2020. This members responsibilities included: coordinating partnership opportunities associated with the HETF, including with Division of Forestry and Wildlife, University of Hawaiʻi, Akaka Foundation for Tropical Forests, Kupu, and local non-profits, while also supporting the planning of events geared to development of a partnership-focused plan to effectively co-manage research, outreach and education opportunities at the HETF; ongoing research projects in the Laupāhoehoe and Puʻu Waʻawaʻa HETF Units; engaging with HETF advisory councils, and outreach with the public, as well as occasionally assisting partners with their education and outreach programming.

Blue Waters Exchange Program (BWE)

In 2020, The Blue Water Exchange Program moved to a virtual platform. It became a 6-month Capstone experience, with intention of travel to Hawaiʻi and California, but due to COVID all travel was cancelled. The 2020 program ran from June 2020 to November 2020. Participants connected via zoom classrooms once a month to hear from guest speakers and discuss conservation topics.

Guest speakers included Jeff Marsolais of the USDA Forest Service, Herman Filmore of the Lake Tahoe Washoe Tribe, Hugh Safford of the UDSA Forest Service, and Cheyenne Perry of Mauna Kea Watershed Alliance.

Topics included connection to place and past, indigenous perspectives, current environmental issues, politics, advocacy, and community engagement. The 2020 BWE team included: Carson Alexander (CA), Cindy Among-Serrao (HI), Cooper Solomon (CA), Daniel Rosales (CA), Josephine Tupu (HI), Kaile Luga (HI), Kawika Cardus (HI), Melissa Gomez (CA), and Montserrat Valencia (CA).

The BWE creates an opportunity for individuals to work in new landscapes, meet and learn from different cultures, and gain exposure to conservation careers and expand thinking by having deep dialogue about our community’s most pressing issues as seen through different perspectives.

Akaka Foundation for Tropical Forests Partnership

Ulu Lehulehu

The USFS and HETF continued a robust partnership with the Akaka Foundation for Tropical Forests in 2020, collaborating on several projects of the Ulu Lehulehu program including: Teaching Change, ʻŌhiʻa Disease Resistance Program, the Puʻu Waʻawaʻa Community-Based Subsistence Forest Area, and the Indigenous Drought Knowledge Synthesis. In 2020, the Akaka Foundation for Tropical Forests ʻohana grew to include five full-time staff, five part-time employees and three part-time interns who support these various programs.

Ulu Lehulehu was conceived in 2012 by James Akau, who combined the root words ULU, meaning to grow, spread, and protect, and LEHULEHU, meaning numerous, innumerable, and a multitude. Collaboratively led by the HETF/USFS and the Akaka Foundation of Tropical Forests, this project supports a thriving partnership with AmeriCorps, Kupu, and Laupāhoehoe Community Public Charter School (LCPCS). Focused on teaching students about the importance of intimately knowing native species, student participants engage Indigenous Hawaiʻi lifeways to help reconnect with and better understand their places. The Ulu Lehulehu program bridges multiple knowledge systems and engages community to develop and strengthen people's relationships with their places through: 1) youth education, 2) community outreach, 3) native forest restoration, and 4) urban forestry.

The Teaching Change Partnership

Based out of Hilo, Hawaiʻi, Teaching Change aims to inspire local youth to be environmental stewards and to pursue post-secondary education and follow careers in Hawaiʻi in natural resource management. Teaching Change is co-led by the USDA Forest Service, University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, and the Akaka Foundation for Tropical Forests, and partners with Hakalau Forest National Wildlife Refuge, Center for Getting Things Started, and the HETF. In 2020 we began offering virtual huakaʻi, and adapted our field courses to support the learning objectives of our various STEM-based education programs. We reached 68 students and seven teachers through our online programs. This includes a two-week hybrid online/in-person summer course for Kohala Middle School. This program focused on improving environmental literacy and career-connected learning in students through a series of presentations on various environmental science topics and introducing students virtually to local conservation professionals. We also had the opportunity to provide two socially distanced field courses with students to learn about native flora and fauna and connect with nature. In 2020, Teaching Change also launched the first half of two, one-year long programs: the NEON program run in collaboration with Hilo High School, and a Professional Development Pathways Program developed for Keaʻau High School. These programs also focus on biocultural learning and career connected learning, but dive deeper into topics through a year-long format.

ʻŌhiʻa Disease Resistance Program (ODRP)

The ʻŌhiʻa Disease Resistance Program (ODRP) was established in 2018 to identify ROD-resistant ʻōhiʻa with the goal of producing disease-resistant plants for restoration of native forests, landscaping, and the perpetuation of ʻōhiʻa in our biocultural landscapes. In 2020 we continued to support the ʻŌhiʻa Disease Resistance Program (ODRP), hiring Blaine Luiz full-time in April 2020 to serve as the Program Coordinator. With financial support from USDA Forest Service and the Hawaiʻi Community Foundation, Foundation and USFS staff and interns helped to lead this research and development effort including landscape sampling designs, collection of ʻōhiʻa cuttings and seed, phenology measurements and greenhouse care from preparing fresh cuttings from ʻōhiʻa trees to be rooted to preparing older plants for screening.

Puʻu Waʻawaʻa Community-Based Subsistence Forest Area (P-CBSFA)

The Puʻu Waʻawaʻa Community-Based Subsistence Forest Area (PCBSFA) is a formally designated 84 acre project area on the Puʻu Waʻawaʻa cinder cone that is the site of collaborative, multi-generational, multi-ethnic, and multi-talented community-based restoration. The PCBSFA, committed to perpetuating practices of aloha ʻāina at Puʻu Waʻawaʻa, is a growing partnership of multi-generational community leaders, nonprofit organizations, and agencies working to transform 84-acres of pastureland into native dryland and mixed-mesic forest in Puʻu Waʻawaʻa, foster biocultural education for K-12 students, and enhance community wellbeing. The PCBSFA represents an extension of community-based subsistence fishing areas from the marine realm to the terrestrial realm, and so may come to represent a model for how to collaboratively develop and implement community-based natural resource management. The PCBSFA Hui Nui, or working group, made significant progress in the development of a community-based Stewardship Plan. Hawaiʻi Game Management completed fencing of the 84-acre project area in June, 2020 and installed four gates to ensure ease of access for the community. The Hui Nui contracted Geometrician Associates to create a web application which features a searchable interactive map that details resources and history of the Puʻu Waʻawaʻa. Maps were divided into "story maps" with a lot of narrative and the working maps, each with its own URL. Application users can easily switch back and forth between them.

HETF Webinar Series

The HETF webinar series was developed in 2020 during the pandemic as a way for researchers to fulfill a permit condition, requiring HETF researchers to "give back to the community." Moving to a virtual platform allowed for a broader number of participants to attend. In 2020, the HETF hosted six webinars:

DateTitlePresenter
June 2020Community-Managed Forests in HawaiʻiRebekah Ohara (Purdue University, Forestry and Natural Resources Department and Akaka Foundation for Tropical Forests)
July 2020Bio-cultural approach to place-based conservation at Puʻu WaʻawaʻaLiana Macdonald-Kainoa (DLNR-DOFAW)
Aug 2020Establishment and parasitism of a biological control agentEllyn Bitume (USFS)
Sept 2020Researching ʻŌpeʻapeʻa (Hawaiian hoary bat) A Focus on the Laupāhoehoe AreaJulia Hoeh (USGS)
Oct 2020Examining spatiotemporal variation in climate on forest growth and mortalityIan Ware (USFS)
Nov 2020Effect of geologic evolution of Hawaiʻi on formation of new spider speciesDarko Cotoras (California Academy of Sciences)

Documents

Publications

External Publications

  • Kennedy, Susan R.; Prost, Stefan; Overcast, Isaac; Rominger, Andrew J.; Gillespie, Rosemary G.; Krehenwinkel, Henrik. 2020. High-throughput sequencing for community analysis: the promise of DNA barcoding to uncover diversity, relatedness, abundances and interactions in spider communities. Development Genes and Evolution. 230(2): 185-201. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00427-020-00652-x.

  • Montoya-Aiona, K.; Calderon, F.; Casler, S.; Courtot, K.; Gorresen, P.M.; and Hoeh, J. 2020. Hawaii Island, Hawaiian hoary bat roosting ecology and detection 2018-2019: U.S. Geological Survey data release: https://doi.org/10.5066/P9R95UYT.

  • Bateman, Jesse Bloom; Chadwick, Oliver A.; Vitousek, Peter M. 2019. Quantitative Analysis of Pedogenic Thresholds and Domains in Volcanic Soils. Ecosystems. 22(7): 1633-1649. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10021-019-00361-1.

  • Delgado-Baquerizo, Manuel; Bardgett, Richard D.; Vitousek, Peter M.; Maestre, Fernando T.; Williams, Mark A.; Eldridge, David J.; Lambers, Hans; Neuhauser, Sigrid; Gallardo, Antonio; García-Velázquez, Laura; Sala, Osvaldo E.; Abades, Sebastián R.; Alfaro, Fernando D.; Berhe, Asmeret A.; Bowker, Matthew A.; Currier, Courtney M.; Cutler, Nick A.; Hart, Stephen C.; Hayes, Patrick E.; Hseu, Zeng-Yei; Kirchmair, Martin; Peña-Ramírez, Victor M.; Pérez, Cecilia A.; Reed, Sasha C.; Santos, Fernanda; Siebe, Christina; Sullivan, Benjamin W.; Weber-Grullon, Luis; Fierer, Noah. 2019. Changes in belowground biodiversity during ecosystem development. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 116(14): 6891-6896. https://doi.org/10.1073/PNAS.1818400116.

  • Gillett, Conrad P. D. T.; Pulakkatu-Thodi, Ishakh; Rubinoff, Daniel. 2018. Rediscovery of an Enigmatic Bark Beetle (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Scolytinae) Endemic to the Hawaiian Islands. The Coleopterists Bulletin. 72(4): 811-815. https://doi.org/10.1649/0010-065X-72.4.811.

  • Bullen, Thomas; Chadwick, Oliver. 2016. Ca, Sr and Ba stable isotopes reveal the fate of soil nutrients along a tropical climosequence in Hawaii. Chemical Geology. 422: 25-45. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemgeo.2015.12.008.

  • King, E.K.; Thompson, A.; Chadwick, O.A.; Pett-Ridge, J.C. 2016. Molybdenum sources and isotopic composition during early stages of pedogenesis along a basaltic climate transect. Chemical Geology. 445: 54-67. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemgeo.2016.01.024.

  • Rominger, A. J.; Goodman, K. R.; Lim, J. Y.; Armstrong, E. E.; Becking, L. E.; Bennett, G. M; Brewer, M. S.; Cotoras, D. D.; Ewing, C. P.; Harte, J.; Martinez, N. D.; O'Grady, P. M.; Percy, D. M.; Price, D. K.; Roderick, G. K.; Shaw, K. L.; Valdovinos, F. S.; Gruner, D. S.; Gillespie, R. G.; Ricklefs, Robert. 2016. Community assembly on isolated islands: macroecology meets evolution. Global Ecology and Biogeography. 25(7): 769-780. https://doi.org/10.1111/geb.12341.

  • Vance, Derek; Matthews, Alan; Keech, Andrew; Archer, Corey; Hudson, Gordon; Pett-Ridge, Julie; Chadwick, Oliver A. 2016. The behaviour of Cu and Zn isotopes during soil development: Controls on the dissolved load of rivers. Chemical Geology. 445: 36-53. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemgeo.2016.06.002.

  • Bern, Carleton R.; Chadwick, Oliver A.; Kendall, Carol; Pribil, Michael J. 2015. Steep spatial gradients of volcanic and marine sulfur in Hawaiian rainfall and ecosystems. Science of The Total Environment. 514(3): 250-260. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2015.02.001.

  • Janas, D.G Uowolo, A.; Brooks, S.; Hinds, K.; Cordell, S.; Questad, E.; Kellner, J. 2015. Hawaiian native plant propagation resource.

  • Cleveland, Cory C.; Reed, Sasha C.; Keller, Adrienne B.; Nemergut, Diana R.; O'Neill, Sean P.; Ostertag, Rebecca; Vitousek, Peter M. 2014. Litter quality versus soil microbial community controls over decomposition: a quantitative analysis. Oecologia. 174(1): 283-294. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-013-2758-9.

  • Mascaro, Joseph; Litton, Creighton M.; Hughes, R. Flint; Uowolo, Amanda; Schnitzer, Stefan A. 2013. Is logarithmic transformation necessary in allometry? Ten, one-hundred, one-thousand-times yes . Biological Journal of the Linnean Society. 111(1): 230-233. https://doi.org/10.1111/bij.12177.

  • Croucher, Peter J.; Oxford, Geoff S.; Lam, Athena; Mody, Neesha; Gillespie, Rosemary G. 2012. Colonization history and population genetics of the exuberantly color polymorphic Hawaiian happy-face spider Theridion grallator (Araneae, Theridiidae). Evolution. 66(9): 2815-2833.

  • Murphy, Molly J.; Inman-Narahari, Faith; Ostertag, Rebecca; Litton, Creighton M. 2014. Invasive feral pigs impact native tree ferns and woody seedlings in Hawaiian forest. Biological Invasions. 16(1): 63-71. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10530-013-0503-2.

  • Tango, L.K.K.; Hughes, R.F.; Hiraoka, K.; Murphy, M.; Cantan, A. 2012. Recruitment of the dominant native Hawaiian tree, Metrosideros polymorpha, limited by alien invaders. Paper, Ecological Society of America in Portland, OR, (08/06/2012).

  • Vitousek, Peter M.; Chadwick, Oliver A. 2013. Pedogenic Thresholds and Soil Process Domains in Basalt-Derived Soils. Ecosystems. 16(8): 1379-1395. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10021-013-9690-z.

  • Asner, Gregory P.; Jones, Matthew O.; Martin, Roberta E.; Knapp, David E.; Hughes, R. Flint 2008. Remote sensing of native and invasive species in Hawaiian forests. Remote Sensing of Environment. 112(5): 1912-1926. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rse.2007.02.043.

Last updated March 26, 2025
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