Treesearch

Santalum L. is a genus of about 25 species growing from India and Nepal to Australia and Polynesia, four of which are native to Hawaii (Wagner and others 1990). The native range of S. freycinetianum includes the Hawaiian islands of Oahu, Kauai, Lanai, Maui, and Molokai.

Laguncularia is a monotypic genus in a moderately large, tropical, woody family consisting of about 20 genera and 500 species (Tomlinson 1986). The only other mangroves or mangrove associates in the Combretaceae are two Old World species of the genus Lumnitzera and the New World species Conocarpus erectus. The native range of L. racemosa includes the coast of central and southern Florida, Bermuda and most of the West Indies, both coasts of continental tropical America from Mexico south to Brazil and northern Peru, and the coast of West Africa from Senegal to Angola (Chapman 1976, Graham...

The genus Hibiscus includes about 200 species distributed primarily in the tropical and subtropical regions of the world. It is a highly variable genus, with relatively few characteristics in common (Wagner and others 1990). Hibiscus tiliaceus is one of the most widespread species in the genus, with a pantropical, mainly coastal, distribution. Whether this widespread distribution occurred primarily through natural dispersal or through human intervention is unknown. Seed capsules are well adapted for long-distance dispersal by water. However, the species has been used historically in a wide...

The genus Cordia contains about 250 species. They occur in tropical to warm temperate regions throughout the world, with the greatest diversity of species in the Neotropics (Wagner and others 1990). Cordia subcordata is apparently native to Malesia but has been spread throughout the Pacific and along Indian Ocean shores. The species can be found on seashores and adjacent lowlands from east Africa to Polynesia. Cordia subcordata closely resembles C. sebestena L., a better-known species frequently planted as an ornamental along tropical and subtropical coasts (Little and Skolmen 1989, Wagner...

Calophyllum inophyllum is in a genus of about 110 species that are pantropical in distribution but most common in tropical Asia (Gentry 1993, Liberty Hyde Bailey Hortorium 1976, Wagner and others 1990). Native from east Africa to Australia and Malesia, C. inophyllum has been widely planted throughout the tropics, including many south and central Pacific islands, the Hawaiian Islands, and the Caribbean islands.

We examined statistical relationships between the seasonal Southern Oscillation Index (SOI) and total acreages burned (TAB) and the number of fires in the Hawaiian Islands. A composite of TAB during four El Niño/ Southern Oscillation (ENSO) events reveals that a large total of acres burned is likely to occur from spring to summer in the year following an ENSO event. The correlation is most significant between the TAB in summer and the SOI of the antecedent winter. This relationship provides a potential for long-lead (i.e. 2 seasons in advance) prediction of wildfire activity in the...

Fire spread models have a long history, and their use will continue to grow as they evolve from a research tool to an operational tool. This paper describes a new method to analyse two-dimensional fire spread modeling errors, particularly to quantify the uncertainties of fire spread predictions. Measures of error are defined from the respective spread distances of the actual and simulated fires at specified points around their perimeters. A ratio error provides a correction factor for the spread model bias. The characteristics of the error are defined by a probability model, which is used...

The ability of white fir and California red fir to become established, persist, and eventually dominate montane shrub fields is well known. When the firs have eventually dominated do the understory shrubs continue to inhibit growth? In a small study in the southern Cascade Range of northeastern California, we tested the growth response of a thinned stand of saplings to removal of a shrub understory. Also, we examined several commonly used predictors of the ability of saplings to respond to release. Results indicated a statistically significant increase in dbh and height growth following...

The frequent occurrence of fire in most forested areas of California and southwestern Oregon before this century has been well established. Likewise, the importance of dead woody material to various wildlife species as snags and downed logs has been well documented. It is unlikely that much large woody material survived fire long enough to decompose fully in fire regimes that preceded the fire-suppression era. Observations of fire effects on dead woody material, as well as some recent limited data, indicate that fire often consumes most material that is in advanced stages of decay....