Appendix A: Regional summaries - Hawaii and U.S

Abstract

This regional summary addresses the effects of climate change on soils of seven of the eight main Hawaiian islands (Kaua‘i, O‘ahu, Moloka‘i, Lāna‘i, Kaho‘olawe, Maui, and Hawai‘i), the territories of Guam and American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and the freely associated Republic of Palau, Federated States of Micronesia, and Republic of the Marshall Islands. The distribution of soil types in Hawai‘i and the US Affliated Pacifc Islands (USAPI), and their sensitivity to climate change, is determined as elsewhere by soil-forming factors and their interactions (Jenny 1941; Vitousek 2004). These infuences include geologic substrate age and type, temperature and precipitation, topographic features that affect hydrology and movement of sediments, vegetation occupying the site, and human impacts. For wetlands, hydric soils are shaped by available moisture, which can be dynamic, especially where water is diverted from natural wetlands for agriculture or development purposes, or in coastal areas subject to tidal inputs, storm surges, and baseline sea level rise. This understanding of climate-hydrology-soil relationships suggests that many soils will experience some change as a result of Hawai‘i’s changing climate.

Citation

Giardina, Christian P.; MacKenzie, Richard A.; Deenik, Jonathan L. 2020. Appendix A: Regional summaries - Hawaii and U.S. Afliated Pacifc Islands. In: Pouyat, Richard V.; Page-Dumroese, Deborah S.; Patel-Weynand, Toral; Geiser, Linda H., editors. 2020. Forest and rangeland soils of the United States under changing conditions: A comprehensive science synthesis. Springer, Cham: 263-277.