Mauna Loa

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Mauna Loa Biologically Important Area
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Mauna Loa

• South of Saddle road
• Montane Wet, Mesic and Dry, Subalpine, and
  Pioneer habitats
• 3,400-7,600 ft elevation
• Access Saddle Road, Powerline Road, Tree
  Planting Road, various trails and 4WD roads
• State Conservation District

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Studies

• He Moolelo Aina A Cultural-Historical Study of
  the Upper Waiakea-Humuula Mountain Lands
• Frequently used as model for studies on
• Fragmentation of ecosystems
• Primary succession of different elevations and
  climate zones
• Community ecology
• Invasive species
• Evolutionary ecology
• Leaf morphology
• Nutrient cycling

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Biological Importance

• Lava flows and kipuka vegetated almost entirely
  with native plants
• Many different successional stages of ohia forest
  and shrubland on flows
• Different ecosystems on kipuka due to elevation
  gradient
• Natural laboratory of evolution and succession

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Some Findings

• More biomass and species richness in older flows,
  wetter areas, and (in general) more makai areas
  (Vitousek and Aplet, 1994)
• More aboveground net primary production and soil
  organic matter mass in older and more makai
  areas (Raich, et. al. 1993)
• Species composition influenced by lava texture
  and lava texture aa increases vegetation
  development on wetter sites and pahoehoe favoring
  development on drier sites (Aplet et. al. 1998).

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Ecosystems

• Koa/Ohia montane wet forest
• Ohia/Hapuu montane wet forest
• Ohia/Mixed Shrub montane wet forest
• Ohia montane wet shrubland
• Rare
• Koa/Ohia Mixed Montane Mesic Forest
• Deschampsia nubigena Subalpine Mesic Grassland
• Mixed Sedge and Grass Montane Bog
• Bog Vegetation

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Legend Green Subalpine Purple Montane Dry Blue
Montane Mesic Pink Montane Wet Grey Lowland Wet
Tan Non Native
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Listed Plants

• Listed Endangered Taxa
• Argyroziphium kauense
• Asplenium perviana var. insulare
• Calamagrostis expansa
• Cyanea shipmanii
• Plantago hawaiensis
• Sicyos macrophyllus
• Candidate for listing Microlepia stigosa var.
  mauiensis

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Rare Plants

• Species of Concern
• Cystopteris douglasii
• Eurya sandwicensis
• Joinvellea ascendens subsp. ascendens
• Panicum longivaginatum
• Rubus macraei
• Sisyrinchium acre

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Animals

• Habitat for all Big Island native forest birds
  (Including Io and Nene) except for Palila
• Much of area is above 4,000 ft elevation line
  (avian malaria)
• Habitat for Drosophila sp.

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Geological Features

• Kipuka dating from 1,500-4,000 years old
• Overlapping flows of 1852, 1855, 1881, 1935,
  1942, 1984
• Lava tubes habitat for Asplenium peruvianum
  var. insulare and Cystopteris douglasii

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Alien Plant Threats

• Anthoxantum odoratum invading preexisting
  grasslands (most common between 1,600-2,000m)
  (Karpa et. al., 1994).
• Vegetation highly native
• Low numbers of
• Himalayan rasberry (Rubus ellipticus)
• Gorse (Ulex eropaeus)
• Strawberry Guava (Psidium cattleianum)
• Kahili ginger (Hedychium gardnerianum)
• Tibouchina herbacea

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Alien Plant Threats in Bogs

• Narrow-leaved carpetgrass (Axonopus fissifolius)
• Juncus planifolius
• Upper elevation bogs
• Axonopus fissifolius
• Florida Blackberry (Rubus argutus)
• Tibouchina herbacea

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Non-Native Animals

• Pig activity evident through forested areas,
  bogs, and on sparsely vegetated recent lava flows
• Pig damage severe below 7,000 ft.
• Mouflon sheep are present in large numbers in
  higher elevation in shrubland, grassland, open
  lava
• Rats, Mice, Mongoose

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Alien Birds
Japanese White-eye (Zosterops japonicus) House
Finch (Carpodacus mexicanus) Red-billed Leiothrix
(Leiothrix lutea) Melodious Laughing
Thrush/Hwamei (Garrulax canorus) Kalij Pheasant
(Lophura leucomelanos) (Not a complete list)
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References

• Vitousek, P., G. Aplet. 1994. An Age-Altitude
  Matrix analysis of Hawaiian Rainforest
  Succession. Journal of Ecology. 82, 137-147.
• Aplet. G., R. Hughes, P. Vitousek. 1998.
  Ecosystem Development on Hawaiian Lava Flows
  Biomass and Species Composition. Journal of
  Vegetation Science, 9 17-26.
• Geeske, J., G. Aplet, P. Vitousek. 1994. Leaf
  Morphology along Environmental Gradients in
  Hawaiian Metrosideros polymorpha. Biotropica
  26(1) 17-22.
• Maly, K., O. Maly. 2005. He Moolelo Aina A
  Cultural Historical Study of the Upper Waiakea
  Humuula Mountain Lands The Proposed Kipuka Aina
  Mauna Natural Area Reserve, District of Hilo,
  Island of Hawaii. Kumu Pono Associates LLC.,
  Prepared for the Department of Land and Natural
  Resources.
• Raich, J., Russell, A., P. Vitousek. 1997.
  Primary Productivity and Ecosystem Development
  Along an Elevational Gradient on Mauna Loa,
  Hawaii. Ecology. 78(3) pp. 707-721.
• Karpa, D., P. Vitousek. 1994. Successional
  Development of a Hawaiian Montane Grassland.
  Biotropica 26(1) 2-11.
• Raich, J., W. Parton, A. Russell, R. Sanford Jr.,
  P. Vitousek. 2000. Analysis of Factors Regulating
  Ecosystem Development on Mauna Loa Using the
  Century Model. Biogeochemistry 51-2 pp. 161-191.
• Hawaiian Natural Heritage Program. 2005. Rare
  Plant and Ecosystem Survey of the Mauna Loa
  Kipuka Mosaic and the Malama Ki Forest Reserve,
  HI. Prepared for the Hawaiii Department of Land
  and Natural Resources.