Puna Lowland Wet Forests

1
Puna Lowland Wet Forests

• Puna Lowland
• Wet Forests

2
(No Transcript)
3
(No Transcript)
4
(No Transcript)
5
(No Transcript)
6
(No Transcript)
7
Geology

• Flank eruptions from Puna rift zone, dated flows
  are from 1790, 1840, 1955
• (Atkinson, 1970)

8
(No Transcript)
9
Ecosystems

• Lowland Wet Forest
• No lowland wet forest ungulate-free, but some are
  less impacted by pigs due to aa.
• Younger sites (lt200 years substrate) have less
  plant species richness and are dominated by ohia.
  Invasive plants relatively scarce in forests
  younger than 300 yr, except for introduced
  grasses A. virginicum and S. condensatum.
  (Zimmerman et. al., 2008).
• Older sites become established with Diospyros,
  Pandanus, Psychotria. P. cattleianum on older
  pahoehoe flows, M. candidum on older aa
  substrates. (Zimmerman et. al., 2008).
• Coastal sites characterized by Metrosideros to
  Pandanus succession (Atkinson, 1970).

10
(No Transcript)
11
Ecosystems

• Pahoehoe flows characterized by P. tectorius and
  M. polymorpha.
• Aa flows have D. sandwicensis and M. polymorpha.
• (Zimmerman et. al., 2008)

12
1A. Tall, closed ohia-lama forest1B. Closed
ohia-lama forest2. Open ohia-lama forest3. Open
ohia-uluhe scrub4. Open ohia scrub with native
shrubs5. Closed ohia lama-hala forest6. Closed
ohia-kukui-hala forest7. Open hala-kukui
forest8. Disturbed areas9. Unsurveyed
Clark et al., 1981
13
(No Transcript)
14
(No Transcript)
15
(No Transcript)
16
(No Transcript)
17
Rare Plants

• Listed Endangered Ischaemum byrone
• 80 mature plants younger. Threatened by
  ironwood.
• Species of Concern Cyrtandra nanawalensis
• Invasive alien plants thickly occupying the
  understory habitat of C. nanawalensis. Needs
  intensive alien plant control.
• Tetraplasandra hawaiensis var. hawaiensis
  (candidate for listing) was documented in 1980.
• (HNHP 2005, Clarke et. al. 1981)

• Ischaemum byrone
• Photo Forest and Kim Starr

18
(No Transcript)
19
Fauna

• Contains habitats that support the Io, Nene,
  Newells Shearwater, Opeapea (Hawaiian Hoary
  Bat). Amakihi have been sighted.
• Malama Ki FR contains an unsurveyed anchialine
  pool.

20
(No Transcript)
21
Invasive Plants

• Many invasive alien plants are well established
  and common, and they continue to spread at a
  rapid rate
• Miconia calvescens is an incipient weed in upper
  end of Malama Ki FR
• Trees
• Strawberry guava (Psidium cattleianum)
• Melochia umbellata
• Ironwood (Casuarina equisetifolia)
• Christmas berry (Schinus terebinthifolius)
• Guarumo (Cecropia obtusifolia)
• Albizia (Falcataria moluccana)
• Octopus tree (Schefflera actinophylla)
• (HNHP, 2005)

22
Invasive Plants

• Albizia (F. moluccana) may facilitate invasion of
  other alien species by fixing N2, which is a
  nutrient that limits the growth of other invasive
  species, for instance P. cattleianum.
• (R. Hughes, et. al., 2005)

23
(No Transcript)
24
Invasive Plants

• Common invasive alien shrubs
• Kosters Curse (Clidemia hirta)
• Meslastoma candidum
• (HNHP, 2005)

25
Alien Species

• A moderate amount of pig sign was observed
• (HNHP, 2005)

26
(No Transcript)
27
References

• Atkinson, I. 1970. Successional Trends in the
  Coastal and Lowland Forest of Mauna Loa and
  Kilauea Volcanoes, Hawaii. Pacific Science, 24
  387-397.
• Clarke, G., L. Cuddihy, J. Davis, S. Anderson.
  1981. A Botanical Reconnaissance of Malama-Ki
  Forest Reserve, Hawaii. Division of Forestry,
  Department of Land and Natural Resources.
• Hawaii Natural Heritage Program, (HNHP), 2005.
  Rare Plant and Ecosystem Survey of the Mauna Loa
  Kipuka Mosaic and the Malama-Ki Forest Reserve,
  Hawaii. Prepared for the Hawaii Department of
  Land and Natural Resources
• Hughes, R. J. Denslow. 2005. Invasion by and
  N2-Fixing Tree Alters Function and Structure in
  Wet Lowland Forest of Hawaii. Ecological
  Applications Vol. 15, No. 5, pp. 1615-1628.
• Zimmerman, N., R. Hughes, S. Cordell, P. Hart, H.
  Chang, D. Perez, R. Like, R. Ostertag. 2008.
  Patterns of Primary Succesion of Native and
  Introduced Plants in Lowland Wet Forests in
  Eastern Hawaii. Biotropica. 40(3) 227-284 2008.