Pacific Cooperative Studies Unit, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Department of Botany
Abstract
Reports were scanned in black and white at a resolution of 600 dots per inch and were converted to text using Adobe Paper Capture Plug-in.The current status of ohia (Metrosideros collina subsp. polymorpha) forest dieback research in Hawaii is reviewed, and a proposal is made for a relatively small integrated complementary program. This is suggested to consist of five subprojects to be carried out primarily by graduate student dissertation research. The five subprojects are: (1) to determine the percent cover of defoliated crowns in the ohia rainforest by remote sensing techniques and to develop a monitoring program, (2) to develop a large scale vegetation map on the basis of structural criteria, (3) to carry out a detailed floristic sampling by many small sample plots and to study by structural analyses techniques the dynamic trends of the woody species populations in a few, large sample plots, (4) to map and study the substrate variations in terms of soil nutrient and soil water regimes to develop a habitat classification for watershed purposes and (5) to study by experimental procedures in the field and in a glass house the response of ohia trees and seedlings to irrigation treatments with natural seepage water from dieback areas. The experimental subproject will be designed further for testing the performance of different Metrosideros ecotypes under different moisture and nutrient regimes. The program is developed to verify or discard the alternate hypothesis that the ohia dieback is a natural phenomenon of primary succession rather than a pathological disease problem as is pursued by the current ohia dieback research of other institutions.National Park Service Science Cente
