Wildlife and Plants

We are studying post-fire forest regeneration in montane habitats within Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park. By testing out different restoration strategies, as well as links between grass cover and fire, we hope to increase restored forest fire resistance and resilience.

Researchers at the Forest and Rangeland Ecosystem Science Center, Olympic Field Station, have been involved in fisher restoration to Washington’s Olympic Peninsula since 2008, when fishers were reintroduced to the peninsula following decades of extirpation.

The Elwha River – located on the Olympic Peninsula in Washington - is home to an iconic dam removal and ecosystem restoration project. The Elwha offers a unique setting to explore the ecosystem level effects of dam removal and river restoration because of its prominence, such as large sediment volume, several salmon populations, and pristine wilderness.

We are sequencing the DNA of Wolbachia bacteria found in mosquito populations in Hawai’i and those used for mosquito control. We are also developing sample processing techniques to increase the efficiency and accuracy of monitoring mosquito control efforts to help long-term survival and restoration of Hawaiian forest bird populations.

We are working on understanding the chemical ecology of Rapid ʽŌhiʽa Death - ROD -, which is critical for protecting both healthy and ROD-infected ʽōhi‘a. A better understanding could lead to early ROD detection tools and the development of attractants and repellents to manipulate ambrosia beetle populations.

To document movement patterns and habitat use of Hawiian Hawks, GPS tags were attached to 17 individuals to track their movement across continuous, fragmented, and urban landscapes. We are now gathering multi-year tracking data to assess key aspects of habitat needs, and how these birds navigate through different ecosystems.

The expansion of the bat fungal disease White-Nose Syndrome (WNS) to the Pacific Northwest is centered in western Washington. However, not much is known about bat distribution and activity in and around Washington’s National Parks.

Many factors including habitat destruction, invasive plants, non-native predators and competitors, and introduced diseases have decimated the diverse, endemic native forest bird community of Hawai‘i. In particular, avian malaria ( Plasmodium relictum ), which is transmitted by the introduced Southern House Mosquito ( Culex quinquefasciatus ), has caused dramatic declines and extinctions in many...

We are testing different planting mixtures and densities to refine restoration efforts in the Hakalau Forest National Wildlife Refuge.

ʻŌhiʻa ( Metrosideros polymorpha ) is the dominant tree in Hawaiian forests, but Rapid ʻŌhiʻa Death (ROD), a newly emerging disease that stands to cause high mortality of this ecologically important tree, may lead to invasions by exotic plants as gaps open in the forest. To better understand if planting of ʻōhiʻa seedlings can be used as a restoration tool, we investigated the survival of ʻōhiʻa...

Hawai‘i's precipitation is greatest in upland areas that are typically forested. This precipitation provides water for both people and ecosystems. Precipitation can either run off and contribute to streamflow, or infiltrate into the ground and provide water for plants, base flow to streams, or recharge to aquifers. The exact routing that water takes is controlled by many factors, including the...

Rapid ‘Ōhi‘a Death (ROD) is an emerging and rapidly spreading disease of ‘ōhi‘a ( Metrosideros polymorpha ), a keystone native forest tree in the Hawaiian Islands. The disease is highly pathogenic in native ‘ōhi‘a and can lead to significant mortality once symptoms become evident. This emerging pathogen is a significant threat to native forests throughout the state because of its potential impacts...