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Research about Kauai

Source-linked reports with geographic coverage including Kauai.

5 recordsLinked to original sources
USGS2026

Experimental translocation of a rare Hawaiian tree reveals disparity between remnant and potential habitat

Translocation is implemented worldwide as a conservation strategy for rare and endangered plant species, yet the factors that influence long-term success remain poorly understood. Remnant wild populations are often used as indicators to model habitat preference and select translocation sites, but such populations may be refugia from past biological or anthropogenic stressors and represent sub-optimal habitat conditions for focal taxa. To test assumptions about habitat preferences of rare species, we conducted a four-year experimental translocation of the Critically Endangered Hawaiian tree, ‘ohe mauka, Polyscias bisattenuata (Araliaceae), planting 3,700 saplings across eleven sites spanning diverse environmental conditions both within and beyond the species’ extant range. We measured seventeen predictor variables at the site and individual plant level in categories of climate, surrounding vegetation, soil chemistry, and genetic provenance. We used linear mixed effects models to assess relative effects of predictors on translocated plant survival, growth, and vigor. The factors which influenced plant performance shifted across ontogeny. The height of surrounding vegetation showed an initial negative relationship with two-year survival, but later showed a positive relationship with four-year growth. Four-year growth demonstrated a strong positive relationship with site annual mean temperature. Successful translocation sites were lower in elevation and warmer in temperature than conditions represented by remnant wild populations. Results demonstrate that basing translocation sites solely on limited extant wild occurrences can lead to suboptimal restoration practices, and experimental outplanting across broad conditions may help identify rare species' contemporary habitat preferences.

Hawaii↗
USGS2023

Ambrosia beetles (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Scolytinae and Platypodinae) associated with rapid ohia death and mixed Metrosideros polymorpha forests on the Island of Kauai, Hawaii

Xyleborini (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) beetles on the island of Kauaʻi, Hawaiʻi, are of interest due to their role in the fungal disease complex, rapid ʻōhiʻa death (ROD), and the unique radiation of endemic ambrosia beetles found across the Hawaiian archipelago. We investigated the status of RODassociated and native ambrosia beetles on Kauaʻi by rearing beetles from bolts collected from ROD-Ceratocystis infested ʻōhiʻa lehua (ʻōhiʻa; Metrosideros polymorpha) trees and trapping in mixed ʻōhiʻa forests. Beetles associated with ROD on Kauaʻi include Xyleborinus saxesenii, Xyleborus affinis, Xyleborus ferrugineus, Xyleborus perforans, Xylosandrus crassiusculus, and Crossotarsus externedentatus. Xyleborus perforans was most abundant in ʻōhiʻa bolts followed by Xyleborus ferrugineus. From trap captures, we identified new island records of the native Xyleborus beetles including Xyleborus dubiosus, Xyleborus oahuensis, and Xyleborus tantalus. Xylosandrus crassiusculus was most abundant in traps. Additional work could contribute to understanding and mitigating the spread of ROD on Kauaʻi and to documenting the endemic Xyleborus beetles.

Hawaii↗
USGS2019

Stream sediment geochemistry of four small drainages on the north shore of Kauai west of Hanalei

Geochemical compositions of fine-grained stream sediment from four drainages on the north shore of the island of Kauai, Hawaii, west of Hanalei and two back-beach sites were explored to increase understanding about land-based runoff and ecological risk from runoff to nearshore coral communities. Stream and beach sediment were collected between July 30 and August 2, 2016, and major, minor, and trace elements in the less than 63 micrometer-diameter fraction were analyzed by inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectroscopy and mass spectroscopy. The potentially toxic metals Cr, Cu, Ni, and Zn exceeded levels at which adverse biological effects could be observed; however, these metals seemed to be largely mineral-bound and thus were unlikely to harm organisms. Cd and Pb were below levels of ecological concern. Only a small amount of fine-grained sediment was retained on beaches west of Hanalei sampled in summer 2016 (mean=8.8 percent, median=0.4 percent, range=0–92.8 percent, n=41). Although the scarcity of fine-grained sediment precluded land-based runoff sourcing to the nearshore region, it did indicate that fine-grained sediment and associated contaminants did not accumulate over the long term in the sampled intertidal, subtidal, and reef-flat environments, which would reduce sediment-related pressures on coral communities there.

Hawaii↗
USGS1999

Structural and petrologic evolution of the Lihue basin and eastern Kauai, Hawaii

The topography of the eastern part of the Hawaiian island of Kauai is dominated by the Lihue basin, a large (∼110 km 2 ) semicircular depression bounded by steep cliffs and partly filled by late rejuvenated-stage (or posterosional stage) volcanic material. As with other large, semicircular basins on ocean-island volcanoes, the subsurface geology and origin (e.g., structural collapse vs. fluvial erosion) of the Lihue basin are poorly understood. New analyses of samples collected from eastern Kauai and drill holes within the basin document several important features of the late-stage geologic evolution of Kauai. First, thick (>300 m) sequences of rejuvenated-stage Koloa Volcanics in the Lihue basin show systematic, basin-wide geochemical trends of increasingly incompatible elements with time, indicating a gradual decrease in the extent of partial melting of mantle sources with time. Second, beneath the rejuvenated-stage volcanics in the basin, a thin layer of postshield alkalic stage lavas (e.g., hawaiites and mugearites) overlies older shield-stage tholeiitic lavas of the Napali Member, indicating that the Lihue basin formed by structural collapse, not fluvial erosion. Third, a large (∼2–5 km 3 ) matrix-supported breccia, interpreted as deposits of one or more debris flows, is within the rejuvenated-stage volcanics throughout the basin, and correlates with surficial exposures of the Palikea Breccia west of the basin. Isotopic compositions of the bulk breccia are similar to those of tholeiites from the east side of Kauai, and distinct from those of west Kauai tholeiites. Clasts within the breccia are dominantly hawaiite and alkali gabbro. The source region of the breccia in the steep cliffs and highlands of the central massif to the west of the basin must contain magmatic products of an extensive postshield alkalic stage, including hawaiite flows and one or more large intrusive bodies or ponded sequences of alkali gabbro.

Hawaii↗