Fossil Evidence for a Diverse Biota from Kaua'i and Its Transformation Since
Ecological Monographs, 71(4), 2001, pp. 615±641 q 2001 by the Ecological Society of America FOSSIL EVIDENCE FOR A DIVERSE BIOTA FROM KAUA`I AND ITS TRANSFORMATION SINCE HUMAN ARRIVAL DAVID A. BURNEY,1,5 HELEN F. J AMES,2 LIDA PIGOTT BURNEY,1 STORRS L. OLSON,2 WILLIAM KIKUCHI,3 WARREN L. WAGNER,2 MARA BURNEY,1 DEIRDRE MCCLOSKEY,1,6 DELORES KIKUCHI,3 FREDERICK V. G RADY,2 REGINALD GAGE II,4 AND ROBERT NISHEK4 1Department of Biological Sciences, Fordham University, Bronx, New York 10458 USA 2National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. 20560 USA 3Kaua`i Community College, Lihu`e, Hawaii 96766 USA 4National Tropical Botanical Garden, Lawa`i, Hawaii 96756 USA Abstract. Coring and excavations in a large sinkhole and cave system formed in an eolianite deposit on the south coast of Kaua`i in the Hawaiian Islands reveal a fossil site with remarkable preservation and diversity of plant and animal remains. Radiocarbon dating and investigations of the sediments and their fossil contents, including diatoms, invertebrate shells, vertebrate bones, pollen, and plant macrofossils, provide a more complete picture of prehuman ecological conditions in the Hawaiian lowlands than has been previously available. The evidence con®rms that a highly diverse prehuman landscape has been com- pletely transformed, with the decline or extirpation of most native species and their re- placement with introduced species. The stratigraphy documents many late Holocene extinctions, including previously un- described species, and suggests that the pattern of extirpation for snails occurred in three temporal stages, corresponding to initial settlement, late prehistoric, and historic impacts.
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