Inventory and Mapping of Native and Culturally Significant Plants at Pu`Uhonua O Hōnaunau National Historical Park

INVENTORY AND MAPPING OF NATIVE AND CULTURALLY SIGNIFICANT PLANTS AT PUÙHONUA O HŌNAUNAU NATIONAL HISTORICAL PARK Inventory and Monitoring Program Pacific Island Network MASHURI WAITE Pacific Cooperative Studies Unit (University of Hawaiì at Mānoa), NPS Inventory and Monitoring Program, Pacific Island Network, P.O. Box 52, Hawaiì National Park, HI 96718 September 2009 Funding Source: Inventory & Monitoring Program, National Park Service Organization Contact Information: National Park Service, Inventory and Monitoring Program, Pacific Island Network, PO Box 52, Hawaii National Park, HI 96718, phone: 808-985-6180, fax: 808-985-6111, http://www.nature.nps.gov/im/units/pacn/index.htm Recommended Citation: Waite, Mashuri. 2009. Mapping of native and culturally significant plants at Puùhonua o Hōnaunau National Historical Park. USDOI National Park Service, Inventory and Monitoring Program, Pacific Island Network. Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, Hawaii. Key Words: Inventory, weed control, coconut, pili grass, noni, plumeria, naupaka, ilima, tamarind, auhuhu, milo Place Key Words: Hawaii, West Hawaii, Kona, Puuhonua o Honaunau Acronyms: GIS Geographic Information System GPS Global Positioning System HAVO Hawaiì Volcanoes National Park KAHO Kaloko-Honokōhau National Historical Park PACN Pacific Island Network PUHE Puùkoholā Heiau National Historic Site PUHO Puùhonua o Hōnaunau National Historical Park NPSpecies National Park Service Biodiversity Database i Table of Contents Abstract ............................................................................................................... 1 Introduction ......................................................................................................... 1 Methods ............................................................................................................... 2 Results ................................................................................................................. 4 Keawe Residential Complex ............................................................................. 4 Kiìlae Village ..................................................................................................... 6 Sewage Treatment Site ..................................................................................... 8 Vouchers ......................................................................................................... 10 Discussion and Summary ................................................................................ 11 Acknowledgments ............................................................................................ 12 Literature Cited ................................................................................................. 12 Appendix A: List of Observed Plants ............................................................. 13 Appendix B: Data Dictionary........................................................................... 17 List of Tables Table 1. Summary table of plant species for which exact locations were recorded at Puùhonua o Hōnaunau National Historical Park. ......... 11 List of Figures Figure 1. Locations of the three survey areas at Puùhonua o Hōnaunau National Historical Park. ........................................................................ 2 Figure 2. Plants recorded in the Keawe Residential Complex survey area. ........ 5 Figure 3. Plants recorded in the Kiìlae Village survey area. ............................... 7 Figure 4. Plants recorded in the Sewage treatment survey area. ....................... 9 ii ABSTRACT The objective of this inventory was to document and mark native plants as well as non- native plants which are either Polynesian-introduced or other culturally significant plant species at Puùhonua o Hōnaunau National Historical Park. This work was conducted prior to weed control efforts in order to reduce accidental removal of these plants and provide a baseline for future comparison. Over 30 plant species were observed during this survey, and locations of 10 species were recorded with a Global Positioning System (GPS). Two of the species, plumeria (Plumeria rubra) and tamarind (Tamarindus indica), are non-native species probably planted when Kiìlae Village was inhabited prior to the 1930’s. Three species, coconut (Cocos nucifera), noni (Morinda citrifolia), and àuhuhu (Tephrosia purpurea var. purpurea), are non-native species introduced by Polynesians. Milo (Thespesia populnea) is either native (indigenous) or possibly Polynesian introduced. The other four species, kou (Cordia subcordata), pili (Heteropogon contortus), naupaka (Scaevola taccada), and ìlima (Sida fallax), are native species. Noni was encountered most frequently. INTRODUCTION Puùhonua o Hōnaunau National Historical Park (PUHO) is located on the western side of the island of Hawaiì. The park is 74 hectares in size. This park is situated at the shoreline of Mauna Loa Volcano and is mostly coastal in nature. Brackish fishponds and wetlands, anchialine pools, springs, a cliff, and coastal strand communities are found in the park. East of the 1871 trail there is a stretch of coastal dry forest of mostly alien species, including opiuma (Pithecellobium dulce), koa haole (Leucaena leucocephala), and kiawe (Prosopis pallida). As part of the Pacific Island Network’s (PACN) inventory process, managers from PUHO requested assistance in developing maps to guide vegetation management. The vascular plants of PUHO were previously inventoried by Smith et al. (1986) and Pratt and Abbot (1996). Resource management at PUHO requested assistance in mapping the occurrences of native and Polynesian-introduced plants in three areas of the park slated for weed control by mainland fire crews to reduce fuel loading. The objective of this inventory was to document and mark native, Polynesian-introduced, and other non-native yet culturally significant plant species to reduce accidental removal during weed control efforts and to provide baseline data for future comparison. This survey was conducted before the new Kiìlae acquisition was added to the park. The upland botanical garden was not included in this inventory. 1 METHODS The locations of the three survey areas are shown in Figure 1. On August 7, 2001, the Keawe Residential Complex (this site includes the “compost dump” to the north of the complex) and the Kiìlae Village survey area were inventoried. The vicinity of the sewage treatment site was surveyed on August 13, 2001. Figure 1. Locations of the three survey areas at Puùhonua o Hōnaunau National Historical Park. Note that the exact boundaries of the surveys were not recorded with GPS; the indicated survey area locations on this map were created based on detailed descriptions in the field notes. The Keawe Residential Complex survey area included the saltpan enclosure and the adjacent rock wall enclosure to the northeast. Our survey extended a couple of meters past the enclosures on the mountainward side. Included in this survey site was the old compost dump (primarily used for coconut fronds and other plant refuse); this is an open area bounded by the beach, the Keawe Residential Complex rock walls to the south, other rock walls to the north, and to the east by an imaginary extension of the eastern wall of the Keawe Residential Complex (Figure 2). Kiìlae Village was probably first settled in the early 1800’s and occupied until about 1926 (Pratt 1998). In the park, it consists of a series of seven rock-walled enclosures, an eighth partial enclosure mountainward of the 1871 Trail, a house and grave site seaward of the 1871 Trail on Àhinahina Point, and several house sites and heiau seaward of the 2 1871 Trail near the PUHO south boundary (Figure 3). A small portion of the village lies outside the park to the south. The areas seaward of the 1871 Trail and the narrow strip moutainward of the trail to the rock walls are kept clear of alien brush and grass with periodical use of herbicide (Pratt 1998 and personal observation). The sewage treatment site is located at the northeast corner of the park. The survey area is bounded by the park’s boundary fence to the north and east, the parking lot lies to the west, and the Hōnaunau Holua (a holua is a Hawaiian “sledding” track) to the south (Figure 4). Each area was inventoried by walking along unmarked transects separated by approximately four to eight meters, depending on visibility. The Keawe Residential Complex and the Kiìlae Village survey areas were inventoried by paralleling a rock wall (usually the seaward wall), then moving upslope about four meters and traversing back. This method was effective for these two lower elevation survey areas where rock walls clearly delimited the areas. The larger, higher elevation sewage treatment survey area was more difficult to survey because there were few rock walls or established trails to serve as landmarks. In this case, landmarks on the horizon and previously flagged trees were used to track individual transects. The relatively sparse vegetation in this area allowed for good visibility. Except for the sewage treatment area, the exact tracts of the transects were not recorded with a Global Positioning System (GPS). However waypoint locations were recorded for native and non-native Polynesian-introduced species, as well as non-native species considered culturally significant because they were likely planted by inhabitants prior to 1926. Position and attributes for each plant were recorded into a data dictionary in a Trimble Pro XT GPS

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