National Park Service Inventory & Monitoring U.S. Department of the Interior Pacific Island Network

N ISLA D NE IC TW IF O C R A K Pacific Island Network P

Quarterly Newsletter of the Pacific Island Network (PACN) N Quarterly P g Inventory & Monitoring Program S rin Inv ito July – Sept. 2011 / Issue no. 25 entory & Mon

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Monitoring Born and Hïhïw a i , New Seabird Schedule ...2 Raised in a Hot Topic ...6 Websites ...2 Volcano Snail's Situational Awareness ...6 Tale Vital Signs ...3 Vegetation Featured Staff ...3 Notes from the Field Featured Creature Mapping at Page 4 Page 5 Haleakalä N.P. ...7

Newsletter of the Pacific Island Network • July – September 2011, issue no. 25 Interactive map: http://science.nature.nps.gov/im/units/pacn/monitoring/vital_signs.cfm

National Park Service Monitoring Schedule U.S. Department of the Interior Pacific Island Network P.O. Box 52 1 Crater Rim Drive - Qtrs 22 October November December Hawai'i National Park, HI 96718

Water Quality Monitoring Water Quality Monitoring Water Quality Monitoring at The National Park Service (NPS) has imple- at KAHO & HALE at KALA, WAPA, AMME, NPSA mented natural resource inventory and monitor- PUHO, PUHE, & ALKA ing on a servicewide basis to ensure all park units possess the resource information needed Invasive Plant Species for effective, science-based management, Vegetation Mapping at Groundwater Monitoring at Monitoring in wet forest at decision-making, and resource protection. HALE AMME & KAHO H AVO

Program Manager: Invasive Plant Species Plant Communities Greg Kudray 808-985-6183 Invasive Plant Species Monitoring in wet forest at Monitoring in wet forest at Pacific Island Network Staff: Monitoring in the H AVO H AVO Laura Arnold 808-985-6330 subalpine zone at HAVO Asia Addlesberger 808-985-6320 Alison Ainsworth 808-985-6180 Plant Communities Daemerson Awong 808-985-6189 Monitoring in wet Tonnie Casey 808-985-6325 Plant Communities forest at Anne Farahi 808-985-6181 Danielle Gross 808-329-6881 Monitoring in the H AVO (x743) subalpine zone at HAVO Jacob Gross 808-985-6330 Kelly Kozar 808-985-6186 Benthic Ben McMillan 808-985-6184 Marine Cory Nash 808-985-6185 Monitoring Forrest Phifer 808-985-6189 Featured Staff Eliseo Queja 808-985-6189 at KAHO Brian Sylvester 808-985-6182 Jacob Gross –Biotechnician Admin. Tech. Biotechnician Kimberly Tice 808-567-6802 Brian Sylvester – Forrest Phifer – Marine Fish (x1510) Visa Vaivai 684-699-3982 Monitoring Jake started working in natural resources My artist father worked on American Forrest Phifer was born along the rural Cedar (American Samoa) at KAHO during high school with the Youth Corie Yanger 808-985-6187 Indian projects for the Arizona Highways River in Washington State. He attended the Conservation Corps in North Dakota and magazine. As a boy, these projects gave me Evergreen State College in Olympia, WA, and Kansas. After completing a B.S. in Biology the opportunity to play with Hopi children graduated in 2004 with a dual B.S. in Biology Steering Committee Members ALKA – Aric Arakaki at Emporia State University, he felt the need on their Mesas. I developed a love for the and Environmental Science. Most of his work HALE – Matt Brown to get out of the landlocked states and see land from the examples they taught. After focus has been on riparian corridors and HAVO – Rhonda Loh some ocean. Internships at Hawai'i Volcanoes a two year mission for my church, I joined monitoring the impacts of “free range cattle” KAHO – Sallie Beavers KALA – Eric Brown Websites to check out National Park with the USGS and the the Air Force and served in South Korea and and logging practices on salmon bearing NPSA – Tim Clarke Hawksbill Sea Turtle Project introduced Jake Kuwait. I then completed studies in Global streams. When not combing the coastal areas PUHE – Sallie Beavers/Daniel Kawaiaea to the island lifestyle and to his wife, Danielle. PUHO – Adam Johnson Pacific Islands National Parks blog (over 265,000 views) Business Management at Bellevue U. and and mountains of Hawaii to document the VALR – Eric Brown http://pacificislandparks.com/ Together they enjoy the sun, the ocean, the worked for an engineering company. In 2000, composition of plant communities, he can be WAPA / AMME – Mike Gawel friendly people, and the endless outdoor the entrepreneurial bug bit me and I created found living in rainy Hilo, HI. Forrest spends adventures of the Big Island. a land management company which I sold in his leisure time swimming and camping Comments? Write to: Learn about Palolo (It's that time of year again) Cory Nash, Editor 2008, and built a home in Joplin, Missouri. alongside the ocean, playing with his new Pacific Island Network Quarterly http://pacificislandparks.com/2011/09/09/yummy-worms-called-palolo/ On May 22nd, our home was destroyed in dog, doing crossfit workouts, and creating P.O. Box 52 Hawai'i National Park, HI 96718 the third largest experimental vegetarian recipes. Phone: 808-985-6185 Connecting Kids to Conservation (Project and funding ideas) tornado disaster Email: [email protected] http://science.nature.nps.gov/ http://www.kidstoconservation.org/ in U.S. history. im/units/pacn/ Five days before the tornado, the Mailing List: NOTE: Unless indicated all photos and Hawaii Environmental Education Alliance articles are NPS. http://heea.org/core/news/list.aspx NPS offered me Contributers: UMCES - IAN, C. Nash, D. Awong, A. a position at the Farahi, C. Meston, B. McMillan, G. Kudray, A. Ainsworth, J. Woerner, B. Sylvester, F. Phifer, J. Gross I&M office in NPS Rivers, Trails, and Conservation Assistance Program (RTCA) Hawaii. We are Please pass this newsletter on http://www.nps.gov/ncrc/programs/rtca/ grateful to be here.

2 Pacific Island Network Quarterly Pacific Island Network Quarterly 3 Pacific Island Network Notes from the Field Featured Creature

Hïhïwai (Neritina granosa) The top of their shell is Born and Raised in Volcano black. Underwater, the their initially hïhïwai appear beautifully I have been surrounded by the rich cultural and speckled by reddish colored Description: established Hīhīwai are freshwater snails endemic dots. The underside of natural resources of Hawaiʽi Volcanoes National Park for my home loca- to Hawaii, meaning they occur nowhere the shell as well as the entire life. The Hawaiian culture is centered on our natural tion once they operculum is an orange- else in the world. They can grow to surroundings. Everything from religion to politics involves reach adult- brown color (below). 1.5 inches in diameter, and have a some level of the natural environment. hood. As a child we went on a lot of different trails to very distinct coloration pattern with red dots on the top of the shell and an the coast and the mountain within the park. On many of orange operculum on the bottom. The these hikes, an elder would tell a story or point out the Tidbit: operculum is a structure attached to the The hīhīwai importance of different plants or animals to Hawaiians. I upper surface of the snail's fleshy foot. is also called remember when hula hālau would gather plants from the Here I am in the "field" It acts like a trap door covering the soft wī, which forest for performances. There are a lot of traditional (and at ages 6 and 26. parts of the snail when they are retracted means famine park) rules about when you can harvest that aids in the inside the shell. in Hawaiian. This suggests they were sustainability of the different natural resources. an important food source for native I have always known that I wanted to give back to Hawaiians during times of food Habitat & Diet: shortage. They are also a favorite food my community and help my native people. I would have never Hīhīwai prefer very clean, well- of some native birds such as the ‘auku‘u guessed that I would have that opportunity in the place oxygenated streams with rocky bottoms. (black-crowned night heron), and the I feel so strongly attached to. One of the park’s main Rocks are easy to grip and provide good ‘ūlili (wandering tattler). missions is to protect natural and cultural resources, and mediums for the algae they scrape off to it gives me great pride to be a small part of that mission. feed on. They are most abundant in fast- I work with the NPS Inventory and Monitoring Program to flowing, lower to middle stream reaches, Threats: collect data on the plants in the park. The data can be used but can be found in upper reaches as The amphidromous lifecycle of the to show what types of invasive plants are threatening the well. Their strong, muscular foot allows hīhīwai illustrates the strong mauka to For more information on hīhīwai: native plant populations, and which management practices are them to climb waterfalls and attach makai (mountain to ocean) connection http://hawaii.gov/dlnr/dar/streams_ themselves firmly to rocks. working well. Monitoring data is important to understand the necessary for their survival. Hīhīwai native_animals.html need an uninterrupted connection health of the forest and other plant communities over time. The nocturnal hīhīwai seen during the This is the most enjoyable and rewarding job that I have ever had. The job has taken between the stream and the ocean. —A. Farahi, NPS day represent only a small portion of the Water diversions and dams can impede me to remote areas and allowed me to witness, firsthand, how detrimental invasive plant Biotechnician population that may be hiding under the this connection. Also, habitat alteration species can be to a native forest. Last season we worked in the ʽŌlaʽa, Nāhuku, and east rocks waiting for night. such as the construction of concrete rift areas. The ʽŌlaʽa wet forest has invasive weeds such as palm grass, strawberry guava, stream channels instead of natural and Himalayan raspberry that dominate certain areas. This season we are working in Kahuku rocky habitat can impact their feeding from the pasture land up to the subalpine areas. The Kahuku wet forest is dominated Reproduction: behavior. Finally, habitat degradation These young Hīhīwai deposit eggs in tiny whitish- hïhïwai by native species such as kōlea, pilo, kāwaʽu, and ʽōhiʽa. It is exciting to see an area and pollution can lead to poor water brown capsules about the size and spat were quality, which hīhīwai cannot handle. photographed dominated by native plants. We have also seen some rare and endangered species in Kahuku. shape of a sesame seed. They will attach One of the biggest threats to the native forest in Kahuku is feral unglulates like during their hundreds of egg capsules to rocks or upstream pigs and sheep. The forest has a rich diversity of native plants in the canopy (older/taller even each other’s shells. Each capsule Hīhīwai in National migration trees), but has a problem with regeneration. There are hardly any native seedlings due to contains about 250 eggs. When the from the ocean to find foraging and trampling by the sheep and pigs. Without new native plants to succeed the eggs hatch, larvae are washed out to the Parks: areas to pass current canopy, invasive plants could take over the forest. Currently, there is a big effort ocean where they will spend up to a year Hīhīwai are found in high quality their adult to eliminate the sheep from the Kahuku area. The plant monitoring data we collect can before returning to a stream. The post- streams on Kaua‘i, Maui, Moloka‘i, lives. help the park to determine if this sheep removal effort is working well. larvae, called spat, can be seen marching and Hawai‘i Island. They are rarely It has been a great honor to be able to build on my skills and knowledge at Hawaiʽi single file up the stream in large recruit- observed on the island of O‘ahu due to ment events usually during the summer Volcanoes National park. I have had the pleasure of working with some great biologists the high level of stream alteration and months (see photo at right). The new degradation of streams on the island. that showed me different techniques in identifying unknown species. My pool of knowledge recruits will migrate upstream until they The National Park Service Inventory A photograph isn't good has grown tremendously thanks to my coworkers, and I have been able to grow as a find a suitable location to spend their & Monitoring Program monitors these enough? How about some person as we share personal experiences and ideas. I have learned so much from my elders adult life. This type of lifecycle is called snails in the streams of Haleakalā video of a hïhïwai migration ? and my coworkers through the years, but there is much more to learn. I hope to be a an amphidromous lifecycle. Despite all National Park and Kalaupapa National part of protecting the resources in my backyard for many more years to come. of the travelling, most hīhīwai do not http://www.youtube.com/ –D. "Koa" Awong, NPS Biotechnician Historical Park. move more than 30 meters away from watch?v=1ssBfBqSAJI

4 Pacific Island Network Quarterly Newsletter of the Pacific Island Network • July – September 2011, issue no. 25 5 Pacific Island Network Mapping Update Featured Resource

Haleakalä Hot Topic Location, Location, Location Vegetation Changes in Kïpahulu Valley National Park Situational awareness is a method was much more efficient than Recent Inventory & Monitoring Program related to recent outbreaks (2003 guide management actions to safeguard term commonly used in emergency holding daily briefings or personally vegetation mapping field surveys have and 2008) of the Hawaiian koa moth these precious natural resources. o you recognize this Scotorythra paludicola operations and security centers. contacting individuals. provided a surprising glimpse of how ( ) as opposed bird ? You shouldn't. vegetation has changed in Haleakalā to pig impacts. Additional research is —C. Meston, NPS Biotechnician D The term also applies nicely to those entrusted with carrying out the mission Mr. Benitez said, “I hope this National Park's Kīpahulu Valley since needed to establish population trends —A. Ainsworth, NPS Botaninst of the National Park Service. It is collaboration leads to improved the eradication of pigs almost 25 years and investigate possible causes of the —G. Kudray, NPS I&M Program important to plan for potential safety situational awareness for park staff. ago. This summer, we surveyed seven decrease in koa cover. Manager issues in the field, and visualizing These products [web map services] vegetation plots (400 m2 each) in two and analyzing what surrounds us is a will tremendously benefit emergency pig-free exclosures in upper (3000-6500 Invasive plant species cover was principle of what we do. Pacific Island response efforts in the park by ft.) and lower (2300-3100 ft.) Kīpahulu similar between 1986 and 2011 (Figure Network map services provide ever- improving the clarity and usability of Valley. Originally surveyed in the mid- 2), but the dominant weed species evolving options aimed at streamlining geographic information. These products 1980's prior to the 1988 pig removal, the dramatically changed (Figure 3). In Paspalum conjugatum information for national park managers. also have the potential to build support plots were resurveyed and vegetation 1986, Hilo grass ( ) Features include: viewing park assets, for park management activities among was recorded by species and by canopy covered over 50% of the ground with conditions, and plot coordinates; using local communities through better cover following the I&M vegetation small percentages (<5%) of several measuring tools; mapping markups; information sharing.” mapping protocol. These new cover other invasive plants. With the pigs saving and sharing projects; uploading data were then compared to historic plot removed, in 2011 the most abundant and viewing GPS points and shapefiles; Wildlife Biologist Howard Hoshide, cover data to examine changes over time. weeds were the woody species Koster’s Clidemia hirta Figure 1. Species richness in lower and upper running location searches; linking to also with Hawai‘i Volcanoes National curse ( ) and strawberry Psidium cattleianum Kīpahulu Valley in 1986 and 2011. Bryan's shearwater. Microsoft Bing™ or Google™ services; Park, expressed his gratitude for these In the higher elevation site (upper guava ( ). This Photo by Reginald David and enabling print-quality map products, and has helped to test some of Kīpahulu), species richness (number shift from herbaceous to woody templates to name a few. the functions. “We use this tool a lot!", of plant species found) did not differ weed species is a major concern t’s been almost four decades since explained Hoshide. "It significantly between 1986 and 2011 for management because these Ia new species of bird had been really is much easier than (Figure 1). Vegetation cover was species are known to be aggressive recorded in Hawaii (In 1974, scientists trying to learn the newest also similar. These data suggest that ecosystem altering plants. Kāhili ginger described a honeycreeper called the ArcGIS software, and vegetation at this site was not heavily (Hedychium gardnerianum), another po'ouli on Maui). According to a helps us with work plans. impacted by pigs to begin with, likely aggressive invader, has relatively recent Smithsonian Institute DNA We use this prior to going due to the lack of preferred food sources low cover due to control efforts by analysis of a shearwater specimen out in the field to create such as hāpu‘u (Cibotium spp.) and Haleakalā National Park since 1992. collected in 1963 on Midway Atoll, a project maps and share ‘ōhā wai (Clermontia spp.) at the higher distinct and entirely new species was information with the elevations in the valley. In order for park managers to people who need it." effectively manage the unique, relatively identified. Figure 2. Average bare ground, combined invasive However, in lower Kīpahulu Valley intact rain forest found within Kīpahulu plant species percent cover, and native koa tree The newly realized seabird species species richness more than doubled over Valley, it is essential to know which cover in lower Kīpahulu Valley in 1986 and 2011. is called the Bryan’s shearwater http://pacn. this 25 year time period (Figure 1). This plant species are present and how (Puffinus bryani) after a former is primarily due to a four-fold increase they are changing over time. So, by curator of collections at the Bishop maps.nps.gov in native species. Vegetation cover overlaying some of our new vegetation Museum in Honolulu which housed increased in the understory resulting mapping field plots on 25 year old 1986 the misidentified animal for decades. Although only available in a significant decrease in bare ground survey plots, we were able to compare 2011 Very little is know about this bird, but on National Park Service following pig removal (Figure 2). These exposed soil and vegetation cover. it is believed to be the smallest known computers, this tool has data suggest that pigs were impacting species of shearwater. It has not yet also been leveraged to understory vegetation within this site. Surprisingly, we observed few changes been confirmed whether or not the support dispatch and Similar to other studies, the greatest in the higher elevations and many species is still flying over the Pacific investigations in the impacts of pigs appear in the ground changes in the lower elevations. Ocean or if it has gone extinct. parks. We hope that layer including herbaceous vegetation The lower elevation forest has been During the March 2011 fissure eruption others will find that these products can and regenerating woody species. remarkably able to recover after the at Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park, this Science continues to uncover the simplify their daily workflows as well. As removal of feral pigs; however, there Figure 3. Invasive plant species percent cover mapping capability was put into action we build capabilities that enhance our As expected, few changes were were also increases in aggressive weed shifted in lower Kīpahulu Valley between 1986 secrets of the natural world. and 2011. to track and notify personnel of lava specific mission with the NPS Inventory detected in the tree canopy with the species. Despite uncertainty regarding flows and fires as data became available. & Monitoring Program, it is a great surprising exception of the native koa the cause of these changes (e.g., pigs, Ecologist David Benitez surveyed daily Read more at: bonus to be able to share and contribute tree (Acacia koa). Koa canopy cover insects, advancing non-native plant This study demonstrates some of the lava flows and fire perimeters and then to other NPS programs along the way. decreased significantly during this time invasion fronts, climate change); just benefits of incorporating legacy data http://smithsonianscience.org published the updates to the map site, —B. McMillan, NPS period (Figure 2). This decline is likely documenting the changes helps to into current inventories. (search for Bryan's shearwater) informing personnel of changes. This GIS Specialist

6 Pacific Island Network Quarterly Background photo. Kïpahulu valley Newsletter of the Pacific Island Network • July – September 2011, issue no. 25 7 wet forest at Haleakalä National Park. Pacific Island Network Critical Issue

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benefit from this project? Beyond How do Coral reefs and we tap into the intrinsic educational value of the natural climate change teaching about the plants and animals curiosity that make up the reefs, users have the students opportunity to actually explore the possess? educational web How do we biology of and threats to the reefs in illustrate module is live four national parks. Case studies of their coral reefs are set in the National Park connections and ready for the of American Samoa, War in the Pacific to coastal ecosystems? NHP (Guam), Kaloko-Honokōhau How do we classroom. NHP (Hawaii), and Kalaupapa NHP get them (Hawaii). The incorporation of these to relate In the summer of 2010, the Pacific unique parks provides the user varied to climate Island Network teamed up with the change? examples of reef ecosystems and allows Integration and Application Network the parks to highlight their reefs and at the University of Maryland Center associated threats like bleaching and enables teachers to easily incorporate for Environmental Science to create sedimentation. Furthermore, actual some or all of the activities into their a unique and innovative, web-based Inventory and Monitoring Program lesson plans. educational program that communicates benthic cover data is incorporated into coral reef science through inquiry and the module to lend a real-world element Evaluation data from a focus group of observation in the Pacific islands. to the scholastic science. science educators in the Pacific islands indicates that the content of the module Careful web design and interactive In addition to student resources like is age and regionally appropriate, the elements allow users to explore the a glossary, the partnership created an classroom and outdoor activities are incredible biodiversity of coral reefs and Access Classroom Resource page where effectively integrated with the web collect data about coral cover with the teachers can download the materials pages, and that teachers believe that the same methods used by scientists. Users they need to implement module module can be easily implemented in see into the future as unchecked carbon activities and lessons. Here, teachers the classroom. emissions increase ocean acidification can access teaching standards, learning and erode corals, and take charge by objectives, and time requirements The next crucial step is the adoption building their own reef ecosystems in related to each activity. This information of this program into classrooms. A Guam, Hawaii, or American Samoa with week-long intensive teacher workshop an interactive food-web game. on the module was hosted on O‘ahu he coral reefs and climate change in June, with hopes that the 16 Hawaii Specifically designed to allow students module developed by this teachers who participated will use the to choose their experience and observe T partnership differs from other web program and share it with peers. A the topics that are most interesting to educational materials in a variety shorter workshop was held on Hawai'i them, this web module uses games, of ways: a) the materials are based in September, and more are planned videos, and animations to help users on sound science and data, b) the for Guam and American Samoa next observe reef ecosystems and inspire classroom activities were designed summer. However, introduction to this them to develop their own questions. by educators in collaboration with fully conceived, tested, and important Woven throughout the module are scientists and students, c) cultural science education program needs your activities on sustainable fishing, connections and traditional practices help to broadcast its virtues widely. traditional land use practices, and many are included to help engage Pacific other cultural, natural, and scientific islanders, and d) all of the web and Please take a few minutes to go to the connections to the resources. The text classroom materials are vetted by website at the top of the page, and see and activities are supported by several teachers and reviewed by scientists. for yourself the educational potential short movies on everything from These materials conform with state, within. Then share it with every local fishing pressures to encouraging territorial, and federal high school and educator you know. We think that you students to take action by learning middle school education standards, will like it as much as we do. about and preserving reefs. but are uniquely targeted to Pacific —C. Nash, NPS island audiences. Science Communicator So how does the National Park Service —J. Woerner, UMCES Science Communicator 8 Newsletter of the Pacific Island Network • July – September 2011, issue no. 25