2014 Annual Report Authors: Melissa Dean & Tabetha Block May 2015 HETF Annual Report 2014 The Forest Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture is dedicated to the principle of multiple use management of the Nation's forest resources for sustained yields of wood, water, forage, wildlife, and recreation. Through forestry research, cooperation with the States and private forest owners, and management of the National Forests and National Grasslands, it strives -- as directed by Congress --to provide increasingly greater service to a growing Nation. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) prohibits discrimination in all its programs and activities on the basis of race, color, national origin, age, disability, and where applicable, sex, marital status, familial status, parental status, religion, sexual orientation, genetic information, political beliefs, reprisal, or because all or part of an individual's income is derived from any public assistance program. (Not all prohibited bases apply to all programs.) Persons with disabilities who require alternative means for communication of program information (Braille, large print, audiotape, etc.) should contact USDA's TARGET Center at (202) 720-2600 (voice and TDD). To file a complaint of discrimination, write USDA, Director, Office of Civil Rights, 1400 Independence Avenue, SW, Washington, DC 20250-9410 or call (800)795-3272 (voice) or (202) 720-6382 (TDD). USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer. 1 | P a g e HETF Annual Report 2014 Contents List of Figures .......................................................................................................................................................4 List of Tables ........................................................................................................................................................4 List of Acronyms ...................................................................................................................................................5 Acknowledgments ................................................................................................................................................6 Introduction .........................................................................................................................................................7 Administration .................................................................................................................................................. 10 Permitting ...................................................................................................................................................... 10 Community Advisory Councils ....................................................................................................................... 10 Planning .......................................................................................................................................................... 11 Funding........................................................................................................................................................... 11 State Management and Research Activities ..................................................................................................... 11 Facilities ............................................................................................................................................................ 11 Laupāhoehoe Unit .......................................................................................................................................... 11 Pu‘u Wa‘awa‘a Unit ........................................................................................................................................ 12 Research Infrastructure/Databases .................................................................................................................. 12 National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON) ........................................................................................ 13 2014 Climate Data Summary ............................................................................................................................ 13 Laupāhoehoe Unit .......................................................................................................................................... 13 Puʻu Waʻawaʻa Unit ........................................................................................................................................ 15 2014 Research Summary .................................................................................................................................. 17 Laupāhoehoe Science and Education Center (Center) .................................................................................. 23 ‘Ōhi‘a Common Garden ............................................................................................................................ 23 2014 Education, Outreach and Access Activity Summary ................................................................................ 24 Hawai‘i Youth Conservation Corps (HYCC) ..................................................................................................... 24 Manaulu Manowai‘ōpae ................................................................................................................................ 24 Laupāhoehoe Unit .......................................................................................................................................... 25 Pu‘u Waʻawaʻa Unit ........................................................................................................................................ 28 Laupāhoehoe Science and Education Center................................................................................................. 31 2014 HETF Concerns, Comments, and Challenges ........................................................................................... 32 Laupāhoehoe Unit .......................................................................................................................................... 32 Pu‘u Wa‘awa‘a Unit ........................................................................................................................................ 32 2014 Annual Reports Received ......................................................................................................................... 33 Bonaccorso, Frank - Hawaiian Hoary Bat habitat occupancy, population demographics and diet. .............. 34 Chang, Paul - Sandalwood Core Sampling ..................................................................................................... 38 Cordell, Susan - The Potential for Restoration to Break the Grass / Fire Cycle in Dryland Ecosystems in Hawaii ..................................................................................................................................................... 39 Dykstra, Brian - The effect of pollination on fruit and seed yields of Māmane (Sophora chrysophyla) ........ 41 Earnshaw, Kyle – Phenotypic plasticity and adaptation of two Acacia koa Gray ecotypes in response to light availability. ...................................................................................................................................... 42 Gillespie, Rosemary - Adaptive radiation in Hawaiian spiders ...................................................................... 43 LaPointe, Dennis - Distribution and prevalence of knemidokoptic mange in Hawaii amakihi on the Island of Hawaii. .................................................................................................................................................... 45 2 | P a g e HETF Annual Report 2014 LaPointe, Dennis - Assessment of mosquito-borne avian disease risk in non-breeding habitat for foraging iiwi (Vestiaria coccinea) adjacent to Hakalau Forest NWR. .................................................................... 48 Litton, Creighton M. and Christian P. Giardina - An experimental test of the impacts of rising temperature on carbon input, allocation, and loss in model forests .......................................................................... 50 MacKenzie, Rich and Ayron Strauch - Quantifying the effects of ungulates and invasive strawberry guava (Psidium cattleianum) on sediment runoff in Hawaiian wet forests ...................................................... 52 Medville, Douglas and Peter Bosted - Lava tube location, survey, and resource evaluation on Pu`u Wa`awa`a and Pu`u Anahulu .................................................................................................................. 53 Michler, Charles - Acacia koa environmental genomics ................................................................................ 55 Shea, Thomas - Field investigation of the volcanic history of Pu'u Wa'awa'a ............................................... 57 Vitousek, Peter - Sources and fates of nutrients on a substrate age gradient across the Hawaiian archipelago and their consequences for forest dynamics ...................................................................... 58 Yanger, Corie - Investigating the level and rate of invasive thrips infestation on spatially varied natural and planted Hawaiian Myoporum seedlings ................................................................................................. 59 Yeh, Aileen - Forest Disease Monitoring for Rust Disease affecting ‘ōhi‘a Lehua