Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

Paleoecology and “inter-situ” restoration on Kaua'i, Hawai'i

2007; Wiley; Volume: 5; Issue: 9 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1890/1540-9295(2007)5[483

1540-9309

David A. Burney, Lida Pigott Burney,

Pacific and Southeast Asian Studies

Frontiers in Ecology and the EnvironmentVolume 5, Issue 9 p. 483-490 Paleoecology ReviewFree Access Paleoecology and "inter-situ" restoration on Kaua'i, Hawai'i David A. Burney, Corresponding Author David A. Burney National Tropical Botanical Garden, Kalaheo, HI 96741* (E-mail: dburney@ntbg.org)Search for more papers by this authorLida Pigott Burney, Lida Pigott Burney Makauwahi Cave Reserve, Kalaheo, HI 96741Search for more papers by this author David A. Burney, Corresponding Author David A. Burney National Tropical Botanical Garden, Kalaheo, HI 96741* (E-mail: dburney@ntbg.org)Search for more papers by this authorLida Pigott Burney, Lida Pigott Burney Makauwahi Cave Reserve, Kalaheo, HI 96741Search for more papers by this author First published: 01 October 2007 https://doi.org/10.1890/070051Citations: 58AboutSectionsPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditWechat Abstract Paleoecological studies from tropical islands around the globe show that human colonization has been devastating for these remote biotic communities. Island histories reveal that human predation and human-mediated landscape change have each played a key role, but many island extinctions following human arrival are strongly associated with introduced predators, herbivores, weeds, and diseases. On the Hawaiian Island of Kaua'i, human-caused extinctions are currently occurring in a microcosm of island endemics. Recent studies of endangered plants suggest that conventional in-situ and ex-situ conservation strategies are losing the battle here. Paleoecological findings support the idea that creating new populations in formerly much larger, late prehistoric and early historical ranges of declining species may provide a reliable and cost-effective hedge against extinction. On Kaua'i, several paleoecological sites have played key roles in planning and implementing ecological and cultural restoration projects. Biotic collapse appears, without exception, to follow human arrival to remote tropical islands around the world. Although debate continues regarding the causes of late Quaternary extinctions on continents, there is almost universal agreement in the scientific community that humans have been transforming remote tropical oceanic islands at a rapid pace ever since the onset of local human colonization (Steadman 1995; Burney and Flannery 2005). In a nutshell: Conservation on remote tropical islands demands innovative strategies, as conventional approaches have proved inadequate in many cases Paleoecology and other historical techniques may hold solutions for reversing the decline of some endangered species These techniques show that many rare species may formerly have had much wider ranges The fossil record has been used on Kaua'i, for instance, as a strong justification for creating new populations at sites where intensive management is feasible Makauwahi Cave Reserve, a collaboration with Grove Farm Company, has served as a prototype for this approach, defined here as "inter-situ restoration" Direct human predation and deforestation have each been frequently invoked to explain the changes, although both prehistoric evidence and historical records also document indirect effects of humans, including introduced predators, herbivores, alien competitors, and diseases. Human disruption of island biota probably began more than 50 000 years ago in New Guinea, and spread prehistorically to other islands, in the wake of their discovery. The process was directly observed and documented in the later cases, including the Mascarene and Galapagos Islands, where initial human colonization has been a phenomenon of recent centuries (Martin and Steadman 1999; Burney and Flannery 2005). Perhaps no case of "tropical paradise lost" is more familiar than that of the Hawaiian Islands, first colonized by Polynesians one to two millennia ago. Recent research employing accelerator mass spectrometer 14 C dating of materials least likely to be contaminated with old carbon, such as plant macrofossils and purified bone collagen, support the later arrival scenarios, hardly more than 1000 years ago (Athens et al. 2002; Burney and Burney 2003). Casualties in the wake of human arrival included large, flightless waterfowl and other ground-nesting birds, and perhaps others (Olson and James 1984). Following Captain Cook's two voyages in 1778–79 and subsequent European colonization, finches, land snails, and plants figured among the major losses on these mid-Pacific volcanic islands. A complex web of causation can be imagined. Various human impacts interacted with natural variations in climate, demography, and ecological dynamics to drive extreme extinction events, in which many groups were greatly affected or completely eliminated on these and other islands (eg Burney et al. 2002; Burney and Flannery 2005). Certain events, such as the introduction of rats (Athens et al. 2002), may have had disproportionate effects. In addition, some groups (eg flightless birds) may have been hardest hit, eliminating hundreds or perhaps thousands of species globally (Steadman 1995). Kaua'i, the oldest and northernmost of the major Hawaiian Islands, is an interesting case for scientists studying human-mediated extinction. The losses have been substantial on Kaua'i, and they are continuing (Burney et al. 2001); the extinction catastrophe has not yet finished running its course. An often-cited pair of statistics is that the Hawaiian Islands together represent only 0.2% of US land area, but contain 43% of the plants on the endangered species list. Of all the islands, Kaua'i holds the dubious distinction of having the largest number of listed species, including many single-island endemics with total populations in the 1–50 range. Paleoecological studies based on fossils recovered from ancient caves and marshes on this 1430-km2 island have yielded a detailed picture of biotic changes before, during, and after human arrival (Olson and James 1982, 1984, 1991, 1997; James and Olson 1991; Burney et al. 2001; Burney 2002; Burney and Burney 2003; Burney and Kikuchi 2006). In an unusual development, however, studies of past environmental cataclysms have become a more direct part of contemporary conservation activity than is customary. Although paleoecological insights have led to some interesting and controversial "Pleistocene rewilding" proposals in the North American conservation community and elsewhere (eg Martin 2005; Donlan et al. 2005, 2006; Donlan 2007; Caro 2007), Kaua'i hosts numerous ecological restorations that have, with only minor controversy, drawn their inspiration and part of their scientific justification directly from the findings of avian paleontologists, palynologists, archaeologists, and ethnohistorians. An early and spectacular example was the reintroduction of the Nene, or Hawaiian goose (Branta sandwicensis), to other islands, including Kaua'i, from a tiny historical population known exclusively from the Big Island. Surfing the extinction wave The Hawaiian Islands are ripe for new conservation ideas for several reasons. First, the situation there is dire. The lowlands of Kaua'i, for instance, are almost entirely lacking in native vegetation and suitable habitat for endangered animals. Exotic vegetation blankets the landscape up to elevations of 1000 m or more in many areas, with some notable, but highly threatened exceptions. Thousands of hectares are covered with invasive alien plants; some, such as ratberry (Rhodomyrtus tomentosa), Guinea grass (Panicum maximum), and haole koa (Leucaena leucocephala), form essentially mono-dominant stands that successfully exclude most natives and even many other alien invasives. No native passerine birds are regularly seen below ∼ 1000 m, due to the presence of the introduced mosquito Culex quinquefasciata, which carries avian malaria and bird pox, introduced diseases apparently fatal to native honeycreepers and other endemic perching birds. Most endemic land snails, including the large, colorful Carelia species, are believed to be extinct. Giant flightless waterfowl, the original mesoherbivore community of the islands, have been extinct for centuries (Olson and James 1982, 1984, 1991; James and Burney 1997), and the endemic flying waterfowl, such as the Nene and the Koloa duck (Anas wyvilliana), are on the US federal endangered species list. Second, this dire situation is not getting better for most species, but is instead worsening. In-situ conservation in state and national parks, forest reserves, military reservations, and private holdings has proven to be expensive and difficult to maintain for so many species at once, in the face of major challenges from feral ungulates, introduced predators, invasive plants and invertebrates, and diseases – all exacerbated by the ravages of hurricanes, landslides, pollution, and development. Ex-situ conservation in botanical gardens, native-plant nurseries, arboreta, and seed banks has shown progress, but the extent to which public and private institutions can address the challenge is limited by the costs of labor, greenhouse and garden space, genetic constraints, hybridization, and the absence or scarcity of natural recruitment. Ex-situ strategies have benefited from new ecological and horticultural techniques, but the entire effort is at risk of being swamped by the sheer number of species in decline, the rapidity of their decline, and regulatory hurdles (Holling and Meffe 1996). One study suggests that 590 of the 1209 species of native Hawaiian plants are already extinct or at risk of extinction (Wagner et al. 1999). Formal status reviews of each listed endangered species are just beginning for the long list of Hawaiian plants, but results from 21 species evaluated by the Conservation Department of the National Tropical Botanical Garden (NTBG) in 2006, under contract from the US Fish and Wildlife Service, show the magnitude of the challenge in microcosm: all these species, save perhaps one or two, have declined since their official listing under the Endangered Species Act, most not only in total number, but in number of populations as well (WebTable 1). These species were selected on the basis of administrative considerations (their turn on a 5-year update cycle), not because they were perceived to be at greater risk than others on the list. In nearly all cases, the cause of decline is not known with certainty, but the observed or inferred negative influences are the usual litany – the same factors indicated in the fossil record of island extinctions in the human period (WebTable 1). Restoration paleoecology The community of conservation professionals and dedicated volunteers in the state of Hawai'i is sizeable, and many energetic projects are underway. Leading conservationists have recently called not only for a greater effort, but for a more focused, creative approach, based on the best science available and promoting research (Duffy and Kraus 2006). Two ideas in particular have attracted attention at recent regional conservation meetings as possible breakthroughs in addressing the overwhelming challenge. It could be argued that these are simply two sides of the same coin. On one side is the emerging practice of using local paleoecological, archaeological, and ethnohistorical sources to develop restoration plans and propose reintroductions for managed areas (Burney et al. 2002); on the other is the emerging concept of inter-situ conservation (See Panel 1; Blixt 1994; Guerrant et al. 2004). These two ideas have proven to be highly synergistic, in that, for instance, paleoecological findings are increasingly used to support proposals to create new populations in the late prehistoric and early historical range of declining species. Although the term "inter-situ" has been used in conservation for more than a decade and in several different contexts (see Blixt 1994), we propose here a definition that encompasses most usages (Panel 1). In practice, most of these projects involve a variable mix of horticultural and agricultural techniques, in which reintroduced species are subsidized for a time, but husbandry is eventually, often gradually, withdrawn. Familiar examples would be "soft-release" techniques for reintroduced animals, and temporary irrigation systems, periodic soil amendments, and weeding for reintroduced plants. Although the site may resemble a barnyard or cropfield initially, the ultimate goal is usually a phased withdrawal of most direct care to the recolonizers (ungulate exclusion fences being a major exception) and a hope for reproduction and recruitment success. A key advantage with most inter-situ projects over more remote in-situ locations is that greater accessibility and a lack of jurisdictional complications make it generally more feasible to correct and continue addressing the challenges that resulted in species' decline in the first place. Paleoecology has played a variety of supporting roles in this effort on Kaua'i. First, studies of past ecosystems have shown scientists and the public the full magnitude of extinction losses and ecological transformations that have come in the wake of human disturbance, reinforcing the sense of urgency. Second, information of this type has provided direct scientific justification for efforts to implement corrective measures, such as feral ungulate management and exclusion, increased agricultural inspection controls over incoming materials that might introduce new invasions, and protection of archaeological and historical sites. Third, and perhaps most importantly from the standpoint of ecological theory, paleoecological findings have revealed some surprising details about the formerly much wider ranges of now-rare plants and animals in pre-human Kaua'i and subsequent changes in their environments. Finally, paleoecology, environmental history, and ethnographic information about landscapes and species give interpretive and educational programs a better sense of place by providing, in addition, a sense of time in a place (WebPanel 1) Makauwahi Cave Reserve: low-cost time travel Multidisciplinary studies at Makauwahi Cave, Maha'ulepu, on Kaua'i's south shore (Figure 1), first revealed some critical details needed for restoration on the dry, leeward side of the island (Burney et al. 2001). Pollen and plant macrofossil results showed unequivocally, for the first time, that pre-human coastal and lowland vegetation was far more diverse than would be guessed from the surviving, degraded patches of native plant communities here. Many species associated today with a few high interior sites of a very different type were, in the pre-human late Holocene, quite typical in these coastal forests. This suggests that ecological restoration at the site, in which alien vegetation is being removed and natives planted in their place, could in fact make use of a much more diverse list of plants than previously imagined, including many at-risk species – some of them among Kaua'i's rarest today. This approach, combining past information with futuristic restoration strategies, is now being tried throughout the island (Figure 2). Figure 1Open in figure viewerPowerPoint View of the western wall of the large sinkhole in the center of Makauwahi Cave. Pritchardia aylmerrobinsonii palms in the foreground, although extinct on Kaua'i today, were reintroduced to the site from the adjacent island of Niihau because their seeds and pollen were abundant in the pre-human sediments excavated from the site. Figure 2Open in figure viewerPowerPoint Map of Kaua'i showing dated paleoecological sites (X), undated sites (yellow boxes), and restoration sites (red dots) that have utilized paleoecological data. Makauwahi Cave Reserve encompasses the Maha'ulepu Caves site and additional abandoned farmlands. Panel 1. Three types of conservation: definitions In-situ: Conservation efforts applied to species in a pre-existing wild condition in their current range. Ex-situ: Conservation efforts based in intensively human-controlled environments, such as botanical gardens, zoos, genetic banks, and propagation facilities. Inter-situ: The establishment of species by reintroduction to locations outside the current range but within the recent past range of the species. In some cases, closest living relatives or ecological surrogates may be substituted for globally extinct species that are regarded as essential to maintain a process believed critical to the function of the target ecosystem. Inter-situ conservation, in effect, bridges the gaps between in-situ and ex-situ conservation. The 6.9 ha (17 acres) including and surrounding the Makauwahi Cave site have, through a lease arrangement with Grove Farm Company, become a laboratory for using information from the past to guide ecological and cultural restoration on Kaua'i (Burney et al. 2002; Burney and Kikuchi 2006). Six distinct ecological restoration strategies are in use on the landscape (Figure 3), each following guidelines constructed after years of research in palynology, paleontology, archaeology, history, and ethnography focused on the site. Figure 3Open in figure viewerPowerPoint Aerial photo of the Makauwahi Cave Reserve and environs. Outer dashed line indicates boundaries of Reserve and access right-of-way. Inner dashed lines delineate management units, each with different methods, goals, and challenges for ecological restoration. Unit 1: a small freshwater bog originally containing two native sedges, now enriched with 12 additional species of native wetland plants; Unit 2: an abandoned agricultural field originally containing only one native plant species, now enriched with 77 native and Polynesian-introduced plant species; Unit 3: estuary stabilization project, including erosion control measures and establishment of five native riparian species; Unit 4: demonstration garden inside sinkhole, initially containing one native plant species, now featuring 23 species of native and Polynesian plants, most of them particularly well-represented as fossils in the sediments; Unit 5: sinkhole rim and headprint of the cave passages, initially containing six native species, enriched with 18 more; Unit 6: erosion control area, where control of vehicle damage to the dunes and invasive plants led to the recovery of five native dune species, now enriched by 11 additional natives. Restoration activities include soil improvement, invasive species control, outplanting of indigenous and endemic plants and Polynesian cultivars, and protection of the cave environment. To date, no animal reintroductions have been undertaken, but fossil taxa from the site that are extinct on Kaua'i but survive elsewhere, and which have been discussed as possible future reintroductions, include the Laysan teal (Anas laysanensis), Hawaiian hawk (Buteo solitarius), a land crab (Geograpsus geayi), and endemic snails and insects (Burney et al. 2001, 2002). Makauwahi Cave contains at least three extremely rare troglobitic (cave-obligate) invertebrates – an amphipod (Spelaeorchestia koloana), an isopod (Hawaiioscia cf rotundata), and a spider (Adelocosa anops) – all of which are unpigmented and eyeless. The long subterranean passages were mapped not only underground, but on the cave's footprint (sometimes referred to by cavers as a "headprint") above, on the landscape. Special management of this federally designated, critical habitat for troglobites has included growing native plants above the cave passages, the long roots of which are important to the subterranean food web (Howarth 1973). Plants such as maiapilo (Capparis sandwichiana), 'uhaloa (Waltheria indica), and a'ali'i (Dodonaea viscosa) may provide the energy base for this unlit ecosystem. The water-seeking roots of these plants extend to the cave level and produce nutritious exudates that sustain fungi, bacteria, and ultimately, blind invertebrate grazers and the blind spider at the top of this unusual energy pyramid. To our knowledge, this is the first site anywhere in the world to host an ecological restoration of native plants for the ultimate benefit of a subterranean food web, although this has now also been done above two lava-tube systems nearby that host subterranean biota. Another management unit is the site of inter-situ management at the large end of the spatial scale. A native forest is being reconstructed on abandoned agricultural land formerly devoted to sugar cane and corn. Using the list of "living fossils" as a guide, and drawing on the propagation skills of the staff of the Conservation and Horticulture Center of the nearby National Tropical Botanical Garden (NTBG), researchers are finding that native plants, including some of the rarest species, can be grown in this habitat in large numbers, using tractors and other implements of large-scale farming to do most of the work. Over 1650 plants, representing 77 taxa, have been successfully established on the initial one-hectare (2.5-acre) plot. Overall survival of the nursery-produced plants, which are generally kept on a "life-support system" of automated drip irrigation until well-rooted (roughly 1 year for most native plants), has been 88% (WebTable 2). Another management unit, a garden in a 0.4-ha (1-acre) sinkhole in the midst of a limestone cave system, is a more intensively managed demonstration garden, featuring many of the plants most abundant around the site just before human arrival, including several that are virtually extinct in the "wild". The thousands of visitors who have toured the site, guided by the researchers, volunteer docents, and trained professional guides, have the unusual triple treat of touring the largest limestone cave system in the state (complete with stalactites and other speleothems – secondary mineral deposits found in cave systems – as well as blind cave creatures), seeing a large-scale working scientific excavation, and witnessing the results of the ecological study of the past applied to restoration, arguably the ecological science of the future (Figure 4). The interpretive program features not only rare plants, blind invertebrates, geological wonders, and applied ecology, but a wealth of cultural elements. The cultural research component of the site includes many perishable artifacts (eg made from wood, plant fibers, gourd shell, and bamboo), 19th-century maps and documents, and ethnographic accounts collected from local elders. Figure 4Open in figure viewerPowerPoint (a) DAB climbs out of a deep pit with a bucket of excavated sediment containing bones, shells, seeds, and other fossils from extinct and endangered biota of Kaua'i. (b) LPB harvests a seed pod to grow more maiapilo, or Hawaiian capers (Capparis sandwichiana), common as a fossil in the Makauwahi Cave sediments and still growing nearby today. These plants are featured in the restoration unit above the cave because experts on the blind cave biota have found that nutritious exudates on the roots of this plant, which extend into the cave environment, form the base of the troglobitic food web. Although the cave has served as a focus for this past/future visualization, many other sites around the island have also played important roles in both paleoecology and restoration activity (Figure 2). At Limahuli Garden and Preserve – a nearly 400-ha (1000-acre) panoramic valley on Kaua'i's north shore, owned and managed by NTBG – ethnohistoric accounts, old photographs, family legends, archaeology, and sediment coring (Burney 2002) have each played a role in developing the management strategy and interpretive program for this spectacular site, featuring centuries-old working agricultural terraces and some of the most pristine native forest surviving on the island. Other sites (Figure 2; WebTable 3) include prehistoric fish ponds, in-situ habitat rehabilitations, cultural restorations, and large-scale inter-situ plant restorations on private lands, each fortuitously or intentionally sited at or near a paleoecological site that has been used in background studies, planning, and/or interpretation during the restoration. Monitoring programs have, in many cases, been in place for insufficient time to fully evaluate the effectiveness of the project, but the overall prognosis is encouraging. In short, Kaua'i has emerged as a leader in using paleoecological findings to support the creation of new populations in the late prehistoric and early historical range of rare or declining species. This idea – paleoecologically based inter-situ restoration or, simply, "island rewilding" – is attracting interest from personnel working on other restoration projects throughout the Hawaiian Islands. Elsewhere in the Indo-Pacific region, from South Pacific Islands to New Zealand to Mauritius and Madagascar, conservationists are looking to see what the past can tell them about the future (reviewed in Burney et al. 2002; Donlan 2007). Present and future plans How much farther can Kaua'i go with this synthesis of past and future ecology? To what extent can these ideas work in other contexts? These are somewhat philosophical questions, but the answers are essential to defining protocols for conducting this kind of ecological restoration on larger geographic scales. Recent projects underway and proposed for Kaua'i (see WebTable 3) include inter-situ management of areas of 8–12 ha (20–30 acres) or more, on private lands. This entails adapting multi-species native outplantings to the scaled-up demands normally met by agroforestry techniques applied to forest monoculture or low-diversity plantings of thousands of tree seedlings. These mega-projects must deal with the increased labor requirements of larger, managed high-diversity areas, while seeking, through increased mechanization, to minimize the per-hectare manual labor input. Projects are looking to larger volunteer pools (eg Boy and Girl Scout programs on the island), use of more efficient mulching and ground-cover techniques, hands-on educational programs, and other efficient solutions. Increased labor demands are generated by projects with primary goals of high (mostly reintroduced) biodiversity, as well as restoration of ecological function and community dynamics. These are far more complex systems than "reforestation", aimed at merely re-establishing tree cover from one or a few native species. Standard procedure in all these projects is to conduct baseline studies, to document carefully all restoration treatments and the genetic pedigree of the plant stock used, and to monitor the results. Sites vary in the intensity of monitoring, but most projects include repeat photography stations, digital mapping of plant locations, periodic vegetation sampling, and establishment of manual or automated devices for measuring local weather conditions, water quality, and soil condition. The National Tropical Botanical Garden and Waipa Cooperative, in collaboration with the University of Hawaii researchers and Intelesense Technologies (Honolulu, HI), have established wireless data loggers that report weather and water parameters to a web-accessible database. Implementation of an expanded network including other sites, such as Makauwahi Cave, and other technologies, such as automated time-lapse photography and soil loggers, is currently underway. For example, Tauber traps (static non-overload pollen collectors) at Makauwahi Cave Reserve are used to continuously monitor the site's airborne particulates in a range of environments. Experimental arrays of various sorts have been established at a number of restoration sites at NTBG and Makauwahi Cave, to test the efficacy of a range of husbandry techniques for native plants. More of this type of work is planned in the near future, in collaboration with University of Hawai'i graduate students and research scientists. Experimental plots have been established as part of some wetland projects, such as the restoration on Lawai Stream and in Units 1 and 3 of Makauwahi Cave, to determine which native plants can restore ecological functions, for example binding soil on stream banks, competing with invasive marsh and riparian plants, and efficiently providing food and habitat for native waterfowl and wading birds. Genetic considerations One of the most interesting future challenges for inter-situ restoration on Kaua'i and elsewhere centers on the role of genetics in decision making. The pioneering work of Soulé and colleagues (eg Gilpin and Soulé 1986) set the standard for including genetic considerations in conservation planning. The possibilities introduced by inter-situ restoration, however, raise important questions and promise a rich harvest of results from large-scale genetic experimentation with reintroduced populations. Whereas this type of work has progressed with animals to the point of genetically enriching small populations (eg panthers and wolves in North America; Caro 2007), techniques for conserving plant genetic diversity are still in their infancy. For instance, conventional thinking has supported the idea that new plant populations, and tiny relict populations, should be kept genetically "pure" by using only stock from the nearest in-situ population or populations. In the kinds of situations typical for many of the rarest Hawaiian plants, however, the nearest "population" may consist of only one or a very few individuals. In such cases, should we try to create new populations using only a tiny fracti