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Christina R Leopold

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Fog has been demonstrated to support plant growth, survival and ecosystem maintenance spanning rainfall and elevation gradients across the world. Persistent fog and strong winds on high mountain slopes in Hawaiʻi create a unique ecological environment. We collected stem and basal diameter measurements of three native plant species at Nakula Natural Area Reserve, Maui, from 2016-2019 and numerous environmental variables to examine how rain, fog and soil moisture influence plant water deficit and growth.
Broadly, recovery of threatened and endangered species requires specific management actions by natural resource managers at a fine scale. We used a systematic conservation planning framework to outline conservation goals across multiple land-uses, including native habitat protection and identifying endangered species-specific recovery areas while minimizing intrusion on existing hunting areas on the island of Lanai. We used spatial prioritization tools to generate multiple scenarios where both conservation and hunting areas (deemed zones for analysis purposes) were delineated to meet land-use goals. These delineated areas will help land managers to minimize conflicts between uses for populations of non-native game...
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Fog has been demonstrated to support plant growth, survival and ecosystem maintenance spanning rainfall and elevation gradients across the world. Persistent fog and strong winds on high mountain slopes in Hawaiʻi create a unique ecological environment. We collected stem diameter measurements of three native plant species at Nakula Natural Area Reserve, Maui, from 2016-2019 and numerous environmental variables to examine how rain, fog, soil moisture, and associated variables influence plant water deficit and growth. We also collected seedling growth and survival data within plots where grass was removed, and control plots (no grass removal), to assess if and how grass removal influenced seedling growth and soil moisture.
Given the potential effect of invasive plants and animals to water fluxes through forests, the invasive-driven degradation of native ecosystems is a topic of great concern for many downstream land and water managers. The infiltration rate determines the partitioning between runoff and infiltration into soil in Hawaiian forests and beyond. Thus, to explore the ecohydrological effects of plant and animal invasion in mesic and wet forests in Hawaii, we measured soil infiltration capacity in multiple fenced (i.e., ungulate-free)/unfenced and native/invaded forest sites along moisture and substrate age gradients across the islands of Hawai‘i and Kaua‘i. We also characterized forest composition and structure and soil...
Categories: Publication; Types: Citation
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Non-native grass removal as part of a larger restoration strategy has been demonstrated to assist in natural recruitment of important native plant species on the island of Maui. Seedling size class data were collected to assess whether there were differences in Dodonaea viscosa seedling recruitment and survival between grass-control plots and those dominated by non-native grass in the Nakula Natural Area Reserve on Maui Island, and between grass-controlled sites.
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