Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, Puhimau Geothermal Area vegetation and abiotic data, 2011-2021

Publication Date

2022-09-01

Start Date

2011-01-01

End Date

2021-12-01

Gill, N.S., and Yelenik, S.G., 2022, Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, Puhimau Geothermal Area vegetation and abiotic data, 2011-2021: U.S. Geological Survey data release, https://doi.org/10.5066/P9P1CA58.

Type: Related Primary Publication

Loss of local biodiversity resulting from abrupt environmental change is an important environmental problem throughout the world. Extinctions of plants are particularly important yet oft overlooked. Drawing from a case in Hawaiʻi, a global hotspot for plant and other extinctions, we demonstrate an effort to understand and determine priorities for the management of an endangered plant (ʻIhi makole or Portulaca sclerocarpa) in the face of rapid and extreme environmental change. Volcanic heat emissions and biological invasion have anecdotally been suggested as possible threats to the species. We integrated P. sclerocarpa outplanting with efforts to collect geological and ecological data to gauge the role of elevated soil temperatures and invasive grasses in driving P. sclerocarpa mortality and population decline.

• Pacific Island Ecosystems Research Center
• USGS Data Release Products

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