Bioclimatic variables dataset for baseline and future climate scenarios for climate change studies in Hawai'i

Gridded bioclimatic variables representing yearly, seasonal, and monthly means and extremes in temperature and precipitation have been widely used for ecological modeling purposes and in broader climate change impact and biogeographical studies. As a result of their utility, numerous sets of bioclimatic variables have been developed on a global scale (e.g., WorldClim) but rarely represent the finer regional scale pattern of climate in Hawai'i. Recognizing the value of having such regionally downscaled products, we integrated more detailed projections from recent climate models developed for Hawai'i with current climatological datasets to generate updated regionally defined bioclimatic variables. We derived updated...

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Final Report: Identifying the Risk of Runoff and Erosion in Hawaiʻi’s National Parks

Changes in land cover can alter soil infiltration capacity and increase runoff and erosion, negatively affecting national parks and other public lands across Hawaiʻi. Reduced infiltration, the soil’s ability to allow water through it, within these lands may lead to serious consequences including terrestrial habitat damage by erosion, aquatic habitat damage by sedimentation, and downstream damage by flooding due to storm flows from overland flow, or runoff. To help understand potential damage, we calculated the probability of rainfall runoff across the Hawaiian landscape. By characterizing soil infiltration based on different land cover types (bare soil, grasses, and woody vegetation) and comparing them to large...

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