National Tropical Botanical Garden

LIMAHULI VALLEY FOREST RESTORATION

THIS PROJECT SEEKS TO ENHANCE THE NATIONAL TROPICAL BOTANICAL GARDENS (NTBG) CAPACITY TO GROW FERNS IN SUPPORT OF CONSERVATION AND RESTORATION EFFORTS ACROSS PUBLIC AND PRIVATE LANDS ACROSS THE ISLAND OF KAUAI. THIS WILL BE ACCOMPLISHED THROUGH NURSERY FACILITY UPGRADES, COLLECTION OF FERN SPORES FROM THE WILD, PROPAGATION OF THOSE FERNS IN AN UPGRADED GROWING FACILITY, AND ULTIMATELY OUT-PLANTING THOSE NEW YOUNG FERNS AGAIN AS PART OF RESTORATION PROJECTS. FERNS MAKE UP 27.4 PERCENT, OR MORE THAN A QUARTER, OF HAWAIIS NATIVE FLORA, MAKING THEM VITAL TO CONSERVATION EFFORTS AND RESTORATION PROJECTS. WE DEPEND ON FERNS IN OUR ECOSYSTEM BECAUSE THEY REMOVE HEAVY METALS FROM THE ENVIRONMENT, REHABILITATE DISTURBED AREAS, AND PROVIDE MICROHABITATS FOR ANIMALS AND PLANTS. A SUCCESSFUL ECOSYSTEM RESTORATION MUST INCORPORATE EXTENSIVE USE OF FERNS. NATIVE HAWAIIAN CULTURAL PRACTITIONERS AS WELL AS BIOLOGISTS HAVE CONTRIBUTED TO OUR CURRENT UNDERSTANDING OF NATIVE ECOSYSTEMS. WE KNOW THEY ARE VITAL TO ECOSYSTEM FUNCTION IN NATIVE FORESTS AND PLAY A WIDE VARIETY OF ECOLOGICAL ROLES. ALTOGETHER THERE ARE 159 NATIVE SPECIES OF FERNS AND LYCOPHYTES IN THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. ABOUT 74 PERCENT ARE CONSIDERED ENDEMIC (FOUND ONLY IN HAWAII). THE GREATEST NUMBER OF ENDEMIC FERN TAXA ARE FOUND ON KAUAI AND MAUI. THERE ARE 17 SINGLE-ISLAND KAUAI ENDEMICS, MEANING THOSE SPECIES EXIST ONLY ON KAUAI, AND SIX MORE THAT ARE TWO-ISLAND ENDEMICS, EXISTING ONLY ON KAUAI AND ONE OTHER ISLAND. NTBG, A NON-PROFIT CONSERVATION ORGANIZATION WITH THREE GARDENS AND TWO PRESERVES ON KAUAI, OPERATES A FERN PROPAGATION LAB, THE ONLY SUCH FACILITY IN HAWAII. THE PURPOSE OF THE LAB IS TO GROW FERNS FROM SPORES IN ORDER TO ACTIVELY CONTRIBUTE TO ECOSYSTEM RESTORATION PROJECTS, TO IMPROVE FERNS ABILITY TO WITHSTAND DISEASE AND PESTS, AND TO ADAPT TO CLIMATE CHANGE. WITH NTBGS 60 YEARS OF TROPICAL-PLANT CONSERVATION EXPERIENCE, AND 16 YEARS OF FERN PROPAGATION RESEARCH, NTBG IS A LEADER IN HAWAIIAN FERN PROPAGATION. KAUAIS NATIVE ECOSYSTEMS HAVE BEEN HIGHLY IMPACTED BY INVASIVE SPECIES. THE STRIPPING AWAY OF NATIVE GROUNDCOVERS SUCH AS FERNS HAS LED TO HIGHER LEVELS OF EROSION AND DEGRADATION OF THE FOREST. SOME OF THE THREATS THAT FERNS FACE IS COMPETITION FROM INVASIVE PLANTS, FIRES, TRAMPLING AND PREDATION BY INTRODUCED UNGULATES. THEY ALSO ARE VULNERABLE TO ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS THAT ARE SHIFTING DUE TO CLIMATE CHANGE. MANY FERN SPECIES CAN BE PROPAGATED ONLY FROM SPORES, A COMPLEX PROCESS THAT TAKES TIME. SOME NATIVE SPECIES CAN BE PROPAGATED BY DIVISION, BUT THIS CREATES ONLY CLONES THAT LACK GENETIC DIVERSITY, MAKING THEM MORE SUSCEPTIBLE TO PATHOGENS AND LESS ADAPTABLE. WITH THE FERN LAB AT NTBG, WE CREATE A PLACE AND A MEANS FOR SYSTEMATIC PROPAGATION OF HEALTHY GENETICALLY BIODIVERSE FERN SPECIES THAT CAN BE OUT-PLANTED IN PRESERVES, GARDENS AND OTHER ECOSYSTEMS TO KEEP KAUAI S (AND HAWAII S) FERN POPULATIONS HEALTHY AND ABUNDANT. WE PROPOSE TO PROPAGATE AND OUTPLANT 800-1,000 FERNS DURING THE GRANT PERIOD. PROPOSED CAPACITY IMPROVEMENTS ALSO POSITION NTBG TO CONTINUE PROPAGATING FERNS IN SUPPORT OF RESTORATION PROJECTS AT THE SAME OR GREATER RATES BEYOND THE GRANT PERIOD.

CIG PROJECT TO PERFORM, ASSESS, AND PROVIDE TECHNICAL RECOMMNDATIONS FOR INCORPORATING REVEGETATING CHALLENGING CRITICAL AREAS USING DRONE TECHNOLOGY IN NRCS TECHNICAL MATERIALS.

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: CONSORTIUM OF PACIFIC HERBARIA. A RESEARCH AND COLLECTIONS NETWORK FOR OCEANIA

ENHANCEMENT AND COMPACTORIZATION OF THE NATIONAL TROPICAL BOTANICAL GARDEN HERBARIUM (PTBG) COLLECTIONS

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: MODELING THE ORIGIN AND EVOLUTION OF HAWAIIAN PLANTS

DRAFT SYNTHESIS SECTION OF 57 5-YEAR REVIEWS

ADDITIONAL FUNDING FOR THE FENCING PROJECT THAT PROTECTS AND RESTORES NATIVE FOREST ECOSYSTEMS

LIMAHULI PRESERVE RARE PLANT RESTORATION

THIS PROJECT WILL RESTORE TWO RIPARIAN AREAS ADJACENT TO ANCIENT HAWAIIAN WETLAND AGRICULTURAL COMPLEXES WHERE WALLS REMAIN PRIMARILY INTACT IN LOWER LIMAHULI PRESERVE PART OF THE NATIONAL TROPICAL BOTANICAL GARDEN. THE AREAS HAVE FORTUNATELY BEEN PROTECTED FROM DEVELOPMENT THROUGH A CONSERVATION EASEMENT AND CONSERVATION DISTRICT USE PERMIT. UNFORTUNATELY A MIX OF ENCROACHING AND WELLESTABLISHED INVASIVE TREES AND THE LACK OF PERMANENT RESIDENTS USERS IN THE AREA HAVE LEFT THE NATURAL STREAM CHANNEL SHADED AND AGRICULTURAL COMPLEX TO BE OVERGROWN. THIS UNNATURALLY DENSE OVERSTORY WILL BE SUBSTANTIALLY REDUCED BY REMOVAL OF NONNATIVE TREE COVER. IN ADDITION TO DAYLIGHTING THE STREAM CHANNEL REOPENING THE PREVIOUSLY UTILIZED AUWAI IRRIGATION CANAL SYSTEMS WILL SERVE AS A MECHANISM IN WHICH FLASHY STREAM CONDITIONS COULD BE SPREAD THROUGHOUT THE FLOODPLAIN BUT WILL ALSO STAND TO SERVE AS INCREASED HABITAT AND REFUGIA FOR NATIVE MIGRATORY FISH AND INVERTEBRATES INHABITING LIMAHULI STREAM. IN THIS PROJECT WE WILL REMOVE ESTABLISHED AND INCIPIENT INVASIVE SPECIES AND REPLACE THEM WITH ECOLOGICAL AND CULTURALLY IMPORTANT FLORA CURATED WITH THE ASSISTANCE OF INHOUSE HORTICULTURAL STAFF FAMILIAR WITH APPROPRIATE PLANTING PRACTICES.

HI-PIFWO- HAENA OOPU RESTORATION PROJECT

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: UNLOCKING THE EVOLUTIONARY HISTORY OF SCHIEDEA (CARNATION FAMILY, CARYOPHYLLACEAE): RAPID RADIATION OF AN ENDEMIC PLANT GENUS IN THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS

MUSEUMS FOR AMERICA

HI-PIFWO-LIMAHULI PRESERVE RARE PLANT

HI-PIFWO-LIMAHULI PRESERVE SPRING-FED

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: JOINING THE GLOBAL BRYOPHYTE AND LICHEN TCN: FILLING GAPS FROM HAWAII, ASIA, AND OCEANIA -THIS AWARD WILL ESTABLISH A PARTNERSHIP TO EXISTING NETWORK (PEN), WHICH WILL JOIN THE BUILDING A GLOBAL CONSORTIUM OF BRYOPHYTES AND LICHENS: KEYSTONES OF CRYPTOBIOTIC COMMUNITIES THEMATIC COLLECTION NETWORK (TCN). BRYOPHYTES (MOSSES, LIVERWORTS, AND HORNWORTS) AND LICHENS REPRESENT A FRONTIER OF BIODIVERSITY WITH GREAT OPPORTUNITIES FOR NEW SPECIES DISCOVERY AND EXPLORING THE ROLE AND FUNCTION OF THESE ORGANISMS IN ECOSYSTEMS. RELATIVE TO VASCULAR PLANTS, BRYOPHYTES AND LICHENS HAVE BEEN SIGNIFICANTLY UNDERSTUDIED. THIS IS PARTICULARLY TRUE IN HAWAI?I AND ON THE ISLANDS OF THE TROPICAL PACIFIC. A FIRST STEP TO UNDERSTANDING THIS BIODIVERSITY IS CATALOGING THE SPECIMENS ALREADY COLLECTED IN MUSEUMS AND HERBARIA. THIS AWARD WILL ALLOW THE THREE LARGEST HERBARIA IN HAWAI?I, THE BISHOP MUSEUM, NATIONAL TROPICAL BOTANICAL GARDEN, AND THE UNIVERSITY OF HAWAII??S JOSEPH ROCK HERBARIUM, TO COLLABORATE WITH 25 UNIVERSITIES, MUSEUMS, AND GARDENS ACROSS THE UNITED STATES. KNOWN AS THE GLOBAL BRYOPHYTE & LICHEN THEMATIC COLLECTION NETWORK, THESE INSTITUTIONS ARE IMAGING SPECIMENS AND DIGITIZING DATA TO ENABLE FUTURE RESEARCH USING BRYOPHYTE AND LICHEN COLLECTIONS. THE PROJECT WILL ALSO PROVIDE OPPORTUNITIES FOR THE PUBLIC TO LEARN ABOUT AN OFTEN-OVERLOOKED PART OF OUR ECOSYSTEM. THE STUDY OF BRYOPHYTES AND LICHENS HOLDS EXCELLENT POTENTIAL FOR SPECIES DISCOVERY AND FOR UNCOVERING NOVEL ECOSYSTEM PROCESSES. IN 2020, THE NSF FUNDED A THEMATIC COLLECTION NETWORK (TCN): BUILDING A GLOBAL CONSORTIUM OF BRYOPHYTES AND LICHENS: KEYSTONES OF CRYPTOBIOTIC COMMUNITIES. THE NETWORK INCLUDES 25 US HERBARIA AND SUPPORTS COLLABORATIVE EFFORTS TO DIGITIZE 1.2 MILLION BRYOPHYTE AND LICHEN SPECIMENS FROM US INSTITUTIONS. THE TCN FOCUSES ON COLLECTIONS FROM OUTSIDE NORTH AMERICA. THE COLLECTIONS FROM THE THREE LARGEST HERBARIA IN HAWAI?I (BISHOP MUSEUM, NATIONAL TROPICAL BOTANICAL GARDEN, AND THE UNIVERSITY OF HAWAI?I) WILL SIGNIFICANTLY AUGMENT THE DIGITIZED COLLECTIONS FROM HAWAI?I, THE TROPICAL PACIFIC, AND ASIA. THIS PROJECT WILL CONTRIBUTE AT LEAST 70,000 IMAGED, DATABASED, GEOREFERENCED, AND ACCESSIBLE DATA RECORDS TO THE GLOBAL RESEARCH COMMUNITY, FROM CA. 58,000 BRYOPHYTE AND CA. 12,000 LICHEN SPECIMENS, AND IMMEDIATELY SUPPORT RESEARCH TO REVISE THE CHECKLISTS OF HAWAIIAN BRYOPHYTES AND LICHENS. THE HAWAII INSTITUTIONS WILL ALSO CONDUCT BRYOPHYTE AND LICHEN IDENTIFICATION WORKSHOPS FOR NATURAL RESOURCE MANAGERS, RESEARCHERS, AND UNIVERSITY OF HAWAII STUDENTS. THE WORK WILL ALSO CONTRIBUTE TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF FIELD GUIDES AND CONSERVATION ASSESSMENTS FOR HAWAIIAN SPECIES. DIGITIZED DATA WILL BE AVAILABLE TO THE PUBLIC THROUGH IDIGBIO.ORG AND THE PLANTS OF HAWAII WEBSITE. THIS AWARD REFLECTS NSF'S STATUTORY MISSION AND HAS BEEN DEEMED WORTHY OF SUPPORT THROUGH EVALUATION USING THE FOUNDATION'S INTELLECTUAL MERIT AND BROADER IMPACTS REVIEW CRITERIA.

OUTPLANTING SUCCESS OF ENDANGERED PLANTS ON KAUAI

HI-PIFWO-MT HAUPU CONSERVATION PROJECT

KANAELE BOG EXCLOSURE

RESTORE COASTAL SHRUB LAND HABITAT AND RARE NATIVE PLANTS ON LEHUA ISLAND, KAUAI COUNTY

ENHANCING POPULATIONS OF LOULU AND KOKIO KEOKEO IN THE UPPER LIMAHULI PRESERVE--PROJECT WILL ESTABLISH GENETICALLY DIVERSE POPULATIONS OF HIBISCUS WAIMEAE SUBSP. HANNERAE (E) AND PRITCHARDIA NAPALIENSIS (E) WITHIN THE 400-ACRE UNGULATE EXCLUSION FENCED AREA. APPROXIMATELY 200 ADULT INDIVIDUALS OF H. WAIMEAE SUBSP. HANNERAE REMAIN IN THE WILD IN THREE VALLEYS, WITH LITTLE OR NO REGENERATION OBSERVED. THE LATEST USFWS 5-YEAR REVIEW OF THE TAXON RECOMMENDED ESTABLISHING NEW, GENETICALLY DIVERSE POPULATIONS AND MANAGING THE THREATS OF UNGULATES AND RATS. NTBG HAS ALREADY MADE STRATEGIC CROSSES BETWEEN A MOTHER PLANT FROM LIMAHULI LOWER PRESERVE AND A FATHER FROM POHAKUAO. THE SEEDS OF THESE CROSSES ARE CURRENTLY STORED IN NTBGS CONSERVATION SEED BANK. PLANTS WILL BE PROPAGATED IN OUR CONSERVATION NURSERY USING SEEDS FROM OUR SEED BANK AS WELL AS THROUGH CUTTINGS FROM INDIVIDUALS COLLECTED FROM THROUGHOUT THE NATIVE RANGE IN NORTHWEST KAUAI THAT ARE PRESENT IN NTBGS LIVING COLLECTION. PRITCHARDIA NAPALIENSIS HAS FEWER THAN 90 INDIVIDUALS REMAINING IN THE WILD. THESE PLANTS ARE SIMILARLY THREATENED BY SEED PREDATION FROM RATS AND UNGULATES, AS WELL AS HABITAT DEGRADATION AND THE NEW THREAT OF COCONUT RHINOCEROS BEETLE. CRB MONITORING TRAPS IN LOWER LIMAHULI VALLEY WILL BE CHECKED REGULARLY. IF CRB IS DETECTED IN THE VALLEY, THE INTEGRATED PEST MANAGEMENT PLAN FOR CRB THAT WAS RECENTLY DEVELOPED AND CURRENTLY BEING IMPLEMENTED FOR NTBGS SOUTH SHORE GARDENS WILL BE ADAPTED FOR AND IMPLEMENTED IN LIMAHULI. NTBG CURRENTLY HAS 477 SEEDLINGS OF P. NAPALIENSIS FROM WILD COLLECTED SEEDS GROWING IN OUR NURSERY. WE PROPOSE TO ENHANCE AND EXPAND THE ULP POPULATIONS OF BOTH TAXA BY PLANTING 75 INDIVIDUALS OF H. WAIMEAE SUBSP. HANNERAE AND 100 INDIVIDUALS OF P. NAPALIENSIS INTO AN AREA OF THE ULP THAT WILL BE MANAGED AND PROTECTED FROM SEVERAL KEY PREDATORS. ALL OUTPLANTS WILL BE PROTECTED FROM RATS VIA GOODNATURE TRAPS AND FROM SLUGS AND SNAILS BY BAITING THE AREA UPON OUTPLANTING. SIGNS OF SLUG AND SNAIL DAMAGE WILL BE MONITORED EVERY SIX MONTHS AND BAIT RE-APPLIED AS NEEDED.

THE KAUA'I LYSIMACHIA RADIATION: DOCUMENTING AND COLLECTING FROM RARE SINGLE-ISLAND ENDEMICS

KEIKI O KE KAI ADVENTURES CAMP

RECOVERY/RESTORATION OF HABITAT AT KANAELE BOG EXCLOSURE