Living / The Galapagos Islands are widely regarded as the paradigm of biodiversity on our planet, a falsehood constructed by the popularity of Charles Darwin’s ground-breaking theories on the origin and evolution of species through natural selection, concepts he developed while observing finches throughout the South American offshore island chain. About 60 percent of the species that call the Galapagos Islands home are endemic to those islands, found nowhere else on Earth.

One can only ponder the course of history had Darwin and the HMS Beagle touched the shores of Hawai’i during its voyage of scientific exploration between 1831 and 1836, where over 90 percent of the Hawaiian archipelago’s native species are endemic. Hawai’i’s native species of plants and animals became highly specialized over hundreds of thousands, if not millions of years, a product of the chain’s geographic isolation. Combine that with the fertile offerings of a vast array of microclimates and geographic niches, and you have a recipe for unspoiled evolution.

Unfortunately for native species, 2,000 miles of circumventing ocean was not enough to remain hidden from the touch of man. While Hawai’i can boast a high percentage of endemism, it must also bow its head to the sobering moniker of the extinction capital of the United States, if not the world. Consider that since human settlement, more than 1,000 native Hawaiian species have gone extinct: of the 1,094 native Hawaiian plants, more than 100 were forced to extinction and more than 300 are considered endangered or threatened under the U.S. Endangered Species Act, of the 140 species of native pre-contact Hawaiian birds, over half are extinct and 31 of the remaining 66 are endangered, of the thousand-plus native Hawaiian land snails, more than 70 percent are extinct and both native Hawaiian mammals, the Hawaiian monk seal and Hawaiian hoary bat are endangered.

Plants Need Room to Grow

The conservation of native plant species is twofold in Hawai’i: restore, manage and protect natural habitat and rescue endangered and threatened native species from the brink of extinction. The Plant Extinction Prevention Program (PEP) was designed specifically to accomplish this and sees to the stewardship of the rarest native Hawaiian species, in some cases, reintroducing species back into the wild that once remained only in the laboratory.

PEP works in conjunction with government agencies like the Division of Forestry and Wildlife and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, watershed partnerships, private landowners and rare plant labs and growing facilities to protect entire species across the state, rather than just a small population on a specific property. By removing threats such as invasive weeds and feral ungulates (pigs and goats) from specific sites, outplantings of endangered species can be made and managed to bolster plant populations in the wild.

Teams of highly trained botanists work together to identify and collect seeds and propagules of extremely rare plants that are nearing extinction. O’ahu, Kaua’i, Maui, Moloka’i and the Big Island have cooperating nurseries and micropropagation labs where the propagules are planted and cloned to build populations in the greenhouse. When a sufficient number of healthy plants are obtained, they are reintroduced back into proper natural habitats.

Currently, the Big Island has been the focus of rare plant conservation efforts. On a recent field excursion in August 2007, biologist found one Clermonia peleana ssp. peleana plant, a leafy, native plant with a curious looking purple flower resembling a long hooked bird beak. It was thought to be extinct in the wild. Cuttings were taken and one of several propagules is healthy and thriving in cultivation. Since then, four other of the uniquely flowering plants have been located in the same vicinity as the first and work is being done to bolster the lineage in the greenhouse.

The Nature Conservancy of Hawai’i has been working hard to designate and protect nature preserves and has recently secured a 7,050-acre parcel on Kaua’i, the third largest private nature preserve in the state. The parcel includes the Wainiha Valley and portions of the Alaka’i Wilderness and Mount Wai’ale’ale. It is home to the once thought extinct native mint, one of the largest populations of the rare fern Microsorum spectrum, a fragrant fern used in Kaua’i chant and traditions and several species of endangered forest birds including the Kaua’i creeper, ‘akeke’e, ‘apapane, and ‘elepaio. Hailed for the preserve’s biodiversity of 131 endemic plant species, this high-elevation rain forest is threatened by invasive species such as the Australian Tree Fern and feral pigs and goats.

The environmental group is also engaged in native forest restoration on Maui, reducing numbers of non-native feral animals, and Moloka’i, protecting 4,600 acres in the Kamakou and Pelekunu preserves.

Native plants for native birds

Native birds have not fared well with the push of human civilization. According to Dr. Sheila Conant, Chair of the Department of Zoology at UH Manoa, the number one contribution to the decline of Hawai’i forest birds is habitat change. The increase in mosquitoes and the diseases they carry has also been especially hard on our endangered avian residents. As if feral ungulates aren’t harmful enough, mosquitoes breeding grounds are inextricably linked to the rooting and foraging of feral pigs, where small, stagnant pools of water created by the pigs in the ground and in the trunks of downed hapu’u ferns, become optimal conditions for mosquito larvae.

Amid the steady decline, there are successes. The puaiohi, a small Kaua’i thresher, has seen an increase in numbers due to the release of birds raised in captivity. Real progress increasing endangered species populations is being made in the northwestern Hawaiian Islands, where native birds do not have to contend with mosquitoes and disease. The Laysan duck, once found throughout the Hawaiian archipelago and nearly lost to extinction, now thrives on Laysan, accompanied by the resurgence of five species of native seabirds.

Matt Schirman and Rick Barboza, owners of Hui Ku Maoli Ola, Hawaiian plant nursery, were witnessed the link between native pants and native birds. In their 2001 restoration of a Waimanalo stream, a single pair of ‘alae’ula, Hawaiian moorhen, began to frequent the stream as soon as the banks and channel were planted with native species. Over five years, the population of moorhen grew to 14 birds in 1,800 linear feet of stream. They used the native plants for shelter and nesting. Eventually, funding expired and the conservationists fought to keep their stream managed properly, but soon invasive weeds choked out the delicate natives. Without native plants for survival, the small ‘alae’ula population was gone.

Urban Restoration

While the experts do their part fighting to save critical wild habitat and the endangered and threatened species that struggle to exist, we can do our part in our neighborhoods.

Hui Ku Maoli Ola grows around 150 native species including endangered and threatened species. Of those, about 90 species are available to the public. They supply Wal-Mart, Home Depot and many other nurseries that sell native species across the islands. The rare plants they grow for sensitive restoration projects are not available to the public, as each individual plant is necessary for a species survival.

Never plant natives in the wild as potting soil can introduce disease into pristine ecosystems. In addition, it is illegal to collect native species, or any part of the plant, from the wild. If you want to save native Hawaiian plants, then the best way to accomplish that goal is through volunteering your time to conservation.

So next time you head to the nursery to pick up a hibiscus for the garden, serious consider the koki’o ke’oke’o, a native hibiscus from Moloka’i with a beautiful white flower, or the simple white and fragrant flower of the native gardenia, na’u.

For more information, contact Hui Ku Maoli Ola Hawaiian Plant Specialists, 259-6580, [plantnativehawaii.com], [email: nativehawaiianplants].

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