In the field

What you need to know to recognize BBTV-the 97 second video

In Maui County contact the Maui Invasive Species Committee at 573-6472 to confirm and control infested plants. Always get banana plants locally (like from your neighbor!) to minimize risk of spreading BBTV to an uninfested area.

Moving on from the mongoose: the success of biological control in Hawai‘i

­­Achieving balance–in your workplace, at home, on your surfboard, or with your checkbook—makes life manageable. Natural environments depend upon balance as well.

Invasive pests have been disturbing the natural balance of Hawaiian ecosystems for centuries, ever since the arrival of the rat with early Polynesian explorers. Bringing invasive species into better balance with the environment is nothing new here in Hawai‘i.  An effective biological control, or natural predator, can transform a devastating invasive species into a mild pest.

The invasive Erythrina gall wasp that threatened the native wiliwili trees, such ans this one, was brought into balance by a parasatoid wasp.

The vast majority of biological control efforts in Hawaii have been successful: pānini cactus that once choked pasture land is now checked by three predatory insects and a plant fungus; white loosestrife or pāmakani is continually attacked by two insects and another plant fungus; and recently, the Erythrina gall wasp, that wiped out ornamental coral trees and threatened the native wiliwili with extinction, was leveled by a parasitoid wasp.

Yet, just as impulsive actions sabotage balance in our own lives—think diet fads and over-exercising–the same kind of recklessness results in greater instability in our environment.

Such is the case with the small Indian mongoose, Herpestus javanicus. In 1872, a sugar planter released nine mongoose on Jamaica with the hope it would control rats in cane fields.  The planter considered it successful and published a paper about it. Mongoose populations grew and offspring were sold to plantations throughout the Caribbean, Cuba, and Puerto Rico. In 1883, Hawai‘i plantation owners jumped on the mongoose bandwagon. With little regard for potential impacts, the now defunct Hilo Planters Association released seventy-two mongoose from Jamaica in Hilo. Another batch of mongoose from eastern India was brought to the Hāmākua coast in 1885. Subsequent offspring were released on Maui, O‘ahu, and Kaua‘i. For an unknown reason the crate delivered on Kaua‘i was kicked off the dock. To date mongoose have not established on Kaua‘i, though a single female was found killed by a car in 1972.

The mongoose is an opportunistic predator, introduced to Hawaii in 1883 with little regard to potential impacts on species other than the rat. Today, a potential biological control goes through years of testing to ensure it will have no unanticipated impacts.

Mongoose do eat rats, in Hawai‘i and elsewhere, but mongoose are opportunistic predators eating primarily insects, with birds, eggs, and a handful of plants mixed in. Additionally, mongooses are active during the day, rats at night.  The introduction of the mongoose further tipped the balance of the environment in the wrong direction: now both mongoose and rats threaten populations of native birds, particularly ground-nesting species like nēnē and petrels.

The mongoose introduction was not an example of classical biological control; it was an impulsive, untested whim. Today, when researchers look for biological controls for a particular pest, they survey the pest’s native habitat for species that counteract the pest’s invasive characteristics. Before any new organisms are introduced in Hawai‘i, they are subjected to intensive testing in quarantine to determine potential impacts on any other species.

Successful candidates for biological control have evolved over millennia alongside their target; some are dependent solely on the target species for survival. For example, the Eurytoma wasp that saved the wiliwili will die without access to Erythina gall wasps.  Consequently, Eurytoma populations will stop short of entirely eliminating the Erythrina gall wasp. Rather it will restore balance, keeping the pest wasp in check.

When mongoose were brought to Hawai‘i, there were no restrictions on plant and animal imports. Impacts on other species were an afterthought, if considered at all. It wasn’t until King David Kalākaua enacted the “Laws of the Hawaiian Islands” that any regulation existed to limit the introduction of new species to Hawai‘i.

Government-led pest management didn’t begin until ten years after sugar growers introduced the mongoose.  The provisional government appointed Albert Koebele as the chief entomologist, the first of many tasked with preventing new and controlling existing pest populations

Biological control has a long and successful history in Hawai‘i. In fact, California and Hawai‘i lead the world in successful releases of natural predators. Ever since testing of biological controls began, there have been no incidences of “host-jumping” or biological controls attacking other species.  Yes, the infamous mongoose ran amok, but it arrived during an “anything goes” era in Hawaiian history. The mongoose–or any opportunistic predator–would never be considered suitable for introduction by today’s standards. Biological controls are an important tool—sometimes the only tool—that can restore balance in Hawaiian ecosystems.

Originally published in the Maui News, April 8th, 2012 as part of the Kia‘i Moku Column.
You can find all the articles in the Kia‘i Moku series http://www.hear.org/misc/mauinews/

Creative solutions for controlling the little fire ant

Check out the video below to see Dr. Cas Vanderwoude and the “Spackler of Death,” a creative solution to solve the problem of getting ant bait into trees to control the little fire ant or Wasmannia auropunctata. Learn more about the little fire in Hawai‘i and the Pacific at lfa-hawaii.org and littlefireants.com.

Asking alibizia to go-Moloka‘i style

Tackling a giant albizia

How does a two-person team control 850 invasive trees? If you’re MoMISC, you ask for permission first—from the landowner, the ancestors, and the trees themselves.

When Lori Buchanan of the Moloka‘i/Maui Invasive Species Committee (MoMISC) learned that albizia trees were invading a steep gulch in Nā‘iwa, she started strategizing. Native to the Indonesian archipelago, albizia rapidly monopolizes disturbed mesic and wet forests in Hawai‘i, and can rise to over 120 feet tall with wide, interlocking canopies. Because albizia trees fix nitrogen in the soil, they alter Hawaiian forests to favor non-native plants.

The Nā‘iwa discovery was the only albizia population on Moloka‘i—making it a good candidate for eradication. But controlling the trees would be a huge project, requiring the cooperation of many stakeholders.

These giants reach over 120 feet tall.

First Buchanan approached the landowner, who granted access to the site. Land and air surveys revealed a fifteen-acre patch of mature trees, some with trunks measuring seven feet in circumference. Before rounding up extra hands to help with control work, Buchanan consulted kumu Mikiala Pescaia, who has genealogical ties to the area.

“It’s a good idea to ask permission before you do anything,” says Buchanan. “Every place is sacred, or has some history, and so it’s always a good idea to consult the indigenous culture.

“Nā‘iwa is makahiki and hula grounds. The crew needed to know why it’s special before working there.”
Pescaia agreed to ask her ancestors to bless the project and to share the importance of the site’s numerous platforms and heiau with the crew. She explained how killing during the makahiki season would be inappropriate, since it was a time of peace and rest.

“She took us to the edge of Kalaupapa and said, ‘This is where the spirits leap off,’” says Buchanan. “After that, the crew was hyped. We knew we were going to sweat and work our butts off, but people would appreciate what we were trying to do. It put our work in a whole new light.

“Mikiala sees all her cultural sites being taken over by invasive species. Our work is important to her, to her ancestors, and to future generations. It’s a step in restoring a whole genealogy.”

Mikiala Pescaia asked her ancestors for permission before entering the work site. She outlined appropriate behavior for the crew to observe while working: no swearing, negative thoughts, smoking, or removing anything from the area.

Then, says Buchanan, “She went to the edge of the gulch and said to the trees, ‘You guys have to go. Thank you for what you’ve provided—oxygen, shade, etcetera, but you have to go. Lori and MoMISC are going to come and take you out.’”

Actually, it was Lori, MoMISC, and a small army. Kamalani Pali, the other half of MoMISC, helped organize crews from The Nature Conservancy, Maui Invasive Species Committee, and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. John Neizman from the Department of Land and Natural Resources assisted with clearing the access road. Two retired foresters volunteered to cut and treat trees. The U.S. Department of Agriculture Plant Materials Center donated ninety pounds of native kāwelu, ‘a‘ali‘i, and ‘āweoweo seed mix. Before controlling the trees, Pescaia and the crew spread the seeds throughout the site, to repopulate the forest with native plants and suppress albizia regrowth.

Scientists and cultural advisors agreed that the best time to start work was the first week of March, after makahiki had passed. The crew girdled massive trunks, scraping the bark off with chainsaws to get to the heartwood and swabbing the cuts with small amounts of herbicide. Despite the heavy labor—three days of wielding chainsaws and rappelling to reach cliff-side trees—no one was injured.

Local businesses pitched in, too. Moloka‘i Community Federal Credit Union and Ron Kimball of Kamehameha Schools helped feed the workers. Mac Poepoe and Kanohowailuku Helm, local fishermen who have published a Hawaiian moon calendar, gave a pau hana workshop on how to be a pono fisherman. Realtors Diane and Larry Swenson accommodated visiting crews in their roomy warehouse.

A year later, only four of 850 albizia trees required re-treatment. The project brought together community members, field staff, and cultural practitioners. Work crews valued the opportunity to practice traditional protocols while working to free the island’s native forests from invasive pests. There’s no arguing that involving the community and asking for permission resulted in resounding success. The lessons learned during the albizia project will be applied to future control efforts on Moloka‘i and Maui.

“So many components had to come together. Everybody had to be on board,” says Buchanan. “But that’s our job: to make it easy for people to help us.” •

Pampas Gone Wild-Haipua‘ena Part 3

In the final installment of the “Pampas Gone Wild” series, we’ll cover some of the key identification features of pampas grass that differentiate it from the native sedge, Carex. These features can also be used to identify immature pampas in other habitats.

There's an immature pampas grass in this photo...any guesses?

Zoom in for a closer look.

A young pampas closely resembles a native sedge, Carex. First look for the flat leaf of pampas.

Compared that with the "corrugated" leaf of Carex.

Another key feature of pampas is the razor sharp serrated leaf edges, shown clearly in this photo. This feature is easy to find by running your finger carefully along the edge, even on very young seedlings.

This series was brought to you with the help of the above members of the MISC field crew, Summer 2011: Paul Gonzalez (SCA), Brooke Mahnken (GIS and Data Specialist), Chris Radford (Crew Leader), Matt Fairall (SCA), Frank Ritenour (SCA), and Abe Vandenberg (Field Crew and Outreach). Thanks for your good and muddy work out there!

If you think you have seen a pampas grass in Hawaii, please contact your local Invasive Species Committee. Many Mahalos!

Pampas Gone Wild-Haipua‘ena Part 2

Here’s a young, but mature, pampas grass in a mostly native rainforest…pulling this guy up will leave a big hole in the groundcover, a hole means a foothold for another invasive species, in many ways doing more harm than good.

But if we leave the plant alone we’ll continue to loose our watershed and native species to this high-threat invasive plant.  How can we remove it?  Keep reading…

1. Remove the seed-heads.

2. Tie the pampas in a knot. this is what we refer to as the “ponytail” method; bringing all the pampas leaves together makes it easier to treat and marks the plant as one we’ve treated.

3. Bury the seed-heads deep within the plant. This keeps the seeds from dispersing on the wind, likely how this plant arrived here in the first place.

4. With the seed-heads tucked away and the plant tied together crews can apply a low-concentration herbicide directly to the plant (another benefit of the ponytail method-no over-spray). Within a month the plant will be dead and beginning to decompose and native vegetation will be intact and poised to reclaim this patch of invaded rainforest. The location of each plant we control is recorded with a GPS so it can be monitored in the future to ensure no seedlings have germinated.

There you have it-how to control invasive pampas grass a native rainforest on Maui.

Stay posted to learn how to spot a pampas grass.

The sun sets on another day of field work in the remote rainforest of East Maui

Pampas Gone Wild-Haipua‘ena part 1

Pampas grass or Cortaderia jubata with it’s wind-dispersed seeds readily escapes cultivation.  Tackling established populations far from civilization takes some work…check out the work in one of our remote field camps–Haipua‘ena.

Helicopters bring the gear and materials out for both the crew and for building a new platform out of the mud.

The crew prepares to start hiking in. Along the way they'll be searching for pampas.

The boardwalk running along the Waikamoi flume...the easy part.

A dead pampas grass...excellent!

A not-so-dead pampas grass...not excellent.

Very lively and seeding pampas grass...euuuwwh

Check back to see how we treat pampas grass in this kind of environment!

Positive spin on invasive species by artists, chefs

Crews harvest saplings of invasive eucalyptus for use in a sculpture by artist Patrick Dougherty. The sculpture is at the Hui No'eau Art Center in Makawao. Photo by Rose Gabriel

“One day I was pulling a weed and I realized there was a little grain of hostility there toward this invasive plant,” said Washington D.C. artist, Patterson Clark, in an interview with National Public Radio. “And I stopped and thought: I don’t want to be this way in nature. I don’t want to be in an adversarial mode when I’m in nature. How can I change my attitude to make this more of a positive experience? And the word ‘harvest’ came to mind.” Patterson shifted his perspective and began turning weeds into resources — brushes, inks, and even paper.

It’s happening throughout the country — artists, chefs, hunters, and fisherman are using their talents to harvest invasive plants and animals, transforming them in innovative ways–each example regionally appropriate. In the Southeast, artists weave kudzu into lampshades, baskets, and sculpture. In the Pacific Northwest, printmakers are making paper out of Japanese knotweed.  In Maryland, the forest-choking vine, oriental bittersweet, is morphing into lighthearted sculpture. In some places, it’s work you can sink your teeth into. “Invasivores” control pests by dining upon them: Asian carp, Himalayan blackberries, even nutria, the semi-aquatic rodent that invades the wetlands of the South, can be dinner. Fishing derbies have tapped into the competitive spirit, controlling venomous lionfish in Florida and removing voracious roi from Hawaii’s reefs. This month, on the lawn of the Hui No’eau art center, sculptor Patrick Dougherty will be twisting watershed-choking strawberry guava into imaginative shapes.

The best an invasive species can look! This scupture on display at the Hui No'eau Visual Arts Center was made out of strawberry guava, eucalyptus, and white ash. Photo by Hui No'eau.

Many of the plants and animals that overrun our environment have useful attributes: they taste good, have beautiful wood or nice flowers. But the value of the species may come at a high cost– the health of an ecosystem, quiet nights, locally grown produce or livestock.

By harvesting (or overharvesting!) these invaders we can recycle unwanted species while helping the environment. The carbon footprint of using locally available material is less than importing it from the mainland and the process provides a connection with the land while giving back to the place we live.

There are risks. Invasive plants and animals carry a reputation for jumping the fence and escaping. Keep the following points in mind when using invasive materials and you’ll help ensure that your work is making a difference, but not planting the seeds of a new invasion, literally and figuratively.

How does this species spread? Tiny seeds, resilient vegetative roots? If you are going to move an invasive species, be sure to bag the flowers and fruit, and make sure fruit, flowers, and roots are disposed of properly (not Green Waste!).

• Toxic invaders: Many species have chemicals harmful to people and animals. Research the species and how it can safely be used. Roi are toxic to eat, every part of oleander is toxic, and the sap of some plants, like the pothos vine, can cause a bad skin rash.
• Do you have permission? Check with the landowner before removing any species.
• Is it legal? State laws restrict the transport of some plants and animals. Some species are on the noxious weed list or targets for control by local invasive species committees. Check with them for guidance.

Finally, remember to stay slightly detached from the material which, ideally, will become harder and harder to find. Perhaps then it will be time to find a new invasive to work with. It’s unlikely that a hunting tournament, new recipe, or art sculpture will lead to the eradication of an invasive plant or animal, but by harvesting invasive species you’re helping restore balance to the ecosystem.

So by all means, jump in. Lend a hand to control invasive plants and animals. Cook with ‘em, carve, weave, or sculpt them, mash a weed into paper, or even turn your project into a contest! Tell people why and what you are doing. Just be extra careful you’re not accidentally making the problem worse.

For more information on the sculpture at the Hui visit  their website and check out the day-by-day building of the sculpture entitled On The Wild Side at their blog.

Dining on invasive species? Check out invasivore.org for recipes.

By Lissa Fox. Originally published in the Maui News, September 11, 2011 as part of the Kia‘i Moku Column.Check out all of the MISC articles in the Kia`i Moku series at: www.hear.org/misc/mauinews/

Lāna‘i

MISC work trip to Lāna‘i, camping at Hulopoe

Lāna‘i i ke ‘ehu o ke kai.
Lāna‘i stands among the sea sprays.

About once a year, MISC tries to get all staff (including those usually chained to their desks), out on a work trip and Lāna‘i is usually a good option. We can pitch camp at Hulopoe Bay at no cost thanks to support from Castle and Cooke and play in the surf after hot dusty days looking for fountain grass. Super-long sweep lines make logistical sense across the open red-dirt slopes of Kanepu‘u – it’s easy to see everyone and cover a lot of distance over just a few days. And it’s a great opportunity to bring all the field crews and office staff together in a different setting.

This year’s trip in May was one of the best. Everyone seemed in sync, with the load and laughter shared by all. Staff from Castle and Cooke and from Lāna‘i Native Species Recovery Program pitched in as well. Hardly any fountain grass was detected in the Kanepu‘u area, indicating that our strategy is working. Another strategy that seems to be working – training staff on multiple targets – was also in evidence. Vertebrate crew member, Dennis Green, brought the sweep line to a halt when he found a suspicious flowering plant. Lissa Fox immediately identified it as the elusive downy rose myrtle, a species previously reported as having been planted on Lāna‘i , but never before found. Although we didn’t turn up any more, we now have a point from which to conduct future searches.

I’m not sure about the kaona, or hidden meaning, if there is one, of the Hawaiian proverb about Lāna‘i . But if I were to make up my own, I’d say that our staff stands tall among the sea sprays. Trips like our recent one to Lāna‘i help bring that image home.

by Teya Penniman, MISC manager