2018 — Maui Invasive Species Committee (MISC)

Community urged to help protect yellow-faced bees

Posted on November 23, 2020 by Lissa Strohecker

Hawaiian yellow-faced bees rely heavily on an intact community of native plants to thrive in their communities. Often times they are avoidant of areas with a large population of non-native species. Photo Lahaina Photography

The adage “the more you look, the more you see“ is the basis for the “Pollinators in Paradise” project, a new approach to researching Hawaiʻi’s most important native pollinators: the yellow-faced bees.

As the primary pollinator in the Hawaiian Islands, these bees were once exceedingly common and found from mountain top to coastline. As they collected pollen to eat, these bees pollinated everything from silverswords to naupaka. Today, the Hawaiian yellow-faced bee populations are in decline and likely to become endangered unless the impacts of habitat loss, invasive species, and climate change can be addressed. Researchers are looking to the community for help in learning more about Hawaiʻi’s only native bees.

“Today, the Hawaiian yellow-faced bee populations are in decline and likely to become endangered unless the impacts of habitat loss, invasive species, and climate change can be addressed.”

“There are only a few researchers looking for yellow-faced bees,” says Dr. Jason Graham, one of the researchers and part of the “Pollinators in Paradise” project – a collaboration between Bishop Museum and Graham and funded by a Disney Conservation Grant. The goal of the project is to further Hawaiian yellow-faced bee conservation efforts through education and community involvement. “We hope to have more eyes out there looking for Hawaiian yellow-faced bees.”

The Maui Invasive Species Committee urges the general public to keep their eyes out for this native bee. Community members are also encouraged to download the iNaturalist app to track bee sightings in order to guide future conservation efforts. Photo Lahaina Photography

Built into the “Pollinators in Paradise” project is training: an interactive exhibit will be housed at Bishop Museum for visitors, there are educational kits available for teachers, and Bishop will use webinars to connect visiting school kids with scientists in the field. The ultimate goal is to have school kids and the community reporting sightings of yellow-faced bees through the online social networking application, iNaturalist. Anyone interested can participate.

Through iNaturalist, community reporters can submit photos of pollinators like the yellow-faced bees. Researchers will review and identify the pollinators. If yellow-faced bees are found, the sightings will be shared with resource managers to help guide future conservation efforts, and these bees need it.

Unlike honeybees, which form large social colonies with a queen and workers doing many tasks, including caring for young, yellow-faced bees are solitary nesters. Solitary bees lay relatively few eggs, stashing only a few dozen young inside a dead twig or in a hollow piece of coral on a rocky shoreline. They leave their young provisioned with food but unprotected from predators. This strategy served them well enough for the millions of years they spent in Hawaiʻi isolated from predators. Since human arrival in the islands, some 50 species of ants have made their way to Hawaiʻi (there are no native ants in Hawaiʻi). When ants find the vulnerable eggs and larvae, they feast.

There are over 60 species of yellow-faced bees native to the Hawaiian Islands. While some may not yet be listed as endangered, all species are in decline, with certain species not seen for 20 years. In October of 2016, seven species of yellow-faced bees gained protection under the Endangered Species Act. To protect what’s left, the scientists need to know more about them, a task that citizen-scientists can help with, once they know where to look.

Graham offers these tips for finding Hawaiian yellow-faced bees:

Look for native plants: The bees rely on native plants – with much of the islands’ native flora lost to development, agriculture, or taken over by invasive plants, their habitat is fractured. Yet they persist, and sometimes in the most unlikely of places – a patch of native plants growing on the shoreline near a resort for example.
Look for black bees: Yellow-faced bees do not look like the more familiar honeybee. Yellow-faced bees are slender, smooth, and mostly black, and much smaller than the pure black female carpenter bee, another conspicuous non-native bee common in the islands. Some but not all species have yellow on their faces that help identify them and lead to their unique moniker.

Anyone can participate in the “Pollinators in Paradise” project by downloading iNaturalist and joining the project through the app. Then start snapping photos of pollinators. Graham says cell phone cameras are sufficient for capturing images of the bees — videos work well because they can be paused to show the face of the bee, the key to determining the species. There are special lenses for photographing that clip onto the cell phone camera.

Learn more about the project through the Pollinators in Paradise Facebook page or the page on the iNaturalist application online.

Lissa Strohecker is the public relations and education specialist for the Maui Invasive Species Committee. She holds a biological sciences degree from Montana State University. Kia’i Moku, “Guarding the Island,” is prepared by the Maui Invasive Species Committee to provide information on protecting the island from invasive plants and animals that can threaten the island’s environment, economy, and quality of life.

This article was originally published in the Maui News on December 9th, 2018, as part of the Kia‘i Moku Column from the Maui Invasive Species Committee.

Read more Kiaʻi Moku articles.

Tiny golden butterfly could help halt miconia invasion

Posted on April 28, 2020 by Lissa Strohecker

Caterpillars of the golden miconia butterfly can only survive on miconia and related plants. The caterpillars get together in clumps and devour the leaves. In doing so, they may reduce the damage miconia can cause in the rainforest. — PABLO ALLEN photo

In the hills above Hāna, Nāhiku, and Keʻanae, the Maui Invasive Species Committee (MISC) crew hikes day in and day out looking for and pulling miconia plants. The team is about to grow as a kaleidoscope of golden yellow butterflies descends to assist with control.

Miconia is a notorious invader of Hawaiian forests. A single plant can produce 8 million seeds. Miconia seeds grow quickly into large plants with huge leaves that block out the sunlight preventing other plants from germinating. Miconia’s shallow roots do little to stabilize the soil. Eventually, miconia becomes the only plant in the forest; invaded sites are known for landslides and erosion that muddies streams and buries reefs.

Sam Akoi III pulls miconia from the ground in 2003. The shallow roots make the plant easy to pull but miconia does a poor job holding soil. Invaded forest slopes are prone to erosion–MISC file photo

When biologists first found this invasive plant growing in Hawaiʻi, it was a call to action. Retired state forester Bob Hobdy helped address miconia in East Maui in the early 1990s. Initially, crews focused on the area above Hāna known as “the core,” but reports started pouring in from multiple locations across East Maui. “The idea of eradication [removing every plant from the island] was set aside,” says Hobdy. “It was not feasible.” The shrubby tree was scattered from Huelo to Kipahulu, with two major infestations in Nāhiku and Hāna. Too widespread to eradicate, but too damaging to ignore, the long-term solution was biocontrol: the researched introduction of a natural enemy specific to miconia that could lessen the impact and spread of the plant.

Over the last 27 years, crews have worked to contain this invader in the field. It’s been a success: miconia never reached the West Maui mountains and it’s rare to find a plant along Hāna Highway. Meanwhile, researchers in Hawaiʻi and South America have sought out and tested insects and plant diseases in hopes of finding something that will permanently undermine the plant’s invasiveness.

In 1997, ecologists released a fungus that eats holes in miconia’s large purple leaves. In Tahiti, this fungal natural enemy opened up the canopy so that other plants could grow, but fungus didn’t have the same effect here in Hawaiʻi. The search continued.

Tracy Johnson of the U.S. Forest Service has worked to find miconia’s natural enemies for 20 years. He’s hopeful about another miconia pests, a tiny yellow butterfly that lays its eggs on the leaves. The caterpillars hatch out and to dine on the umbrella-like leaves until they become adults. “Itʻs very specific to miconia,” says Johnson. “We know from observation in Costa Rica and in Hawaiʻi that it’s one of the most damaging insects to leaves of the plant.”

Miconia’s huge leaves are major problems: they act like tarps, shading out the understory, collecting raindrops and funneling them to the ground. In comparison, native ōhiʻa and koa trees have clusters of little leaves that break up rainfall into small drops that gently water the understory. The raindrops that roll off of miconia leaves are some of the largest measured They hit the ground with extra force—and since the ground beneath miconia is bare—they contribute to increased erosion. In fact, scientists have found that erosion is greater in a miconia-invaded forest than if the rain fell on bare soil.

“Itʻs (the golden miconia butterfly) very specific to miconia,” says Johnson. “We know from observation in Costa Rica and in Hawaiʻi that it’s one of the most damaging insects to leaves of the plant.”

Though only the size of your fingernail, the golden miconia butterfly could have a big impact on invasive miconia. Native to Costa Rica, these butterflies could be a welcome addition to miconia control efforts here in Hawaiʻi. — KENJI NISHIDA photo

Enter the golden miconia butterfly, Euselasia chrysippe, —a voracious leaf eater. Johnson and colleagues from the University of Costa Rica tested E. chrysippe with 73 different plants to see what the caterpillars would feed on. In a process called no-choice testing, caterpillars are placed in a petri dish with a leaf of the plant being tested. When forced to feed on other plants, they died; only Miconia calvescens and closely related plants in the melastome family can sustain them. This is good news since Hawaiʻi has no native melastomes.

After gorging on miconia, E. chrysippe caterpillars metamorphose into butterflies and seek out another miconia plant on which to lay their eggs. Like the MISC miconia crews, they’re really good a finding the pesky plant.

The golden miconia butterfly could help halt Hawaiʻi’s miconia invasion. But there is still more to be done. Johnson is investigating other potential natural enemies, particularly an insect that eats miconia seeds. Until a suite of effective and safe natural enemies exists to control miconia, crews from MISC will continue combing the hillside in search of miconia. Any sightings of miconia can be reported to MISC at 808-573-6472.

April 2020 Update: The Hawaiʻi Department of Agriculture is soliciting comments on the draft Environmental Assessment for the release of the golden miconia butterfly. Comments are accepted through May 26, 2020. HDOA press release

This article was originally published in the Maui News on July 8th, 2018, as part of the Kia‘i Moku Column from the Maui Invasive Species Committee.

Read more Kiaʻi Moku articles.

Fountain grass threatens dryland ecosystems

Posted on April 1, 2020 by Lissa Strohecker

Jared Clapper with Hāna Lima Land Management, working on behalf of Haleakalā Ranch, was part of a team responding to an infestation of invasive fountain grass in proximity to Pu‘uokali above Kīhei. Fountain grass has a reputation for fueling a cycle of brush fires and is one of the greatest threats to the remaining dryland forest ecosystems.

On the leeward slope of Haleakalā above Kīhei rises a red dirt cinder cone named Puʻuokali. Puʻuokali means “the hill of waiting,” and is said to be one of several mo‘o (lizard deities) who were transformed into cinder cones on the summit. From her prominent vantage, Puʻuokali watches over her daughter, Puʻuoinaina on the island of Kahoʻolawe. As visible as Puʻuokali is to Maui residents, she also has her secrets. Inside the cinder cone is an intact dryland forest – a representation of the most diverse and most threatened ecosystem in Hawaiʻi. This native oasis was forgotten about until the early 1980’s when a brush fire broke out nearby and biologists rediscovered the forest.

Dr. Art Medeiros, program manager for the Auwahi Forest Restoration Project, was one of those biologists. “Puʻuokali is amazing. It’s almost the only place from Makawao to Kaupō that looks like it did when Hawaiians were the only people here.” Wiliwili, lama, naio, koaiʻa, and ʻohe are the dominant trees of this forest – these plants were essential for early Polynesians but are virtually unknown today. Dryland Hawaiian forests are the most diverse of Hawaiian forests, yet they are virtually lost: an estimated 90 to 95% of dryland forest is gone. What remains is critical: 25% of endangered Hawaiian plant species are found in these tiny refugia.

In July of 2018, Byron Stevens of the Hawaiʻi Natural Area Reserves System passed over Puʻuokali in a helicopter and saw something that didn’t belong: a two- to four-foot-tall bunchgrass with wiry leaves and purple bottle-brush flowers. Fountain grass. He sounded the alarm to multiple conservation organizations.

Fountain grass starting to invade the sacred grounds of Puʻuokali on Maui. This area is one of the few remaining places that show how Hawaiʻi looked prior to western contact.

Fountain grass is an invasive weed rarely found on Maui. Native to North Africa, it’s targeted for eradication by the Maui Invasive Species Committee. The drought-tolerant grass is able to survive in some of Hawaiʻi’s driest areas; it poses a serious threat to native dryland forest. While rare on Maui, the alien grass now covers much of the leeward coast of Hawaiʻi Island. Introduced as an ornamental in the early 1900s, fountain grass has completely transformed the Kona side of Hawaiʻi Island, turning what was once bare lava with patches of native forest into fields of grass.

“Introduced as an ornamental in the early 1900s, fountain grass has completely transformed the Kona side of Hawaiʻi Island, turning what was once bare lava with patches of native forest into fields of grass.”

Dominating arid, bare lava is one thing, but this wiry bunchgrass can also advance into intact forest, in part because it survives brushfires. Fountain grass is fire-adapted; it can regrow after flames pass over then quickly flowers and set seeds to recolonize the area. In contrast, Hawaiian forests are not adapted to fires—native plants generally donʻt survive. Fountain grass is notorious for fueling and increasing fire. At one site on Hawaiʻi Island, fountain grass (ignited by humans) has increased fire frequency from once every 500-1,000 years to once every 6-8 years.

“Fountain grass is a direct threat to the Maui County sanctuary forests such as Puʻuokali, says Medeiros. Though surrounding areas have burned, Puʻuokali has not had any wildfire, hence why so much remains. This hidden forest survived over the years partly because the surrounding landscape was so barren. There was no fuel for brushfires, and less incentive for goats and deer to cross the cinder to reach the crater. “The last refuges [of dryland forest] are in these rocky areas,” Medeiros explains. The intrusion of fountain grass changes that.

Fountain grass is almost never found on Maui, but is extremely widespread on the leeward side of Hawaii island, where it has transformed the landscape and continues to spread. Any sightings of this invasive bunchgrass should be reported — identified by its purple bottle-brush flowers that turn white as they age. MISC file photo

With that in mind, crews from multiple organizations – Auwahi Restoration Group, Haleakalā Ranch, the Maui Invasive Species Committee, and the Plant Extinction Prevention Program – came together to remove over 1,000 fountain grass plants from Puʻuokali. Completing the work will take several years. Grass seeds cover the ground and recent rains will bring a flush of seedlings. But now that the infestation has been detected, it can be managed and eradicated.

You can help. Fountain grass is often used as an ornamental landscaping plant, and people sometimes plant it on Maui by accident. Seeds can be unwittingly transported interisland on hunting or golf gear. If you see fountain grass, take a photo and report it. You can contact MISC directly at 573-MISC (6471) or the statewide pest hotline at 643-PEST, or 643PEST.org.

This article was originally published in the Maui News on September 12th, 2018, as part of the Kia‘i Moku Column from the Maui Invasive Species Committee.

Read more Kiaʻi Moku articles. Find more information about fountain grass:

Species profile: Fountain grass
Report suspected populations of fountain grass: 643PEST.org

Illegal dumping risks spreading invasive species

Posted on September 11, 2018 by Lissa Strohecker

Coqui frogs, like this male guarding his eggs, take advantage of man-made materials for shelter. Illegally dumping rubbish can spread pests like coqui and make removing them more difficult. Photo by Maui Invasive Species Committee.

The evening of July 24, 2018, a Maui resident living near the Five Corners area of Haʻikū heard something she did not recognize as a normal sound for her neighborhood: the 2-note call of invasive coqui frogs. “I was in shock,” she says. “All the sudden there were 5-10 coqui frogs near my house.” She reported the frogs to the Maui Invasive Species Committee (MISC) and worked with neighbors to pinpoint the frogs’ location in a gulch adjacent to a nearby pasture.

When crews arrived a few days later, they indeed found coqui frogs spread across a quarter acre. They also found a rubbish pile with tires and plywood. “Given that there were no frogs, then suddenly ten—that’s too many to have jumped onto a car and been moved to the site,” explains Abe Vandenberg, MISC Coqui Coordinator. “The more likely scenario is that there was a clutch of eggs moved in the rubbish pile.” Coqui frogs hatch out from their eggs as tiny froglets, unlike other frogs that go through a tadpole stage that requires standing water.

Coqui are an introduced species to the Hawaiian Islands. Without the predators like snakes that keep them in check in Puerto Rico, they reach unnaturally high densities that are 2-3 times higher here in Hawaii than in their native habitat. In turn, they impact insect populations and nutrient cycling. But their mating call is what drives control efforts – males call “co-qui” from dawn until dusk in a piercing cacophony that disrupts sleep.

Unfortunately, the Five Corners situation is not unique. Even in the early days of coqui control efforts on Maui, roadside dumping factored into the amphibians’ spread. A vehicle abandoned in Māliko Gulch was the likely vector of frogs to a salvage yard in Haʻikū. As the coqui population increases on Maui, so do the instances of coqui moving in green waste and trash.

In the last year, illegally-dumped rubbish has been the vector for at least five introductions of coqui that MISC is aware of.

Little fire ants are another invasive pest that is known to spread through the movement of green waste and debris. Green waste facilities are monitored for these pests to reduce the risk of spread but illegal dumping can circumvent these safe guards. Photo by Maui Invasive Species Committee.

More often than not, the frog-infested trash is dumped in gulches – a difficult and dangerous place for crews to access and remove the noisy invaders.

It’s not just coqui frogs hitchhiking in trash and yard waste. On Hawaiʻi Island and in Tahiti and Guam, little fire ants have been spread through green waste. On Maui, MISC has worked with the owners of properties infested by little fire ants to address this threat, but undetected populations of pest ants most likely still exist. On Oʻahu, the larvae and eggs of the palm-killing coconut rhinoceros beetle (CRB) develop in coconut mulch, so preventing the spread of green waste is the most important task for crews working on the CRB Response Team. Coconut rhinoceros beetles are killing coconuts and other palms on Oʻahu and have not yet been reported from other islands.

Coconut Rhinoceros Beetles (CRB) lay eggs in mulch and so stopping the movement of infested debris is a priority for the CRB teams on O’ahu. Photo by U.S. Army Garrison Hawai’i.

When yard clippings and mulch are properly handled, green waste is less of a threat. The temperature of a managed compost pile reaches 150 degrees Fahrenheit, enough to kill weed seeds and many invasive pests and their eggs. Additionally, bringing green waste to a central location allows for monitoring. Green waste sites on Maui are regularly surveyed for the presence of little fire ants.

People who are tempted to dump their rubbish illegally may not realize that the impacts of their actions can be catastrophic. Often, illegal dumping attracts more dumping. The tangle of trash provides ample sites for pests to hide out and avoid treatment. You can help. Properly dispose of waste at the landfill, green waste facility, or compost it on site. Report illegal dumping to the Maui Police Department, at (808) 244-6400, and to the State of Hawaii Department of Health at (808) 984-8230.

This article was originally published on May 13th, 2018 as part of the Kia’i Moku Column for the Maui News.

Introduced songbirds can be invasive in Hawai’i

Posted on August 15, 2018 by Lissa Strohecker

There are other birds not known to be on Maui that should be reported immediately if seen. The red-vented bulbul is one such species; — K. HARI KRISHNAN photo

In March of 2018, a cluster of reports from Maui residents and visitors of White-rumped shamas in West Maui came in on the online birding database, eBird. The Maui Invasive Species Committee and other organizations had received reports before, but the frequency of reports caught the attention of Chris Warren, who works with the Maui Forest Bird Recovery Project. These birds weren’t known to be widespread on Maui. White-rumped shamas are not native to Hawaiʻi. These introduced species have established breeding populations on Oʻahu, Molokaʻi, Lānaʻi, and Kauaʻi, but only scattered sightings had been reported on Maui in the past. No new invasive species is a welcome addition to our fragile ecosystems here on Maui. Warren and his team went to Kapalua and the Honolua area to investigate.

“Pretty soon it was evident that there were more than just a few birds out there,” says Warren. This wasn’t a case of a lone bird—the team found shamas in streambeds and forested areas from Napili to Honolua Bay, but the full extent of their population is still unknown.

White-rumped shamas are native to western Indonesia, southern India and southwestern China but have been introduced elsewhere as a result of their popularity as cage-birds and songsters. Here, their diet consists mainly of small insects that they pounce on while in the underbrush. According to Warren, there are other introduced birds that may pose a greater threat to native birds than the shama but what has resource managers concerned is that a bird new to the island went unreported for so long. “Our native birds are already at a tipping point, the last thing they need is another competitor,” he says.

White-rumped shamas are part of the host of bird species brought to Hawaiʻi during an era of bringing in song-birds. By the turn of the 20^th century, avian malaria and introduced predators had already brought native Hawaiian bird populations to low levels. Residential gardens were quiet but for the squawking of mynas and calling of doves. The socialites of Honolulu formed garden clubs for the purpose of importing song-birds—which only put added pressure on native ecosystems. From the 1920s up until the 1960s, when the practice was restricted, these garden clubs introduced many species of songbirds. Not all of these birds became established, but many did, and the musical White-rumped shama was among them.

Shamas were first released in Kauaʻi in 1931 and then in Oʻahu between 1938 and 1940. Those 89 birds then spread, reaching Molokaʻi in 1997 and Lānaʻi by 2009. They may have crossed between the islands on their own, but it’s also possible that humans helped them spread inter-island.

Warren and his colleagues are not exactly sure how far the shamas have spread on Maui. With the help of other resource management organizations, Maui Forest Bird Recovery Project is working to determine the distribution of these singing flycatchers. You can help!

White-rumped shamas are 9-11 inches long, about the size of a northern cardinal.
They have long tail feathers and spend much of their time in the underbrush.
Males have a glossy bluish-black back and head, a chestnut brown belly, and white patch feathers under their tail. Females have a tan head and back with chestnut belly.
Their song is impressive, both in range and volume, making them hard to miss.
Find information with photos and recordings, online: The Cornell Lab of Ornithology – White-rumped Shama. Report sightings, with a photo or recording through the online pest reporting system, 643PEST.org.

The red-vented bulbul is not known from Maui and should be reported immediately if seen. This bird resembles a cardinal but the head is completely black and it has a distinctive red patch on the underside. Bulbuls are serious agricultural pests on other islands. Report any sightings to 643PEST.org. — K. HARI KRISHNAN photo

While the white-rumped shama is likely here to stay, however, there are exotic bird species present on other islands that have not yet reached Maui. Red-vented bulbuls found on Oʻahu are one example: they are voracious fruit eaters and serious agricultural pests that quickly dominate the landscape.

To keep a new invasive species from becoming established, finding it early is essential. If you see something new in your yard, birds notwithstanding, take a few minutes to report it on the statewide pest reporting system. Either call 643-PEST(7378) or use the online report form, 643PEST.org.

This article was originally published on May 13th, 2018 as part of the Kia’i Moku Column for the Maui News.

Natural enemies could tame invasive Himalayan ginger

Posted on June 5, 2018 by Lissa Strohecker

Though not invasive in India where it is native, Himalayan ginger can completely transform a Hawaiian rainforest like it has in this section at 4,000-foot elevation above Haiku. Inset: Ginger fruits are spread long distance by birds and rats. FOREST and KIM STARR photo

The subtropical rainforests in the foothills of the Himalayan Mountains are amazingly diverse. In sections of India and Nepal, the forests are similar to Hawaiian rainforests in both temperature and rainfall-but the flora and fauna are radically different: this is the land of elephants and red pandas; 600 species of butterflies live here and over 400 species of orchids. But amongst the exotic plants there is one

The fruit of Himalayan ginger is a tasty treat for non-native birds, but this means the seeds are spread throughout the forest. Photo courtesy of Forest and Kim Starr.

that might be familiar to residents of Hawai’i-a yellow-flowered ginger that covers vast sections of Hawaiian rainforests.

Himalayan ginger, Hedychium gardnerianum, is native to the Himalayan foothills. There, it evolved over millennia supporting a diversity of species: the sweet nectar is a food for the long-tongued butterflies of the region and the plant lives in harmony with the species that surround it. Yellow flower stalks dot the landscape amongst hundreds of other orchids, gingers, ferns, and trees.

But in Hawai’i, Himalayan ginger dominates the landscape-growing fast and paving its way into the forest in an unrelenting march.

“Himalayan ginger displaces critical native vegetation layers, limits canopy tree recruitment, and hogs water resources in their massive rhizomes (roots). As it takes over and forms monotypic stands, it negatively impacts native flora and fauna, including Hawai’i’s unique arthropod complex and the Hawaiian honeycreepers,” says Alison Cohan, director of the Maui Nui Forest Program with The Nature Conservancy (TNC).

Introduced as an ornamental, Himalayan ginger escaped backyards and began invading rainforests of East Maui in the mid 1950’s. With seeds dispersed far and wide by birds and rats, the weedy plant spreads by leaps and bounds into the forest. Today, much of the mid-elevation rainforest of East Maui is a patchwork of native forest and alien ginger. But there is a lot left to protect: many ginger-free areas remain, including most of West Maui.

Ginger is a formidable foe and removing the plant is no simple task. Roots pave the forest floor like asphalt and every part of the rhizome must be removed. Bagged rhizomes take years to decay and if there is the slightest hole in the bag, hardy shoots emerge. If using herbicide, every portion of the root has to be treated. Plants on steep slopes and cliffs are inaccessible and impossible to remove until the weight of the water-logged roots causes entire sections to collapse in a landslide.

Why would ginger be a pest in one place but not another?

Djami Djeddour, weed biocontrol scientist with the Centre for Agriculture and Bioscience International, inspects a lone Himalayan ginger plant in India while searching for insects and fungi that live on the plant where it is native. These insects may be responsible for keeping the plant in check. DJAMI DJEDDOUR photo

The answer to that question is on the minds of resource managers in Hawai’i as well as New Zealand, Australia, and South Africa where the plant is invasive. With funding from organizations like TNC and the Hawai’i Invasive Species Council, research scientists traveled to India and collected insects and fungi that live on Himalayan ginger hoping to discover what keeps the fast-growing herb in balance there. An effective natural enemy could be a game changer for Hawai’i.

An effective natural enemy wouldn’t eliminate the plant, just bring it into harmony with the surrounding environment, much like it is in India and Nepal.

One of the most promising insects is a Cloropid fly that lives only on Himalayan ginger. The larvae live inside the stem stunting the growth and reducing flower production. Ginger natural enemies may be ready for release in New Zealand soon, promising progress for Hawai’i.

“The Nature Conservancy had been doing ginger work in Waikamoi for over 30 years, systematically conducting ginger control—containing the core population at the western edge of Waikamoi and eradicating outliers in native forest,” explains Cohan. Crews with Haleakala National Park work on the flowering pest in Kīpahulu Valley but the plant is widespread and thrives unchecked in wet places throughout the state.

There are ways you can help. Consider what you call the plant: though known for years as kāhili ginger, a pest destroying the rainforest does not deserve a moniker reminiscent of Hawaiian royalty much less one that might suggest that it belongs here. Perhaps call it toilet-brush ginger, as suggested by Pat Bily of TNC after years of removing it. Do not plant Himalayan ginger in your yard and remove it from your property before it spreads. Finally, participate in The Nature Conservancy’s quarterly volunteer trips removing ginger from Waikamoi Preserve. Contact hike_waikamoi@tnc.org if interested.

This article was originally published in the Maui News on April 8th, 2018 as part of the Kia‘i Moku Column from the Maui Invasive Species Committee.

Native species recovering at Mokio Preserve on Moloka’i

Posted on May 25, 2018 by Lissa Strohecker

Jay Penniman of the Maui Nui Seabird Recovery Project sets up an acoustic monitor near the Laysan albatross decoys at the Mokio Preserve on Molokai. The speaker in the foreground broadcasts mating calls for the very rare Laysan albatross during the day, while acoustic monitors record nighttime activity from other seabird species like the wedge-tailed shearwater. — BUTCH HAASE / Molokai Land Trust photo.

On the windswept, northwestern corner of Moloka’i there is an old cattle pasture that, until recently, was covered in kiawe, buffelgrass, and lantana. But underneath the invasive plants, seeds of native species lay waiting, ready to grow if given the chance. Endangered Hawaiian insects found refuge in pockets of the sea cliffs. Seabirds patrolled the coastlines. Their wait may be over.

In 2008 the Molokaʻi Land Trust began to manage Mokio, five miles of coastline between the state-owned Ilio Point and The Nature Conservancy’s Moʻomomi Preserve. This former pastureland was never developed and is rich in both cultural and biological resources. Seasonal wetlands support the largest population of an endangered fern, ʻihiʻihilauākea, or four-leaf clover fern, in the State. Adze quarries and pre-contact Hawaiian housing sites remain relatively intact. It is a promising seabird nesting habitat, already in use by the koaʻe ʻula and koaʻe kea (red-tailed and white-tailed tropicbirds) that nest in the cliff faces and noio (black noddy) that raise their young in caves. But years of cattle and deer traffic have taken a toll on the native plant community.

The first step in restoring the area: fencing out large grazing animals. “Sixty acres are fenced,” says Butch Haase, executive director of the Molokai Land Trust. “We’ve converted a kiawe, lantana, and buffelgrass-dominated landscape into a native-dominated landscape.” Seeds of native coastal plants have begun to sprout after decades of dormancy. Volunteers planted seedlings farther inland where the seed bank was depleted by years of cattle grazing. Their efforts are proving successful: carpets of yellow-flowered nehe, ʻilima, and a rare orange ʻōhai now thrive where kiawe and other invasives once grew.

“Their efforts are proving successful: carpets of yellow-flowered nehe, ʻilima, and a rare orange ʻōhai now thrive where kiawe and other invasives once grew.”

Native habitat attracts native critters. These native coastal plants feed and house critically endangered Hawaiian yellow-faced bees. The low-growing vegetation is the perfect place for seabirds to forage. And they do – the variety of seabirds seen at Mokio rivals that of another birding hotspot in the Hawaiian Islands – Kilauea Point on Kauaʻi. Uau Kane (wedge-tailed shearwater), a (both red-footed and brown boobies), and Kaupu (black-footed albatross) are nesting here. Moli – the Laysan albatross – has been sighted along the northern coast of Molokai, landing at Ilio, Anapuka, and Kalaupapa. This led Haase and his crew to wonder if perhaps albatross belonged at Mokio, too.

Orange-flowered ohai (foreground) is one of the endangered plants that have begun to germinate now that invasive species have been removed from the Molokai Land Trust’s Mokio Preserve. Ohai, yellow-flowered ʻilima papa, and other native coastal plants create a low-growing carpet the feeds and houses endangered yellow-faced bees and creates habitat for native seabirds. — BUTCH HAASE / Molokai Land Trust photo

With rising sea levels threatening primary albatross nesting grounds in the Northwest Hawaiian Islands, scientists are trying to increase nesting sites in the main Hawaiian Islands. So Haase, working with the American Bird Conservancy, Maui Nui Seabird Recovery Project, the US Fish and Wildlife Coastal Program, and the Department of Land and Natural Resources, deployed a fourteen albatross decoys complete with pre-recorded albatross calls. Within ten days an albatross had landed, scraping around to investigate a potential nesting site.

This albatross was alone, checking out new territory as young albatross often do, but the amazingly quick response rate is promising. Haase and the rest of the project team hope that within two years albatross could be nesting at Mokio.

That solidifies a deadline for another project at Mokio: the construction of a predator-proof fence to protect ground-nesting seabirds from feral cats, dogs, mongoose, rats, and mice. These predators attack adults and eat their eggs or hatchlings. (Presently, labor-intensive trapping keeps the predator population down). When the fence is complete it will protect 85 acres of potential nesting habitat for Hawaiian seabirds as well as migratory seabirds like kōlea and the kioea, bristle-thighed curlew, a shorebird that cannot fly during its winter molt in Hawaii.

A restored native coastal region in Molokai has been very reassuring to local inhabitants and environmentalists alike. — MISC file photo

The changes at Mokio are dramatic – a cattle pasture transformed into a growing seabird colony now full of native plants. The success so far highlights the resilience of Hawaiian species and their ability to recover when invasive plants and animals are removed. Work at Mokio is ongoing and you can help: Molokai Land Trust welcomes volunteers, both residents of Molokai and visitors from off-island. If you would like to help in recovery efforts, send an email to volunteersmlt@gmail.com. Follow the progress of the project at molokailandtrust.org and look for them on Facebook.

This article was originally published in the Maui News on May 13th, 2018, as part of the Kia‘i Moku Column from the Maui Invasive Species Committee.

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The native dragonflies and damselflies of Hawaiʻi

Posted on May 18, 2018 by Lissa Strohecker

Megalagrion pacificum is an endangered damselfly found on Maui. Evolving over 20 million years of isolation, these native damselflies and dragonflies are threatened by habitat loss and introduced predators like mosquito fish. — U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service / DAN POLHEMUS photo

Twenty million years ago the Hawaiian Island chain was very different from what we see today. Laysan and Gardner Pinnacles were the prominent islands in the archipelago and the main Hawaiian Islands were merely raw lava flowing through the interior of the planet. Around this time a damselfly arrived to the chain, beating the odds in a successful journey across half an ocean.

This single event led to the evolution of some 26 species and sub-species of native damselflies in Hawaiʻi that exist today, according Dr. Dan Polhemus, the Aquatic Ecosystem Conservation Program Manager for the Pacific Islands Fish & Wildlife Office within the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. He has studied dragonflies and damselflies throughout the Pacific as well as here on Maui.

Perhaps our most spectacular native insects, damselflies and dragonflies were once widespread throughout the islands. Known as pinao in Hawaiian, these insects now exist only in a tiny portion of their historic range. Introduced predators and habitat loss are to blame. Several species are so rare that they are listed as threatened or endangered. They are often extremely localized; some species are now only found in a single stream.

Pinao adapted to take advantage of the resources available in Hawaiian ecosystems. They live in a remarkable range of habitats, from mountain streams to marshlands and brackish anchialine pools.

Perhaps because streamflow is often intermittent, some species adapted to survive outside of streams and pools. There are naiads (larval stage of development) that take advantage of water seeps and pockets of rain that collect in the leaves of ʻieʻie vines. One species of damselfly is completely terrestrial – an adaptation existing in only a few other damselfly species in the world. Their young live in the moist understory of uluhe fern and lack gills found during other damselfly species’ naiad stages.

These hunters evolved eating small insects, both in the water and as they fly through the air. Today, pinao eat a variety of prey, including introduced insects such as mosquitoes. “They are essentially mid-air fighter planes,” says Polhemus. They hunt by folding their legs into a basket to snatch insects from the air. But these aerial predators are prey nowadays.

Lowland marsh and riparian areas have been converted and streams have been diverted. “Intermittent pools have a lot of invasive species,” says Polhemus. Without regular flow to flush out the introduced aquatic species, these pests, such as mosquito fish become established. While the handful of introduced dragonflies have fish avoidance behaviors, the native species, having spent the last 20 million years without predators, are easy prey for non-native fish and other insectivorous invaders. Like native birds in the face of tree-dwelling predators like rats, the larvae are easy picking for voracious mosquito fish. “Where mosquito fish are present, you don’t find native damselflies’” says Polhemus.

Bullfrogs and bulbuls (an invasive bird not present on Maui but found elsewhere in Hawaiʻi) also pose a threat to these ancient colonizers. Bullfrog tadpoles eat dragonfly naiads and bulbuls have been seen snatching the insects from the air.

Ants are another predator. The young naiads climb out of the water to morph into adults on land. Their skin splits open and wings unfold. As they wait for their skeleton to harden and wings to dry they are vulnerable to invasive ants.

There are several species of introduced dragonflies, and most of the dragonflies at low elevation are finddamselflies (distinguished from dragonflies by their ability to fold their wings back at rest) are now found mostly in upper elevations on the Hawaiian Islands, with two species found only on Maui. The largest dragonfly in the United States is found only in Hawaiʻi. Anax strenuus, the Hawaiian giant dragonfly has a wingspan of 6 inches.

You can help protect these unique animals: If you can no longer care for your fish or other aquatic friends, re-home them with someone who can. Never release them into the wild as they can cause ecological damage by pushing out native species, which play an integral role in a healthy Hawaiian ecosystem. Support legislation to maintain streamflow and prevent pollution. To learn more about these fascinating creatures visit: https://dlnr.hawaii.gov/wildlife/files/2013/09/Fact-Sheet-Odonata-damselflies-dragonflies.pdf

This article was originally published in the Maui News on February 11th, 2018 as part of the Kia‘i Moku Column from the Maui Invasive Species Committee.

Natural enemies could tame invasive Himalayan ginger

Posted on April 23, 2018 by Lissa Strohecker

Though not invasive in India where it is native, Himalayan ginger can completely transform a Hawaiian rainforest as it has in this section at a 4,000-foot elevation above Haiku. Ginger fruits can be spread long distance by birds and rats. — FOREST and KIM STARR photo.

Himalayan ginger, Hedychium gardnerianum, is native to the Himalayan foothills. There, it evolved over millennia supporting a diversity of species: the sweet nectar is feed for the long-tongued butterflies of the region and the plant lives in harmony with the species that surround it. Yellow flower stalks dot the landscape amongst hundreds of other orchids, gingers, ferns, and trees.

But in Hawai’i, Himalayan ginger dominates the landscape-growing fast and paving its way into the forest in an unrelenting march. “Himalayan ginger displaces critical native vegetation layers, limits canopy tree recruitment, and hogs water resources in their massive rhizomes (roots). As it takes over and forms monotypic stands, it negatively impacts native flora and fauna, including Hawai’i’s unique arthropod complex and the Hawaiian honeycreepers,” says Alison Cohan, director of the Maui Nui Forest Program with The Nature Conservancy (TNC).

Djami Djeddour, weed biocontrol scientist with the Centre for Agriculture and Bioscience International, inspects a lone Himalayan ginger plant in India while searching for insects and fungi that live on the plant where it is native. These insects may be responsible for keeping the plant in check. — DJAMI DJEDDOUR photo.

Introduced as ornamental, Himalayan ginger escaped backyards and began invading rainforests of East Maui in the mid-1950s. With seeds dispersed far and wide by birds and rats, the weedy plant spreads by leaps and bounds into the forest. Today, much of the mid-elevation rainforest of East Maui is a patchwork of native forest and alien ginger. But there is a lot left to protect: many ginger-free areas remain, including most of West Maui.

Invasive Himalayan ginger taking over the east side of Maui. Ginger fruits can be spread long distance by birds and rats. — FOREST and KIM STARR photo.

An effective natural enemy wouldn’t eliminate the plant, just bring it into harmony with the surrounding environment, much like it is in India and Nepal. One of the most promising insects is a Cloropid fly that lives only on Himalayan ginger. The larvae live inside the stem stunting the growth and reducing flower production. Ginger natural enemies may be ready for release in New Zealand soon, promising progress for Hawai’i.

“An effective natural enemy wouldn’t eliminate the plant, just bring it into harmony with the surrounding environment, much like it is in India and Nepal.”

“The Nature Conservancy had been doing ginger work in Waikamoi for over 30 years, systematically conducting ginger control—containing the core population at the western edge of Waikamoi and eradicating outliers in native forest,” explains Cohan. Crews with Haleakalā National Park work on the flowering pest in Kīpahulu Valley but the plant is widespread and thrives unchecked in wet places throughout the state.

This article was originally published in the Maui News on April 3rd, 2018, as part of the Kia‘i Moku Column from the Maui Invasive Species Committee.

Read more Kiaʻi Moku articles.

A possible solution for the weedy tibouchina

Posted on February 13, 2018 by Lissa Strohecker

The upper elevations of the West Maui mountains are home to unique plants and animals found only here. Among them, species of lobelia and dwarf ʻōhiʻa. Tibouchina is one of the persistent threats to the survival of these rare species. Photo by Lissa Strohecker.

Tucked away in the rain and fog of the West Maui mountains are uniquely Hawaiian treasures: high-elevation bogs carpeted by rare and restricted plants. The last few hāhā (Cyanea magnacalyx) existing in the wild anywhere in the world are found there. Dwarf ʻōhiʻa, two unique silverswords, and many other plants are restricted to the high summit bogs and have adapted to the wet substrate.

Conservation crews monitor these bogs closely–they are in a section of West Maui that is fenced and protected from pigs, goats, and deer. Nonetheless pinhead-sized seeds of invasive cane tibouchina (Tibouchina herbacea) blow into the bog from the lower elevations and threaten the fragile ecosystems.

If crews did not remove tibouchina, it would take over the bog, crowding out the Cyanea and other endangered plants. It’s only in these ecologically sensitive bogs that crews remove tibouchina–there is simply too much of it on the surrounding slopes. As a result, it’s a continuous battle.

“Tibouchina is scattered throughout the 50,000 acre watershed of the West Maui. It’s found from sea level to the summit of Puʻu Kukui, but thrives in the wet windward slopes between 2,000-4,000 feet,” says Chris Brosius, manager of the West Maui Mountain Watershed Partnership. His crew helps to protect the bogs along with the rest of the watershed.

“West Maui is the steepest land area in the state, more dissected by cliffs than any other watershed in the Hawaiian Islands,” says Brosius. Even if they had the capacity, “We couldn’t possibly control this species everywhere it grows.”

Tibouchina thrives where there is soil disturbance–whether from pigs or the landslides that helped shape the West Maui’s. Tibouchina is often the first plant to arrive after a landslide.

Tibouchina belongs to the melastome family, a group of plants that are notoriously invasive in Hawaiʻi–miconia and clidemia are both melastomes. An ugly second-cousin to miconia, tibouchina is often leggy and scruffy looking. The leaves are two inches long, fuzzy, and lack the purple underside that characterizes miconia; the purple flower is pretty, but small–unlike the closely related glory flower.

A member of the melestome family, tibouchina is a notorious invader thatʻs past the stage of containment. Photo by Forest and Kim Starr.

Biologists first noticed tibouchina in 1977 on Big Island and in 1982 near Waiheʻe Ridge on West Maui. Within a few years it had spread throughout Maui, Lānaʻi, and Hawaiʻi Island. By 2005 it was found on Oʻahu, likely introduced on dirty hiking boots. It has shown up on Molokaʻi as well. As a trailside weed, it can be problematic–hikers passing through a patch of tibouchina end up coughing as tiny hairs are knocked off and the plant can be a skin irritant.

Tibouchina is native to Brazil. It can be difficult to find there–occasionally appearing in wet areas and meadows. It only reaches three feet in height and dies back every year. But here in Hawaiʻi, tibouchina can be 9-12 feet high. When last year’s growth dies back, the plant re-sprouts from the roots, creating bamboo-like thickets and taking over habitat for native species.

Why would the plant behave so differently here? One explanation is the lack of predation. Tibouchina evolved in Brazil alongside insects that munch its leaves, seeds, and roots. These insects are not present in Hawaiʻi, so tibouchina grows and spreads unchecked. One of tibouchina’s natural predators is a small beetle–both the larvae and the adults devour tibouchina leaves.

The beetle, called Syphrae uberabensis, can only survive by eating tibouchina and select other melastomes, none of which are native to Hawaiʻi. After 20 years of work collecting and evaluating the beetle’s impacts on other species in quarantine, US Forest Service scientists are confident that the beetle poses no negative threat and are preparing to release it into the wild.

An insect that relies on tibouchina for survival is in the final stages of evaluation for release in Hawaii. The syphrae beetle could make tibouchina less invasive. Photo by Forest and Kim Starr

The syphrae beetle could be what takes tibouchina down a notch–reducing the threat it poses to the remaining habitat of Hawaiʻi’s rarest native plants and animals. “If we don’t intervene, this species will continue to encroach on high-value native areas, erode biodiversity and spread elsewhere in the state,” says Brosius.

Tibouchina is just one example of a widespread pest with dramatic impacts. You can help by cleaning your hiking and hunting gear to prevent spreading hitchhiking pests.

This article was originally published in the Maui News on January 14th, 2018 as part of the Kia‘i Moku Column from the Maui Invasive Species Committee.

Community urged to help protect yellow-faced bees

Tiny golden butterfly could help halt miconia invasion

Fountain grass threatens dryland ecosystems

Illegal dumping risks spreading invasive species

Introduced songbirds can be invasive in Hawai’i

Natural enemies could tame invasive Himalayan ginger

Why would ginger be a pest in one place but not another?

An effective natural enemy wouldn’t eliminate the plant, just bring it into harmony with the surrounding environment, much like it is in India and Nepal.

Native species recovering at Mokio Preserve on Moloka’i

The native dragonflies and damselflies of Hawaiʻi

Natural enemies could tame invasive Himalayan ginger

A possible solution for the weedy tibouchina

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