Presenter(s): Sierra Ching − Environmental Science
Faculty Mentor(s): Peg Boulay
Oral Session 4CS
Research Area: Restoration Ecology
Funding: National Science Foundation Research Experience for Undergraduates, University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo, Americorps Kupu Hawaiʻi, Pacific Internship Programs for Exploring Sciences
Worldwide, bird populations suffer from habitat loss, invasive species, and disease. Avian keystone species are vital to conserve in the wild because of their strong roles in ecosystems in which they live. The ʻAlalā (Corvus hawaiiensis) is a keystone species in the Hawaiian Islands because of its seed dispersal and germination capabilities, which are vital for
the restoration of wet and mesic forests. The ʻAlalā went extinct in the wild in 2002 and its reintroduction into the wild is supported by the San Diego Zoo Institute for Conservation Research’s Hawaiʻi Endangered Bird Conservation Program. The current reintroduction site is located at the Puʻu Makaʻala Natural Area Reserve on the Island of Hawaiʻi. My project analyzed the composition between two adjacent geological substrates at the reintroduction site. I used haphazard sampling to collect data for species composition, vegetation structure, and canopy density through a Braun-Blanquet categorical system. The results did not find significant differences therefore neither substrate was considered to have more of the variables studied than the other.