Early recovery of a Hawaiian lowland rainforest following clearcutting at Kalapana on the Island of Hawaii
The recovery of lowland rainforest vegetation on the Island of Hawaii was evaluated 2 years after clearcutting. Rainforest quality was assessed with regeneration success associated with the environmental changes. Sixty-three percent of the 57 vascular species in the forest were native to the Hawaiian rainforest. Phanerophytes were the most important life form. The presence of Psidium cattleianum and other alien species demonstrated disturbances had occurred in selected areas prior to the clearcutting. Two years after clearcutting (1987), only 24% of the 101 species coming into the clearcut area were native. The shrubs, micro- and nano-phanerophyte, were the dominant life forms, represented by Pipturus albidus, a native rainforest shrub or tree, and four non-native shrub species. Metrosideros polymorpha, the dominant tree in the native forest, was successfully regenerating from seed across the clear-cut area. The forest seedbank analysis also demonstrated that Metrosideros, along with the seeds of important exotic species colonizing the clearcut area were presented in the forest soils. The forest and clearcut species had a high rate of correlation with the elevation gradient. The underlying lava flows strong influenced past and present vegetation associations. In the clearcut area, the degree of compaction and distance from the forest were critical factors determining the composition of recovering vegetation. The microclimate variables of soils, significantly altered due to the effects of clearcutting, and competition from weeds probably lead to poor germination and growth of native rainforest species. This native forest is not pristine, but unique in stature, in complex of cohort stands, and in position on the landscape. It is extremely prone to species composition shift following perturbation, due to the presence of the weed seedbank in the forest seedbank as demonstrated in the dominance of these species across the clearcut area.
- Research Organization:
- Hawaii Univ., Honolulu, HI (United States)
- OSTI ID:
- 6080259
- Resource Relation:
- Other Information: Thesis (Ph.D.)
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
09 BIOMASS FUELS
DEFORESTATION
BIOLOGICAL EFFECTS
FORESTS
REVEGETATION
SPECIES DIVERSITY
HAWAII
COMPETITION
LAVA
PLANT GROWTH
SEEDS
SHRUBS
SOILS
WEEDS
DEVELOPED COUNTRIES
GROWTH
NORTH AMERICA
PLANTS
USA
560400* - Other Environmental Pollutant Effects
095000 - Biomass Fuels- Environmental Aspects- (1990-)