The Army in Hawaii manages more endangered species than any other federal agency in the state. It has more than 100 employees protecting natural resources on Army lands on Oahu and Hawaii Island, said Michelle Mansker, Natural Resource Teams chief.
BY CAROLYN LUCAS-ZENK | WEST HAWAII TODAY
clucas-zenk@westhawaiitoday.com
The 105,000 acres of the Pohakuloa Training Area are a tropical, subalpine, dryland ecosystem and home to 15 federally protected plants, several of which are the sole remaining wild survivors.
Scientists from the U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service and two universities are taking to the skies for a more precise understanding of the Army’s training area topography to help predict best suited locations for plant restoration.
The team recently received a U.S. Department of Defense’s Environmental Security Technology Certification Program $1.4 million grant to begin a four-year research project using sophisticated topographic models.
The project begins in June at PTA, located on the saddle between Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea.
The team includes Susan Cordell, the forest service’s Pacific Southwest Research Station research ecologist; Erin Questad, biological sciences department assistant professor at California State Polytechnic University, Pomona; and James Kellner, geography department assistant professor at the University of Maryland.
They developed topographic models using elevation measurements from high-resolution airborne light detecting and ranging, or LiDAR, that predict habitat suitability for existing threatened, endangered and at-risk plant species in dry environments. Favorable areas are often topographic depressions where soil and water accumulate and where plants are protected from strong winds, Cordell said.
LiDAR works like radar, but uses light waves instead of radio waves to measure the distance of objects. The information can be used to measure habitat structure, topography and biomass. LiDAR images can also be tailored to reveal different levels of detail, including individual plant pigmentation. The process, however, also is very expensive, Cordell said.
Scientists will expand the technology by using high-resolution stereographic satellite observation data to create digital elevation models to gauge more precisely habitat suitability. Satellites have access to vast areas and the imagery is “more freely available” for global locations, meaning the methodology the team develops can be used to generate habitat suitability models for sites worldwide, Cordell said.
The team will develop a habitat suitability model and then set up a demonstration plot testing plant survival across a range of predicted suitability.
“In Hawaii alone, the Department of Defense spends nearly $10 million annually on environmental programs to protect these species and their associated critical habitat,” Cordell said. “This work could potentially redefine the way conservation-related land management agencies in dry ecosystems manage their restoration programs by providing a set of quantitatively based and spatially explicit tools to ensure effective and compliant land use management for species recovery.”
Dryland forests are among the most threatened of all tropical forest ecosystems, largely because of the impact of grazing animals, invasive species, fire and land conversion. Only about 5 percent of Hawaii dryland forest habitats remain, Cordell said.
“PTA will provide support and assistance throughout this research project. Any knowledge gained is helpful to the Army in further understanding and protecting the environment, as well as managing threats and becoming better stewards,” said PTA Public Affairs Officer Bob McElroy. “We take protecting our natural and cultural resources as seriously as properly training our military units.”
PTA’s Natural Resources Team consists of 38 employees, who protect threatened and endangered species on the military property, grow and monitor plants, construct firebreaks and remove invasive species. More than 2,000 endangered and common native plants are annually replanted into the wild, McElroy said.
The Army’s conservation efforts and partnerships in Hawaii have gained exposure. Its Oahu Natural Resource team won Friday an award recognizing excellence in the development, management and transferability of programs that increase environmental quality, enhance the mission and make the Army sustainable.
The Army in Hawaii manages more endangered species than any other federal agency in the state. It has more than 100 employees protecting natural resources on Army lands on Oahu and Hawaii Island, said Michelle Mansker, Natural Resource Teams chief. She said the award “tells the story that the Army is doing the right things for our resources in Hawaii.”
