Endemic yellow-faced bees, anchialine pool shrimp and the orangeblack Hawaiian damselfly are among dozens of plants and animals the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is proposing to classify as endangered species.
Twenty-two of the suggested species were historically or are currently found on Hawaii Island. Though none of the species is listed as exclusively being found on Hawaii Island, several of them have not been observed on other islands during the past 20 years.
The federal agency says the species are at risk of extinction because of habitat loss and degradation caused by invasive species, recreational and human activities, erosion, floods, and fires. “The effects of climate change are likely to exacerbate the impacts of these threats, and may become a threat in the future,” the proposal also notes.
Listing the species, which were already candidate species for protection, will enhance conservation efforts and improve ecological health of the Hawaiian Islands, according to the Fish and Wildlife Service. The agency has one year to make a determination on the proposal, which was slated to be published Wednesday in the Federal Register.
The following 22 species found on Hawaii Island that are proposed for protection are:
– Oceanodroma castro (band-rumped storm petrel): This small seabird occurs in Japan, Hawaii and the Atlantic. Band-rumped storm-petrels are regularly observed in coastal waters around Kauai, Niihau and Hawaii Island. Kauai has the largest population, estimated at 221 nesting pairs. The service does not have an estimate of total numbers in Hawaii, but noted surveys confirmed its presence at Pohakuloa Training Area.
– Hylaeus anthracinus (yellow-faced bee): Hylaeus anthracinus was historically known from numerous coastal and lowland dry forest habitats up to 2,000 feet in elevation on Hawaii Island, Maui, Lanai, Molokai and Oahu. Currently, the species is known from 15 small patches of coastal and lowland dry forest habitat at five locations on Hawaii Island, two on Maui, one on Kahoolawe, three on Molokai and four on Oahu. The number of individual bees is unknown.
– Megalagrion xanthomelas (orangeblack Hawaiian damselfly): Historically, this species probably occurred on all of the main Hawaiian Islands (except Kahoolawe) in suitable aquatic habitat within the coastal, lowland dry, and lowland mesic ecosystems. On Hawaii Island, it was found in areas such as Hilo, Kona, Naalehu and the Panaewa Forest Reserve. Currently, the orangeblack Hawaiian damselfly occurs on five islands; several large populations exist in coastal wetlands on Hawaii Island at Anaehoomalu Bay, Kawa Bay, Hilea Stream, Hilo, Honokohau, Kiholo Bay, Ninole Springs, Onomea Bay, Whittington Beach, Keaukaha, Kapoho, Honaunau and Pohue Bay.
– Procaris hawaiana (anchialine pool shrimp): Procaris hawaiana is an endemic species known only from the islands of Maui and Hawaii. Of the 600 to 650 anchialine pools on Hawaii Island, only 25 are known to contain Procaris hawaiana. During nocturnal-diurnal surveys conducted in 2009-10, 19 pools within the Manuka Natural Area Reserve, five pools on unencumbered state land adjacent to Manuka and and a pool at Lua o Palahemo were found to contain the shrimp.
– Calamagrostis expansa (Maui reedgrass): In 1995, the species was found in seven locations, totaling approximately 750 individuals, on Hawaii Island and 17 locations on Maui. Currently, this species is known from 13 occurrences totaling fewer than 750 individuals from both islands. On Hawaii Island, there are three occurrences in Kohala Mountain, totaling approximately 400 individuals, and one occurrence of a few individuals within Hawaii Volcanoes National Park.
– Cyclosorus boydiae (kupukupu makalii): Historically, this medium-sized member of the thelypteroid fern family was known from near sea level to 4,400 feet on Oahu, Maui and Hawaii Island. Currently, it is found only at higher elevations on Oahu and Maui, in seven occurrences totaling approximately 400 individuals. Historically, the fern was found in the lowland wet ecosystem on Hawaii Island, but has not been observed in the past 20 years.
– Deparia kaalaana (no common name): This small, terrestrial fern is historically known from Kauai, Maui and Hawaii Island. Deparia kaalaana was presumed extinct on all three islands until one individual was discovered on Maui. Historically, the fern was found on Hawaii Island, but has not been observed in the past 20 years.
– Exocarpos menziesii (heau): This shrub in the sandalwood family historically was found on Lanai and Hawaii Island, from Kahuku Ranch to Puukapele. Currently, there is one scattered occurrence of fewer than 20 individuals on the slopes of Hualalai and approximately 1,800 individuals in the U.S. Army’s Pohakuloa Training Area. There are no known occurrences on Lanai.
– Festuca hawaiiensis (no common name): This member of the grass family historically was found on Hualalai and Puu Huluhulu on Hawaii Island, and possibly at Ulupalakua on Maui; however, it is no longer found at these sites. Currently, it is only known at four occurrences, totaling 1,500 individuals, at Pohakuloa Training Area within an a 10-square-mile area.
– Gardenia remyi (nanu): This member of the coffee family historically was found on Hawaii Island at Wao Kele O Puna NAR, Waiakea Forest Reserve, Pahoa and Hakalau Nui, as well as on Maui, Molokai and Kauai. Today, Gardenia remyi is known from 19 occurrences totaling approximately 90 individuals on Hawaii Island, Maui, Molokai and Kauai.
– Huperzia stemmermanniae (no common name): Little information is available on the historical range of this hanging fir-moss species. Currently, approximately 30 individuals occur in the Laupahoehoe area on Hawaii Island. One individual on Maui has not been located since 1995.
– Joinvillea ascendens ssp. ascendens (ohe): Historically, this subspecies was widely distributed on Kauai, Oahu, Molokai, Maui and Hawaii Island. Today, it is still found on the same islands with 56 occurrences totaling approximately 200 individuals. On Hawaii Island, the known occurrences have decreased from 17 locations to two since the 1950s.
– Microlepia strigosa var. mauiensis (no common name): Little is known of the historical locations of Microlepia strigosa var. mauiensis; however, it had a wide range on the islands of Hawaii, Maui and Oahu. Currently, the fern is known most recently from nine occurrences totaling fewer than 100 individuals, 35 of which were last observed on Hawaii Island in 2004.
– Ochrosia haleakalae (holei): This member in the dogbane family historically was found on Maui and Hawaii Island. Currently, there are four occurrences on Hawaii Island totaling 16 individuals; however, some of the individuals have not been confirmed in recent years. Maui accounts for four occurrences totaling 15 individuals.
– Phyllostegia brevidens (no common name): This climbing subshrub in the mint family historically was found in the Hilo Forest Reserve, Mauna Kea and Kulani on Hawaii Island, as well as on Maui. Currently, there is one known occurrence of two individuals on Maui.
– Phyllostegia stachyoides (no common name): This member of the mint family was historically found on Molokai, Maui and across Hawaii Island. Currently, it is known from seven occurrences, totaling 20 individuals. Several individuals resembling P. stachyoides were observed at Kaohe on Hawaii Island; however, their identity has not been confirmed.
– Portulaca villosa (ihi): This perennial herb was historically found on all the main Hawaiian Islands except Niihau and Kauai. On Hawaii Island, there are five occurrences in the Pohakuloa Training Area, totaling 10 individuals. It has not been observed on Oahu since the 1960s.
– Ranunculus hawaiensis (makou): Historically, Ranunculus hawaiensis was wide-ranging on Hawaii Island, including in Kona, on Hualalai, on Mauna Kea, and in Ka‘u, and Maui. In the 1980s and ‘90s, the species numbered several hundred individuals on both islands. Currently, there are six occurrences totaling 14 individuals on Hawaii Island.
– Ranunculus mauiensis (makou): This perennial herb in the buttercup family historically was found on Kauai, Oahu, Molokai, Maui and Hawaii Island. Currently, R. mauiensis is known from 14 occurrences (totaling approximately 200 individuals) on Kauai, Maui and Molokai. No occurences have been observed on Hawaii Island since 1980.
– Sanicula sandwicensis (no common name): This perennial herb in the parsley family is historically known from the islands of Maui and Hawaii. Currently, there are fewer than 20 individuals on Maui; none have been observed on Hawaii Island since the 1990s.
– Sicyos macrophyllus (anunu): This perennial vine in the gourd family historically was found on Hawaii Island, including in Puuwaawaa, Laupahoehoe, Puna and South Kona, and Maui. Currently, S. macrophyllus is known from 10 occurrences with up to 26 individuals, on Hawaii Island. It has not been observed since 1987 on Maui.
– Solanum nelsonii (popolo): This shrub, a member of the nightshade family, was historically found on Hawaii Island, Niihau and the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. It was last collected on Niihau in 1949 and the only known individual on Maui was reported to have disappeared in the mid-1990s. Currently, about 50 individuals can be found in the coastal ecosystem on Hawaii Island and Molokai. The plant is also found in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands of Kure, Midway, Laysan, Pearl and Hermes and Nihoa.
To view the remaining 27 species not found on the Big Island, but proposed for protection under the Endangered Species Act, check out the online version of this story at www.westhawaiitoday.com.
The public has 60 days to comment on the proposal, which was scheduled to be published Wednesday. A public hearing can also be requested within 45 days of the proposal’s publication. If such a hearing is requested, notice will be posted 15 days before the hearing in a local newspaper.
Comments can be submitted electronically at www.regulations.gov or via mail to Public Comments Processing, Attn: FWS–R1–ES–2015–0125, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, MS: BPHC, 5275 Leesburg Pike, Falls Church, VA 22041-3803.