UH Hilo Center for Maunakea Stewardship - Research Library

Nutrient limitation and metrosideros forest dieback in Hawaii

Author:
Gerrish, G., Mueller-Dombois, D., Bridges, K.W.
Title:
Nutrient limitation and metrosideros forest dieback in Hawaii
Periodical:
Ecology
Year:
1988
Volume:
69
Pages:
723-727
Subject:
Fertilization Montane tropical forest Rain forests Ohia dieback Metrosideros polymorpha
Summary:
While large numbers of Ohia (Metrosideros polymorpha), trees have died in the montane rain forest on the Island of Hawaii in the 1960s and 1970s, previous research failed to identify a main cause. As a result, this paper describes an experiment that tested the hypothesis that nutrient deficiency was the principal cause of tree death in the stand-level dieback. The treatments that were used to test this theory were fertilizing, stand thinning, and a combination of both. The experiment revealed that these treatments caused no significant change in the mortality rate of the trees. However, it was found that the stem diameter growth of the surviving trees were nutrient limited at all sites. It was, therefore, concluded that while nutrient deficiency may be a contributing factor, it is not the principal cause of most the Metrosideros dieback.
Label:
Botany - Ohia
URL:
http://cletus.uhh.hawaii.edu:2074/10.2307/1941020
Date:
1988
Collection:
Periodicals