Canopy dieback in indigenous forests of Pacific Islands: Hawaii, Papua New Guinea and New Zealand
- Author:
-
Mueller-Dombois, Dieter
- Title:
- Canopy dieback in indigenous forests of Pacific Islands: Hawaii, Papua New Guinea and New Zealand
- Periodical:
- Hawaiian Botanical Society Newsletter
- Year:
- 1982
- Volume:
- 21
- Pages:
- 2-8
- Subject:
-
Canopy dieback
Ohia dieback
Metrosideros polymorpha
Ecosystem management
- Summary:
- In this document, the author attempts to determine the primary causes of indigenous canopy diebacks that occurs in areas such as Fiji, New Caledonia, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, and particularly on the Island of Hawaii. After studying the phenomena in these areas, the author concluded that the island ecosystems are fragile and that a single factor seemed less likely to be the killer of the trees as occurs in the Metrosideros rain forests on the Island of Hawaii. Instead, it seems that possible causes of dieback are environmental, site-specific, disburbances such as root-flooding or root-drying that follows abnormally wet or dry years, or due to low nutrient supplies to certain areas, for example.
- Label:
- Botany - Ohia
- Collection:
- Periodicals