Understanding Hawaiian forest Ecosystems : the key to biological conservation

Author:

Mueller-Dumbois, D.

Title:

Understanding Hawaiian forest Ecosystems : the key to biological conservation

Periodical:

Island ecosystems, biological organization in selected Hawaiian communities

Year:

1981

Pages:

p. 502-520

Subject:

Forests and forestry Forest ecology Ohia Metrosideros collina Koa Acacia koa

Summary:

Two dominant life forms in the Hawaiian forest communities are the endemic trees -- the ohia (Metrosideros collina subsp. polymorpha) and the koa (Acacia koa), that are the two most abundant native tree species that occur on all of the high Hawaiian Islands. This chapter focuses exploring the question of island forest maintenance, under natural conditions, where the initial working hypothesis that island ecosystem stability is related to the behavior of dominant life forms that is defined as those species or groups of species whose activity pattern has a profound stabilizing or destabilizing effect on the rest of the ecosystem.

Collection:

Monographs