Replacement of Metrosideros polymorpha, Ohia, in Hawaiian dry forest succession
- Author:
-
Stemmermann, Lani, Ihsle, Thomas
- Title:
- Replacement of Metrosideros polymorpha, Ohia, in Hawaiian dry forest succession
- Periodical:
- Biotropica
- Year:
- 1993
- Volume:
- 25
- Pages:
- 36-45
- Subject:
-
Metrosideros polymorpha
Ohia
Ohia-lehua
Tropical dry forests
- Summary:
- Tropical dry forests are among the most endangered of all tropical forest communities with the dry forests of Hawaii being no exception as three quarters of the officially listed endangered Hawaiian plant taxa are from dry forest or dry scrub habitats. As they have suffered from degradation by non-native grazing animals, fire, land conversion, and invading plant species, few of these dry communities in Hawaii remain intact. However, despite their relative rarity, few studies of these systems have been conducted aside from basic descriptions of plant species and communities. While the Metrosideros polymorpha, (Ohia), dominates pioneer dry forest communities in Hawaii, other tree taxa dominate later seral stages where tree density is greater and the dominant species there exhibit significantly lower mid-day plant water potentials than the Metrosideros that occur in nearby pioneer communities. This pattern suggests that the greater water stress that is experienced by the later seral trees may be due to competition for limited water and that this may restrict the Metrosideros from these sites. As a result, the objectives of this study were to: document the different seral communities that occurred in areas with rainfall of less than approximately 1500 millimeters annually, to investigate the possible role of substrate age and water limitation in affecting these seral communities, and to assess the vitality of these rare Hawaiian plant communities.
- Label:
- Ecology - Dry Forests
- URL:
- http://cletus.uhh.hawaii.edu:2075/stable/2388977
- Date:
- March 1993
- Collection:
- Periodicals