Availability of food resources, distribution of invasive species, and conservation of a Hawaiian bird along a gradient of elevation

Author:

Banko, Paul C., Oboyski, Peter T., Slotterback, John W., Dougill, Steven J., Goltz, Daniel M., Johnson, Luanne, Laut, Megan E., Murray, T. Collen

Title:

Availability of food resources, distribution of invasive species, and conservation of a Hawaiian bird along a gradient of elevation

Periodical:

Journal of Biogeography

Year:

2002

Volume:

29

Pages:

789-808

Subject:

Palila Loxioides bailleui Mamane Sophora chrysophylla Subalpine forests Translocation Endangered species birds

Summary:

The purpose of this study was to evaluate how an elevation gradient affects the availability of food that is needed by a seed-eater from the family Drepanidinae that is known as the Palila, (Loxioides bailleui), and how the food availability affects the distribution of this endangered Hawaiian bird. Also studied was the distribution of alien threats to this population of birds, their primary food source such as flowers and pods, their dry-forest habitat, and strategies that could be implemented to ensure the conservation of this species. This study was done on the island of Hawaii in the subalpine forest that surrounds Mauna Kea. It was focused mainly between the 2000 and 3000 meter elevation on the western slope of Mauna Kea -- an area in which the gradient of elevation was the greatest and in which the palila was most abundant.

Label:

Birds - Palila

URL:

http://cletus.uhh.hawaii.edu:2074/10.1046/j.1365-2699.2002.00724.x

Date:

2002 May/June

Collection:

Periodicals