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A journal dedicated to conservation and wildlife management in the Pacific region.
RESEARCH ARTICLE

Conservation value of koa (Acacia koa) reforestation areas on Hawaii Island

Laurie Strommer A C and Sheila Conant B
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A Department of Zoology, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu, HI 96822, USA.

B Department of Biology, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu, HI 96822, USA.

C Corresponding author. Email: lestrommer@gmail.com

Pacific Conservation Biology 24(1) 35-43 https://doi.org/10.1071/PC17046
Submitted: 9 October 2017  Accepted: 27 November 2017   Published: 9 January 2018

Abstract

Efforts to restore forests for ecological and economic benefit in Hawaii are converging on koa (Acacia koa), an endemic dominant or codominant canopy tree common across broad elevation and moisture gradients. We quantified plant species composition and forest structure in koa reforestation areas (KRAs) and in nearby intact native forest on Hawaii Island. Total species richness and percentage native species richness were lower in the plantation forests than in the intact forests, although species richness in the KRAs at one site was not significantly different from that in intact forest. Tree, sapling, and seedling densities differed between KRAs and forest sites at one site. At another, the native forest and one KRA had similar tree and seedling densities and similar canopy height and percentage canopy cover. Total stand basal area was greatest in the intact forest at both sites, although the basal area for the KRAs at one site exceeded those for intact forest at the other. Koa plantings can be structurally similar to intact forests though species composition differs. Our results suggest that koa forestry can facilitate native understorey development in some cases.

Additional keywords: Hawaiian forest


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