The number of Hawaiian plants listed as threatened or endangered on the list maintained by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service stands at 273. A roughly equivalent number of Hawaiian plants — “between 250 and 275,” says stae botanist Vickie Caraway — are species of concern that, she adds, “in any other state would be listed as endangered.”
About 150 plants are in extremely critical condition, with fewer than 50 individuals in the wild. For these, the Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources has developed what Caraway calls a “genetic safety net,” where the state monitors the wild population, collects seed when available, outplants seedlings, and stores the genetic material at Lyon Arboretum and other facilities. Caraway has one contract employee to work on this project.
In some cases, the plants at risk can be easily propagated. Lobelias are a cinch to grow in the greenhouse, Caraway says, but when planted in the wild, they are susceptible to predation by slugs. Slugs may also be a factor in the failure of plants in the wild to reproduce.
“Caesalpinia — uhiuhi — propagates marvelously,” she adds, “but there is no place to outplant it. The suitable lowland areas have been trashed and what’s left is very small, with lots of pests.”
The most imperiled may well be the [i]Kokia cookei,[/i] or Cooke’s koki`o. Only one plant remains and that is grafted onto another endangered species. “It doesn’t get much worse than that,” says Caraway.
But there are some successes. About 15,000 Mauna Loa silverswords ([i]Argyroxiphium kauense[/i]) have been planted at high elevations on the Big Island. “A champion — Rob Robichaux — stepped up to the plate,” says Caraway, referring to a botanist with Arizona State University who has worked for years to restore the species. Conditions for its restoration were far more favorable than for many other species, she notes. “Its habitat — 8,000 to 10,000 foot elevation — hasn’t been invaded by weeds. There are no slugs or borers, and most of the ungulates have been removed.”
More than any other agency, whether federal or state, the DLNR has chief responsibility for protecting the plants of Hawaii. Yet Caraway has seen her budget shrink. Most of the funds she has come from the Fish and Wildlife Service, which in fiscal 2004 provided the DLNR’s Division of Foresty and Wildlife with about $336,000 for plant protection projects.
“This year,” Caraway says, “the amount will be lower.” In fiscal 2005, the state diverted to the Hawai`i Invasive Species Council a large portion of the money that had been used to match the federal funds. As a result, Caraway was forced to discontinue three plant projects.
“Triage is what we’re doing,” she says. “We look for where we can have the biggest impact and have to make hard choices. Not everything is going to be saved.”
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— Patricia Tummons
Volume 15, Number 11 May 2005