Rare Hawaiian plants face Kilauea's eruption

More than 1380 plants are native to the Hawaiian Islands, and many of their populations are under constant threat. “The life of a plant on a volcanic island is a rough one”, says botanist Lyman Perry with the state's Division of Forestry and Wildlife (Hilo, HI). “Populations are restricted and...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Frontiers in ecology and the environment 2018-09, Vol.16 (7), p.372
Main Author: Murray, Meghan Miner
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Eruptions
Forestry
Lava
Populations
Volcanic activity
Volcanic eruptions
Volcanic islands
Volcanoes
Wildlife
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Summary:More than 1380 plants are native to the Hawaiian Islands, and many of their populations are under constant threat. “The life of a plant on a volcanic island is a rough one”, says botanist Lyman Perry with the state's Division of Forestry and Wildlife (Hilo, HI). “Populations are restricted and fragmented into tiny pockets. A lot of things are conspiring against it”. Now, as a result of the ongoing eruption from Kilauea Volcano, two rare plants – Ischaemum byrone, a native coastal grass, and Cyrtandra nanawaleensis, a shrub endemic to the “big island” and a relative of the African violet – have lost their largest populations. Both species’ home ranges are still under lava threat.
ISSN:1540-9295
1540-9309
DOI:10.1002/fee.1940