Michael H. Kido

Food relations between coexisting native Hawaiian stream fishes

In this study, an ecomorphological perspective is used to examine the role of feeding morphology in shaping patterns of food resource use and coexistence for Awaous guamensis and Sicyopterus stimpsoni, two native gobies (Gobiidae) which inhabit mountainous streams of the high Hawaiian Islands. Using data from underwater census, gut content analysis, and benthic sampling, I determined that A. guamensis, the generalist, had nearly unchallenged use of invertebrate foods. Overlap in fitness for algal use, however, resulted in a partitioning of benthic algae, with A. guamensis having domain over most green algae (43.0% of diet), whereas S. stimpsoni the algal specialist, fed predominantly on blue-green algae (22.6% of diet) and diatoms (54.2% of diet). Cladophora sp. (Chlorophyta) and pennate diatoms (Chrysophyta) were determined to be the ‘primary algal foods’ of A. guamensis and S. stimpsoni, respectively, and were utilized in a mutually exclusive manner with other ‘secondary algal foods’ depending upon availability. Heterogeneity, found in the abundance and composition of algal and invertebrate foods in the benthic landscape both spatially and seasonally, may be regulated by stream flow and periodic disturbance. This changing mosaic of foods is suggested as having provided opportunities for minimizing competitive conflicts and enhancing the potential for stream species to coexist. Competition for preferred foods, created by inter-specific overlap in ecomorphology and spurred by constraints placed on food diversity by the extreme geographic isolation of the Hawaiian Islands, is hypothesized as having played an evolutionary role in shaping resource use patterns which facilitate coexistence.

Use of Integrated Landscape Indicators to Evaluate the Health of Linked Watersheds and Coral Reef Environments in the Hawaiian Islands

A linkage between the condition of watersheds and adjacent nearshore coral reef communities is an assumed paradigm in the concept of integrated coastal management. However, quantitative evidence for this “catchment to sea” or “ridge to reef” relationship on oceanic islands is lacking and would benefit from the use of appropriate marine and terrestrial landscape indicators to quantify and evaluate ecological status on a large spatial scale. To address this need, our study compared the Hawai‘i Watershed Health Index (HI-WHI) and Reef Health Index (HI-RHI) derived independently of each other over the past decade. Comparisons were made across 170 coral reef stations at 52 reef sites adjacent to 42 watersheds throughout the main Hawaiian Islands. A significant positive relationship was shown between the health of watersheds and that of adjacent reef environments when all sites and depths were considered. This relationship was strongest for sites facing in a southerly direction, but diminished for north facing coasts exposed to persistent high surf. High surf conditions along the north shore increase local wave driven currents and flush watershed-derived materials away from nearshore waters. Consequently, reefs in these locales are less vulnerable to the deposition of land derived sediments, nutrients and pollutants transported from watersheds to ocean. Use of integrated landscape health indices can be applied to improve regional-scale conservation and resource management.

A persistent species assemblage structure along a Hawaiian stream from catchment-to-sea

In Limahuli Stream on the Hawaiian island of Kauai, species assemblage structure was monitored from catchment-to-sea over a 6-year period to determine how individual species utilized the stream continuum spatiotemporally. A persistent pattern was identified in which ten fish and macroinvertebrate species (nine native and one alien) were distributed into distinct zones of highest abundances with overlapping species ranges. Species diversity, as quantified by a dominance measure (Berger–Parker Index), was highest and least variable at the midpoint of the continuum where upstream–downstream species’ ranges converged. Reciprocal fluctuations in the population abundances of dominant species limited overall variation in species diversity to a 22% range which was interpreted as evidence of spatiotemporal persistence of the species assemblage structure. The pattern was captured in a testable, conceptual model which partitions an idealized Hawaiian stream from catchment-to-sea into five functional zones (Estuarine, Lower–Middle–Upper Reach, and Headwaters) positioned as percentages of continuum length. This model may be overlaid upon other Hawaiian streams for testing its applicability as well as to ask a variety of ecological questions about the manner in which species partition habitat spatiotemporally along biophysical gradients.

Integration of Wireless Sensor Networks into Cyberinfrastructure for Monitoring Hawaiian “Mountain-to-Sea” Environments

Monitoring the complex environmental relationships and feedbacks of ecosystems on catchment (or mountain)-to-sea scales is essential for social systems to effectively deal with the escalating impacts of expanding human populations globally on watersheds. However, synthesis of emerging technologies into a robust observing platform for the monitoring of coupled human-natural environments on extended spatial scales has been slow to develop. For this purpose, the authors produced a new cyberinfrastructure for environmental monitoring which successfully merged the use of wireless sensor technologies, grid computing with three-dimensional (3D) geospatial data visualization/exploration, and a secured internet portal user interface, into a working prototype for monitoring mountain-to-sea environments in the high Hawaiian Islands. A use-case example is described in which native Hawaiian residents of Waipa Valley (Kauai) utilized the technology to monitor the effects of regional weather variation on surface water quality/quantity response, to better understand their local hydrologic cycle, monitor agricultural water use, and mitigate the effects of lowland flooding.