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Throughout the world, forests cover mountain slopes only up at a certain elevation. Above that level, trees become scattered. Higher up, no trees are found. The level where the forest ends, called the forest line or timberline, is higher in tropical areas than in colder regions, suggesting that cold climate conditions prevent forests from growing at higher elevations. On tropical island mountains, such as those in the Hawaiian Islands, the forest line is found at a lower elevation than we would expect based on the temperature. This leads us to suspect that some factor other than temperature, such as low rainfall, might be controlling the level of forest lines on these tropical islands. In this project, we sought...
One of the biggest concerns about global climate change impacts relates to how forests and other ecosystems will be affected. Along with increasing concentrations of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and warming temperatures, rainfall, cloud cover, storm frequency, and other aspects of climate will also change. These shifts are likely to have effects on plants, such as changing the amount of water they use or how fast they grow. In this project, we investigated the connections between environmental conditions (such as temperature, rainfall, solar radiation, humidity, wind speed, soil moisture) and plant water use and growth rates of two forest ecosystems in Hawai‘i. Based on those connections, we sought to project...
Drought is a signifcant climate feature in Hawai‘i and the U.S.-Affliated Pacifc Islands (USAPI), at times causing severe impacts across multiple sectors. Below-average precipitation anomalies are often accompanied by higher-than-average temperatures and reduced cloud cover. The resulting higher insolation and evapotranspiration can exacerbate the effects of reduced rainfall. These altered meteorological conditions lead to less soil moisture. Depending on the persistence and severity of the conditions, drier soil can cause plant stress, affecting both agricultural and natural systems. Hydrological effects of drought include reductions in streamfow, groundwater recharge, and groundwater discharge to springs, streams,...