About The Researchers
Miriam San José,
Investigator at
Charles Darwin Research Station
Rakan "Zak" A. Zahawi,
Executive Director and CEO at
Charles Darwin Research Station
Becky Ostertag,
Professor at
University of Hawai'i at Hilo
Emma Stierhoff,
Ecological Research & Outreach Technician at
Research Corporation of University of Hawai'i
Akbar Reza,
Faculty of Biology at
Universitas Gadjah Mada, Indonesia
Moderated by Brittany Cavazos,
Assistant Professor of Biology at Stonehill College, Massachusetts
Hosted by Kerry Wininger,
Outreach & Project Development Lead at
Center for Environmental Inquiry, Sonoma State University
About This Ecosystem
Countries::
Asia, North America
States or Provinces::
Hawaii
Climate Zones:
Tropical
Biomes:
Tropical Forest
Habitat Types:
Terrestrial
Concepts Explored in this Video
Abiotic Processes: In lands previously used for intensive agriculture and mining, temperature, light, moisture, and depleted soil nutrients limit forest recovery; Plant functional traits vary predictably (for the most part!) across abiotic resource availability gradients and across biomes.
Biotic Processes: Animals that commonly disperse seeds of larger-seeded tree species often will not cross open agricultural land unless there is some tree cover in the landscape; The Hawaiian Islands are an extreme case study for biological invasion
Climate Change: It is often not feasible to restore forests to a previous state for reasons that include the lack of information on the historic species’ composition, colonization by highly invasive non-native species, and climate change.
Culture, Sociology, Politics: Even though there are many ecological obstacles to forest recovery, social and economic considerations are probably more important: who owns the land, is their ownership secure, and how will they continue to earn money from the land once restoration begins?
Human-Environment Interactions: People and plants have long-standing and complex relationships, and in many indigenous cultures plants, animals, and other elements of nature are relatives or kin.
Technology: Technology is needed to analyze and visualize results of complicated ecological research.