I spent the week helping with the annual Hakalau Forest NWR bird survey. Hakalau Forest National Wildlife Refuge is a set of old cattle pastures on the windward slopes of Mauna Kea from 5000-6500 feet elevation. They were purchased build a National Wildlife Refuge because some of the largest populations of endangered native forest birds were found in the remnant native rainforests below (Hilo Forest Reserve) the pastures, as well as tiny populations in the arid montane forests above (Mauna Kea Forest Reserve) the pastures. The area has a long history of ranching and logging, with a number of associated historical sites. When acquired, the condition of the pastures ranged from degraded remnant native forests, through sparsely treed pastures, to completely deforested grass pastures. The adjacent forest reserves were heavily degraded by feral pigs and cattle, which continues to be a huge problem today. A large reforestation effort began after the NWR was established, principally with fast-growing koa. Some of the most originally barren pastures now sprout strips of koa that occasionally have matured enough to form a partial canopy, and thousands of koa root-suckers are coming up. Additionally, the adjacent forest reserves have a few endangered plants that survived many decades of cattle and pig infestation, and these are raised in the greenhouse on site and outplanted in the NWR.

Click Here To Read The Full Report, With Maps and Photos

The bird surveys follow 14 transects, with point count stations spaced at 200 meter intervals, beginning near the upper boundary of the NWR at 6000-6500 feet elevation, and ending a little over a kilometer into the native forests below the lower boundaries of the former pastures, at about 5000 feet elevation. The bird population dwindles rapidly near the bottom ends of the transects, where the forests become increasingly wet and boggy and the upper canopy becomes shorter and opens up. In the surveyed areas of the native forest koa and 'ohi'a are the principal canopy trees, and though the forest canopy is impressive it's botanically not particularly diverse at these elevations. Unfortunately Hakalau Forest NWR doesn't have a very informative web site at this point.

The attached maps show the locations of the three transects I did this week, and of our calibration area. On the big map, the top transect runs through the Maulua tract, the middle transect runs through the Honohina tract, and the bottom transect runs through the Hakalau tract. The final part of Hakalau Forest NWR is the Pua 'Akala Tract at the bottom, where I didn't have any transects. We stayed at the bright cluster of buildings visible in one of the satellite images at the top of the Hakalau tract, where the main cabin complex is located. The three points in the middle of the Hakalau tract were our calibration area on Monday.

The Maulua tract is less forested than the satellite image appears to show, though it is more forested than some of the other areas. It probably wasn't logged as extensively. The Maulua tract is mostly pasture grass with tall remnant trees, though in some areas ferns and shrubs are filling in. Common native birds were fairly numerous in the old Maulua pastures.

The Honohina tract is the least forested. There are a few remnant trees, but most of the trees are koa reforestation plantings. Native birds were less numerous in Honohina than in Maulua, and some aliens such as house finch, Japanese white-eye and wild turkey were more numerous. The Piha section of Hilo Forest Reserve separates Maulua and Honohina. At the northeastern corner of the Honohina tract is the old Nauhi Agricultural Experiment Station, and throughout the Piha tract the satellite image shows alien trees (different colors than the natives) that were planted during forestry experiments. Some are invading the native forests.

In the Hakalau tract we did our calibration, and I did my only transect in the native forest. The far end of my transect followed the South branch of Hakalau Stream. The Hakalau and Pua 'Akala tracts have higher densities of the endangered birds than the Honohina, Piha and especially the Maulua tract.

I will post the small number of photos I was able to take when I have more time...

3/22/10 Hakalau Tract Calibration Counts:
(Species Codes Here)

station	time	APAP	IIWI	HAAM	OMAO	ELEP	HCRE	AKIP	AKEP	JAWE	HOFI	RBLE	NOCA	ERFR	WITU	KAPH	Notes
Hakalau Calib	1130	5	2	6	1	1	2		2	2			1				tall canopy
Hakalau Calib	1200	7	5	1	1	1				3							tall canopy
Hakalau Calib	1400	2	5	4		1				3		1	1				tall canopy
Hakalau Calib	1445	7	5	5	2	1		2	1	3		2					tall canopy
station	time	APAP	IIWI	HAAM	OMAO	ELEP	HCRE	AKIP	AKEP	JAWE	HOFI	RBLE	NOCA	ERFR	WITU	KAPH	Notes

3/23/10 Maulua Tract Counts:
(Species Codes Here)

station	time	APAP	IIWI	HAAM	OMAO	ELEP	HCRE	AKIP	AKEP	JAWE	HOFI	RBLE	NOCA	ERFR	WITU	KAPH	Notes
14-1	0707	21	4	9	2					4			1		1
14-1b	0730	2	5	6	2					3		2	2
14-2	0750	3	5	6	1					1		3
14-3	0810	6	2	8						4		1
14-4	0830	8	3	10	2	1				1		1
14-5	0854	4	7	6	4					4		2	1
14-6	0915	6	7	7	1					3		3	1			1
14-7	0937	8	4	8	1	2				4		2
14-8	1000	5	7	9	1					3		7	1
14-9	1022	10	4	6	3					1		4
14-10	1049	7	6	3	3					3		2	1
14-11	1116	10	9	3	2					2		4
14-12	1138	5	4	7	3	1				1
14-13	1200	9	4	5	1	1				6		2
14-14	1218	7	5	5	2		1			3		2
14-14	1242	6	6	7	2					3		2
14-15	1300	7	3	5	2	1	2			4		2					Native forest
14-16	1336	15	3	5	1					4		2					Native forest
14-16	1408	6	2	3	1	3						2					Native forest
14-15	1500	7	4	4		2	1			1		1					Native forest
station	time	APAP	IIWI	HAAM	OMAO	ELEP	HCRE	AKIP	AKEP	JAWE	HOFI	RBLE	NOCA	ERFR	WITU	KAPH	Notes

3/24/10 Hakalau Tract Counts:
(Species Codes Here)

station	time	APAP	IIWI	HAAM	OMAO	ELEP	HCRE	AKIP	AKEP	JAWE	HOFI	RBLE	NOCA	ERFR	WITU	KAPH	Notes
8-17	0715	8	3	1		1			1	2						1
8-18	0747	6	2	1	2		2		1	2
8-19	0818	4	3	2	1	2		1	1								Drizzle
8-20	0846	3	2	4	2	2	1										Drizzle
8-21	0937	3	4	1			1			1		1	1				Rain
8-22	1008	5	2	1								1					Rain
8-23	1048	6	2			2											Drizzle
8-24	1122	3	3	1	1	1			1			2
8-25	1208	5	1			2
station	time	APAP	IIWI	HAAM	OMAO	ELEP	HCRE	AKIP	AKEP	JAWE	HOFI	RBLE	NOCA	ERFR	WITU	KAPH	Notes

3/25/10 Honohina Tract Counts:
(Species Codes Here)

station	time	APAP	IIWI	HAAM	OMAO	ELEP	HCRE	AKIP	AKEP	JAWE	HOFI	RBLE	NOCA	ERFR	WITU	KAPH	Notes
11-1	0703	1	1	4		1				4	1			1	1
11-2	0726		4	2	1					6	3	1	4
11-3	0745	3		2						5		3
11-4	0803	13	1	4						2					1
11-5	0823	21	3	7	1					3
11-6	0845	7	2	3						2					1
11-7	0905	6		3	1					4	1		1
11-8	0924	2		3						7
11-9	0940	2	3	4						9
11-10	0959	8	1	7						4		2
11-11	1018	2		4						4
11-12	1038	12	3	5	3					3		1		1
Nauhi Cabin	1200	11	2	3	1	2	1			1		1
station	time	APAP	IIWI	HAAM	OMAO	ELEP	HCRE	AKIP	AKEP	JAWE	HOFI	RBLE	NOCA	ERFR	WITU	KAPH	Notes