Hawai‘i Conservation Alliance Awards
The Hawai‘i Conservation Alliance strives to recognize achievements in the Hawaiian conservation community at all levels, from high school students to seasoned professionals. Each year the HCA presents a variety of awards, the recipients of which are honored at the Hawai‘i Conservation Conference.
Conservation Innovation Award
Given to the instigators or champions of a procedure that leads to significant advances to the structure or nature of environmental conservation in Hawai’i.
Land Acquisition Community
The Conservation Innovation Award is presented to the instigators or champions of a procedure that leads to significant advances to the structure or nature of environmental conservation in Hawai‘i. In 2008, the HCA Partners honored the greater land acquisition community.
In the past five years, a remarkable revolution has occurred in Hawai‘i with increased acquisition of conservation land. At the beginning of 2002, Hawai‘i had very little dedicated public funding for acquisition of conservation land. The Nature Conservancy and the Trust for Public Lands had been active in Hawai‘i for many years, but local land trusts were in their infancy stages.
Since those early months of 2002, however, several Federal government agencies, the State of Hawai‘i, all the counties, and several private land trusts have gone from the back of the pack in private land conservation to become recognized as national leaders.
This quantum leap in conservation was achieved not because of the efforts of just one organization, but rather by a massive shift in perception and participation by Hawai‘i’s citizens, political leaders, and agencies.
The HCA wishes to honor this achievement and the creative new partnerships, ideas, and tools across our community that continue to develop during this era of innovation.
Student Awards
Each year at the conference, the HCA awards prizes to the top student oral and poster presenters. Monetary awards were sponsored by the Hawai’i Conservation Alliance and The Wildlife Society-Hawai’i Chapter.
Best Student Oral Presentation:
Lindsay Young, University of Hawai’i at Manoa, Honolulu, HI
From Molecules to Management: Conservation Genetics For The Non Geneticist Using Laysan Albatross as a Model
The use of genetics is an increasingly popular tool in managing populations of declining species. Molecular markers can supply conservation biologists and resource managers with a wealth of information that can be used to make informed management decisions such as: effective population size, the amount of migration between breeding colonies, the source of migrants for newly formed colonies and the colony of origin for animals killed as bycatch in fisheries or in the illegal wildlife trade. However, the methods used and how to correctly interpret them are often lost in translation from researcher to manager. This talk will cover current types of molecular data in a simplified format, and how they can be applied to a variety of species using Laysan Albatross (Phoebastria immutabilis) as an example. Laysan Albatross (Phoebastria immutabilis) are large, pelagic seabirds that once bred on oceanic islands spanning the sub tropical North Pacific. They are characterized by their high dispersal ability, low reproductive output and high natal philopatry. Feather hunting, egg collecting and other anthropogenic disturbances over the last 200 years extirpated most breeding colonies leaving only those located in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. However, in the 1970’s Laysan Albatross began re-colonizing sites in Japan, the main Hawaiian Islands and off of Mexico. Genetic results indicate that there is population separation between colonies and that multiple colonies are supplying recruits for these ‘new’ colonies across the Pacific. These results can be used to assist in prioritization of conservation actions on a colony by colony basis.
Runner-up:
Jeff Eble, Hawai’i Institute of Marine Biology, Kaneohe, HI
Endemism and Dispersal: Comparative Phylogeography of Three Surgeonfishes Across the Hawaiian Archipelago
It remains controversial whether a general correlation exists between range size and dispersal ability, where range-restricted endemism is indicative of lower dispersal ability. To evaluate this hypothesis we surveyed mitochondrial cytochrome b sequence variation in three surgeonfish species with vastly different ranges: Ctenochaetus strigosus, Hawaiian endemic, N = 531; Zebrasaoma flavescens, North Pacific, N = 560; Acanthurus nigrofuscus, Indo-Pacific, N = 298. Collections were made throughout the 2500 km expanse of the Hawaiian Archipelago and adjacent Johnston Atoll. Analyses of molecular variance demonstrate that each species is capable of maintaining population connectivity on a scale of thousands of kilometers. However, collections of the endemic C. strigosus revealed significant restrictions to gene flow within the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument.
These results are consistent with current surveys of Hawaiian reef fauna where widely distributed species exhibited genetic homogeneity across the archipelago while endemics revealed significant population subdivision over the same range. These findings invoke the tantalizing hypothesis that Hawaii’s endemic marine fauna evolved from species with reduced dispersal ability that, after initial colonization, could not maintain contact with parent populations.
Best Student Poster Presentation:
Mali’o Kodis, Nathan Olson, Waiakea High School, Hilo, HI
An Analysis of the Prokaryotic Community Associated with the Mucus of Montipora patula
Coral mucus is the main ecotome, or barrier, between the coral animal and the disease inhibited water column. It has implications to be an important factor in the study of coral population demise due to diseases. This study addresses that lack of research with the first step towards understanding the role of the microbial community associated with Montipora patula in protecting the coral from harmful diseases and pathogens. In this study, the microbial community associated with the mucus of M. patula was identified to consist of a great diversity of bacteria. Gram staining, ribotype analysis, and fluorescence in situ hybridization were used to attain the following results: Gram positive and gram negative bacteria were found to be present within the mucus, and many of the bacteria were found to have known symbiotic relationships with marine organisms, including sea sponge, tubeworms, and other coral species. The implications for further studies are toward effective design of conservation efforts, because exposing coral mucus’ microbial community composition is the first step towards studying coral mucus’ underlying role in the increasing
devastation of coral disease worldwide.
Runner Up:
Orville Baldos, University of Hawai’i at Manoa, Honolulu, HI
The Response of Fimbristylis cymosa R. Br. to Three Methods of Hydroplanting
Establishing native species on any roadside re-vegetation project requires proper species selection and planting techniques. Hydroplanting is a well established method of large-scale planting which involves the application of seeds, sprigs or stolons via a water jet. This technology, used to stabilize steep slopes and establish turfgrass in residential areas, is being developed for roadside establishment of native Hawaiian species. In this study, three aspects of hydroplanting Fimbristylis cymosa were assessed on compost filled plots (9.3 m2). Treatments consisted of the following: hand sown two month old seedlings (199 plants/m2) covered with hydromulch (4400 kg paper mulch/ha); hydroseeding (a mix of seed and hydromulch applied at a rate of 481 seeds/m2 and 2200 kg paper mulch/ha); and a hydroplanted mix of two month old seedlings (199 plants/m2) and hydromulch (4400 kg paper mulch/ha). The hydroplanting system used to apply the treatments consisted of a 190 liter tank connected a centrifugal pump applying approximately 114 liters per minute. Data collected included plant counts for the first two months and percent visual cover for the first six months. Hydroseeded treatments exhibited the highest plant number and percent visual cover over the six month period. Plantlets covered with hydromulch did not significantly differ with hydroseeding in terms of percent visual cover. Low plant counts and percent visual cover observed in the hydroplanted seedling-mulch mix was due to mechanical damage incurred as seedlings passed through the centrifugal pump. These data support the recommendation of hydroseeding for large scale establishment of Fimbristylis cymosa.
