NEWS

Growing up in Maui, Konapiliahi Dancil spent much of his youth outdoors with his father and grandfather, learning about forests, birds, and hunting. These experiences helped form a connection to nature, which has been the driving force in his journey to learn about the ecosystems in Hawaiʻi and how to protect them. Now a second-year master’s student at the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo, Dancil’s research was inspired by his upbringing. 

“Maui’s landscape has changed so much. From the axis deer to the horrible invasives that have been out of control, some of the places that I used to go to as a kid are not the same,” said Dancil.

Dancil’s research is supported by the Pacific Islands Climate Adaptation Science Center (PI-CASC) Manager Climate Corps (MCC). The MCC program is a practitioner-driven graduate research program that emphasizes knowledge co-production. It builds adaptive capacity locally by identifying existing professional networks and expanding them through manager-driven research projects. 

“I was working in restoration at the lowland wet forests in Keaukaha Military Reservation for about three years. I really wanted to understand more about what kind of species we were planting and why. So that’s what drove my thesis work,” said Dancil.

His master’s thesis, “What to Plant Where? Using Species Distribution Modeling to Select Restoration Species in Hawai‘i’s Lowland Wet Forests,” involves working on forest restoration with land managers and working groups on Hawaiʻi Island. His research uses two different methodologies to determine if new mixtures of native and introduced (non-native non-invasive species) can be combined to build lowland wet forests that will be resilient to future climate shifts in Hawaiʻi. 

Secondly, the project works with Hawaiʻi land managers to develop species lists that include species that are a priority for management–but with which we know little about their environmental tolerance under climate change. 

The project combines two approaches: collecting plant functional traits to identify each species’ resource use patterns and species distribution modeling to determine the global climate conditions of the environments where each species is found. Ultimately, Dancil aims to identify which climate-resilient species are capable of thriving in Hawaiian lowland wet forests. 

Rebecca Ostertag, faculty advisor to Dancil and principal investigator on the project explains why this work is beneficial to future restoration efforts. “This research will help managers make better decisions about what species to use for outplanting efforts in restoration,” said Ostertag. “In the past, these decisions were often made based on what species were easy to grow or available, but mixtures were thrown together without thinking about interspecific competition for resources or long-term survival. PI-CASC/MCC has provided funding for a new kind of research model, which would be difficult to fund in many other contexts. Here, a working group rather than a relationship with a single community entity steers the work towards developing better restoration strategies for the long-term persistence of Hawaiian forests,” she adds.

Ostertag and co-PI, UH Hilo Professor Jonathan Price, developed the project in association with Lowland Wet Forest Working Group (LWFWG), which provides a collaborative, landscape-scale approach and synergizes the varied experiences of partner agencies. Each member has different needs and objectives for their respective area of land, including topics like restoration, invasive species control, or agroforestry. Dancil works with each to address those needs. 

The group has 31 members from various local organizations, including the Hawaiʻi Army National Guard. With a significant amount of land to care for, land managers at Keaukaha Military Reservation are being helped by Dancil’s research by determining which species grow best in that particular area and which can be incorporated into the landscape to control invasive species.

“Providing cultural and ecological significance found nowhere else, Hawaiʻi lowland forest habitat is very important. The lowland forests of Hawai’i are losing a lot of endemic species to invasive species, and trying to restore and protect these lowland forests is a challenge,” said Craig Blaisdell, Natural Resources Management Specialist, Hawaiʻi Army National Guard. “Many of the endemic plant species are slow-growing in comparison to fast-growing invasive plant species. Restoration efforts can be challenging, both in time and cost. Incorporating an assemblage of various endemic and Polynesian introduced plant species in our restoration efforts is showing some positive results.” 

The project is underway, with a species list developed and a quarterly meeting with the LWFWG and Dancil undertaking the species distribution modeling portion. The functional component of the project is being initiated by a UH Hilo intern in the Pacific Internship Programs of Exploring Science (PIPES) program, Violet Hart, a Hawaiʻi Island native who is an undergraduate at Western Washington University. 

“‘The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. Second best is today,’” said Dancil. “I think that saying really hammers home that it is a process that takes a long time, but it’s good to get it done.” Dancil has about a year until his research is complete, but even then, there is still a lot of work to do.