HAWAI`I VOLCANOES Invasion and Recovery of Vegetation after a Volcanic Eruption in Hawaii NPS Scientific Monograph No. 5

Cover

List of Figures

List of Tables

Acknowledgments

Summary

Chapter 1
INTRODUCTION

Chapter 2
ANALYSIS OF PREVIOUS STUDIES

Studies in Hawaii
Studies in other volcanic areas

Chapter 3
THE STUDY AREA

Geology
The December 1959 eruption
Climate
The original vegetation
The new volcanic habitats
   Habitat 1: Massive lava with joint cracks (56 ha)
   Habitat 2: Cinder cone (19 ha)
   Habitat 3: Spatter area with tree snags (6 ha)
   Habitat 4: Pumice area with tree snags (31 ha)
   Habitat 5: Pumice area with surviving trees (125 ha)
   Habitat 6: Thin fallout area (263 ha)

Chapter 4
METHODS

Vegetation sampling
Environmental measurements
   Climate
   Substrate

Chapter 5
PLANT INVASION PATTERNS

Kilauea Iki lava lake (habitat 1)
   Progress of invasion
   Community formation
   Densification of colonization
The cinder cone (habitat 2)
   Arrival pattern in comparison to habitat 1
   Number and kinds of species in comparison to habitat 1
   Quantitative spread of species
Spatter area with tree snags (habitat 3)
   Progress of invasion
   Floristic pattern in comparison to habitats 1 and 2
   Succession
Pumice area with tree snags (habitat 4)
   Arrival pattern in comparison with habitats 1, 2, and 3
   Quantitative spread of species in comparison to habitat 2
Pumice area with surviving trees (habitat 5)
Thin fallout area, upper Kau Desert (habitat 6)

Chapter 6
RECOVERY OF VEGETATION

Surviving species
Plant cover development
   Habitat 3
   Habitat 4
   Habitat 5
   Habitat 6

Chapter 7
ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS

The climatic gradient
   Temperature and relative humidity
   Desiccating power, insolation, and rainfall
   Mean rainfall and dry periods
Substrate differences
   Substrate temperature
   Substrate moisture
   Plant nutrients in soil and rain water
   Mineralogical properties

Chapter 8
DISCUSSION

Factors related to directional invasion and recovery
   Substrate-heat gradient
   Nearness of seed source
   Snag-density gradient
   Ash-depth gradient
Factors related to differences in invasion rate
   Substrate cooling, disseminule supply, and life form
   Availability of microhabitats
   Climatic gradient
Probable reasons for observed life-form establishment sequences
Factors influencing plant survival
   Depth and nature of pyroclastic deposit
   Size of plant
   Vegetative regrowth capacity
Primary community formation
   Plant aggregation
   Complementation and competition
Relationship between native and exotic invaders

APPENDIXES

I Species frequency (%) of invaders during years following eruption in habitat 1

II Species frequency (%) of invaders during years following eruption in habitat 2 (cinder cone)

III Species frequency (%) of invaders during years following eruption in habitat 3 (spatter area with snags)

IV Species frequency (%) of invaders during years following eruption in habitat 4 (pumice area with snags)

V Species frequency (%) of invaders during years following eruption in habitat 5 (pumice area with surviving trees)

VI Species frequency (%) of invaders during years following eruption in habitat 6 (thin fallout area, upper Kau Desert)

VII Explanation of symbols used on life-form diagrams (Figs. 8, 10, 11, 16)

VIII List of scientific and common names

Literature Cited

Index (omitted from the online edition)

1 Map showing location of Kilauea Iki crater in reference to Hawaii Volcanoes National Park and the Pacific Basin.

2 Habitat types of the 1959 Kilauea Iki eruption site.

3 Northeast-southwest profile of eruption site extending from Kilauea Iki crater to upper Kau Desert.

4 Southeast-northwest profile of eruption site extending from the undevastated forest into Kilauea caldera.

5 Floor of Kilauea Iki, habitat 1, 1967. Ferns (Nephrolepis exaltata) established in joint cracks and crevices.

6 Rate of spread across the cinder-cone habitat (2) for selected species in five life-form groups.

7 Rate of spread across pumice-with-snags habitat (4) for selected species in life-form groups.

8 Life-form spectra chronology—habitat 3. (Symbols explained in Appendix VII).

9.1 Segment of habitat 3 photographed in year 1 (1960) after the spatter deposition.

9.2 The same habitat segment photographed in year 3 (1962).

9.3 The same habitat segment (as shown on Figs. 9.1 and 9.2) photographed in year 4 (1963).

9.4 The same habitat segment photographed in year 9 (1968).

10 Life-form spectra chronology—habitat 4. (Symbols explained in Appendix VII).

11 Life-form spectra chronology—habitat 5. (symbols explained in Appendix VII).

12.1 Segment of habitat 5 in area of 1.5-m-deep pumice deposit photographed in year 1 (1960) after the ash fallout.

12.2 The same habitat segment photographed in year 2 (1961).

12.3 The same habitat segment (as shown on Figs. 12.1 and 12.2) photographed in year 4 (1963).

12.4 The same habitat segment photographed in year 7 (1966).

13.1 Cross-section of Metrosideros stem from surviving stand photographed on Fig. 12, habitat 5.

13.2 Cross-section of Metrosideros stem of uninjured tree in forest adjacent to habitat 5.

14.1 Segment of habitat 5 in area of shallow (20-30 cm deep) pumice deposit photographed in year 1 (1960).

14.2 The same habitat segment photographed in year 3 (1962).

15 Aerial roots on Metrosideros trees that survived ash burial of 50-100 cm depth. Photograph taken in year 7 (1966).

16 Life-form spectra chronology—Habitat 6. (Symbols explained in Appendix VII).

17.1 Segment of habitat 6 photographed in year 1 (1960). Here the pumice blanket was only 10-20 cm deep.

17.2 The same habitat segment photographed in year 3 (1963).

18.1 Excavated stem of recovered Vaccinium reticulatum shrub that was buried under 25-cm-deep ash in habitat 6. Photograph taken in year 4 (1963) after the ash fallout.

18.2 Excavated stem of small Metrosideros polymorpha tree buried under 25-cm-deep ash in habitat 6, photographed in year 4 (1963).

19 Comparison of temperature and relative humidity for habitats 1 and 6.

20 Mean daily loss of water (cc) per week from white and black Livingston atmometers, and monthly rainfall (mm) in habitats 1, 4, 5, and 6.

21 Relationships between evaporation rate of white bulb atmometers (mean daily water loss in cc/week) and monthly rainfall (mm) in habitats 1, 4, 5, and 6. Data from May 1968 through January 1969.

22 Climate diagrams for habitats 1 and 6. Mean monthly air temperatures (°C) and precipitation (ppt mm) for 2 years (1967 and 1968). Mean annual rainfall stated under ppt mm.

23 X-ray diffraction tracings for habitat substrates showing gross mineralogy.

24 The summit of the cinder cone photographed in year 3 (1962) after formation.

25.1 Eastern boundary of spatter-with-tree-snags habitat (3) where it joins the cinder cone habitat (2). Photograph taken in year 4 (1963).

25.2 The same location photographed in year 7 (1966). Several Buddleja asiatica individuals had become established at the bases of tree snags.

25.3 The same location photographed in year 9 (1968). More Buddleja individuals had become established but several were dying where the snags had fallen.

26 Tree mold in habitat 3 with Sadleria cyatheoides seedling. Tree molds were preferred microhabitats for invasion of pioneer mosses and ferns.

1 Number of 10 x 10-m plots by habitats and transects as used for the plant records (transects and habitat outlines on Fig. 2)

1A Progression of plant life from crater floor edge towards center in habitat 1 (Fig. 2)

2 Frequency (%) of plant life on crater floor area occupied

3 Progression of invaders from undisturbed forest edge across habitat towards cinder cone along the 60-m belt-transect BB' (Fig. 2)

4 Number of seed plant species in the two pyroclastic habitats with tree snags (habitats 3 and 4)

5 Surviving species in 1968 by habitats. Values are in percent frequency

6 Seedlings of surviving woody species in habitats 5 and 6 (% frequency)

7 Substrate moisture (% by weight) in volcanic ash profiles 48 hours following a rain shower in excess of 100mm

8 Exchangeable cations and available phosphorus and nitrate in two volcanic substrates 8 years after deposition

9 Substrate pH values at surface and subsurface in six new volcanic habitats

10 Plant nutrients in rainwater (ppm) near the study area (Park Headquarters)

11 Temperatures in shallow bore holes measured in a 2 ft circle on the Kilauea lava floor (near center) in 1967. (Unpublished data courtesy of W. P. Hasbrouck)

12 Substrate moisture (% by weight) recorded at the base of tree snags and in the open ash surface 48 hours following rain in excess of 100 mm

13 Monthly precipitation water (mm) received in a standard rain gauge and an adjacent one equipped with a Grunow fog interceptor in habitat 6 during 1968

14 Monthly precipitation received in two sets of paired rain gauges on the Kilauea crater floor in 1968

15 Summary of establishment sequences of plant life forms in six habitats

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Gerald Ford
President of the United States

Rogers C. B. Morton, Secretary
U.S. Department of the Interior

Ronald H. Walker, Director
National Park Service

As the Nation's principal conservation agency, the Department of the Interior has basic responsibilities for water, fish, wildlife, mineral, land, park, and recreational resources. Indian and Territorial affairs are other major concerns of America's "Department of Natural Resources." The Department works to assure the wisest choice in managing all our resources so each will make its full contribution to a better United States—now and in the future.

This publication is one in a series of research studies devoted to special topics which have been explored in connection with the various areas in the National Park System.

Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data

Smathers, Garrett A
Invasion and Recovery of Vegetation after a Volcanic Eruption in Hawaii.
   (National Park Service scientific monograph series, no. 5)
   "Publication number: NPS 118."    Supt. of Docs. no.: I 29.80:5
1. Botany—Hawaii—Kilauea—Ecology. 2. Plant Succession. 3. Kilauea. 4. Volcanic ash, tuff, etc.—Hawaii—Kilauea. 5. Lava—Hawaii—Kilauea. I. Mueller-Dombois, Dieter, 1925- joint author. II. Title. III. Series: United Statesdddd. National Park Service. Scientific monograph series, no. 5. W623i]

QK473.H4S7     581.5'24     74-11187

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