NOWRAMP
2002
Good
Seeds
Pearl and Hermes
Atoll
Posted by Kaliko Amona, Graduate Intern, NWHI Coral Reef
Ecosystem Reserve
September 29, 2002
At
so many of the islands we've visited during this expedition,
our teams have been extremely cautious with our clothes,
shoes, and equipment, not wanting to introduce any alien
plants or animals to these pristine environments. Today
we were just as careful, wearing only new clothing that
had been sealed and frozen for 48 hours before we left Honolulu,
but there was one difference. At Pearl and Hermes Atoll,
our goal was to bring seeds, the good kind, from one island
to another.
At
North Island, our group split up into teams to work on the
day's first order of business: counting birds. Watching
first for their burrows, then for nohu (Tribulus
cistoideds) barbs, Ethan and I carefully walked the
island looking for noio (brown noddy) and 'iwa (great
frigate bird) chicks and eggs. Most of the young noio we
found were hidden in the shade of Eragrostis variabilis
grass, quietly waiting for a parent to arrive with their
daily meal. Beneath the roots of this grass we peeked into
burrows where wedge-tailed shearwaters did the same.
After
the bird count, we collected seeds from the Eragrostis
to plant at Southeastern Island. Native to Pearl and Hermes
Atoll, this bunch grass-like plant provides excellent habitat
for many of the seabirds that live here. The native plants
at Southeastern Island have not fared as well as those on
North Island, with Verbesina (golden crown-beard)
and other alien plants taking over some parts of the island.
Verbesina is the same alien plant that we fought
during our stay on Green Island at Kure Atoll. Verbesina
appears to be an allelopathic plant-it may release chemicals
that prevent other plants from growing around it, so it
easily out-competes many native plants. As part of its annual
cycle, the Verbesina dies back, leaving barren areas
with very little vegetation. These barren areas provide
unstable soil for burrowing birds and their burrows may
easily collapse if the soil becomes wet. To help the birds,
and the entire ecosystem, we scattered these seeds over
an area that the terrestrial team had cleared of pest plants
earlier in the week.
In
all, we sowed about a gallon and a half of the tiny Eragrostis
seeds. A year ago, Alex Wegmann of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service scattered a little less than this amount and twelve
plants have come up since. Our efforts today are a small
step toward restoring Southeastern Island. It will take
much more work, but the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's
work at Laysan Island provides evidence that such restoration
is possible. Over several years, field crews there have
transformed the island environment from one that was degraded
by human exploitation to an ecosystem where native plants
and animals thrive.
Footnotes:
During our search we came upon a koa'e 'ula (red-tailed
tropic bird) chick sitting under the shade of Eragrostis.
Although we were focusing on noio and 'iwa
for the count, we made a note of this one and continued
on. Only after returning to the rest of the group did we
find out what a special find we had made. Beth Flint, our
escort from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service told Ethan
and me that this was the only red-tailed tropic bird chick
reported during their surveys during the past several days.
By now, most koa'e 'ula have fledged and are out
on their own.
We
also gathered seeds from the native Solanum nelsoni
plants we came across on North Isalnd and sowed them on
Southeast Island. The large black fruits are filled with
small, chili pepper-like seeds.
References:
Beth Flint and Alex Wegmann, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
<<Journals
Home
Talk About It!
