Climate Change Research at the
Institute of Pacific Islands Forestry
Boone Kauffman - Director
Restoration Team
Christian Giardina, Susan Cordell, Paul Scowcroft
Invasive Species Team
Flint Hughes and Tracy Johnson
Wetlands Team
Rich MacKenzie
Ecosystem Management Team
Karen Bennett, Katie Friday, Anne Marie LaRosa
Tropical forests
Cover about 10% of the earth’s land surface
‹ Provide many vital ecosystem services
‹ Harbor between > 50% of the world’s species
‹ Store about 40% of the carbon residing in
terrestrial vegetation
‹ Small changes to tropical forests can cause
major impacts to biodiversity and global change
‹ They are large global carbon sinks and sources –
(deforestation is a source of 1-3 Pg C; forests a
sink of ~ 1 Pg C; Lewis 2006)
‹
Global Change - How will it
affect Tropical Pacific Islands?
‹
‹
‹
‹
‹
‹
‹
Increased sea level
Increased severity of typhoons
Increased El Nino droughts
Increased temperature
Decreased stream flows
Increased coral bleaching
Ocean acidification
C. Fletcher 2007 UH Manoa
C. Fletcher 2007 UH Manoa
GLOBAL TRENDS:
1906-2005:
0.074oC per decade
1976-2005:
0.177oC per decade
(IPCC, 2007)
Giambelluca, Diaz, and Luke (In Review)
IPIF is conducting research to examine
the interacting feedbacks, thresholds, and
non-linear responses that could drive:
‹ Change/Collapse
due to droughts
‹ Change/Collapse due to fire
‹ Loss of biodiversity
‹ Dominance of Invasive species
‹ Increased impacts of disturbance
‹ Novel disturbance regimes
Aboveground Net Primary Production
Litterfall
CO2
Total
Belowground
Carbon Flux
Litter Layer ΔCL
Mineral soil surface
Roots
Δ CR
Soil Carbon
ΔCS
Rhizosphere
Are soil carbon decomposition rates in
forests regulated by temperature?
Question 1
Soils from 26 sites (paired pine and hardwood forests on
sandy textured soils; Fissore et al. 2008) from 6 bioclimatic
regions were fractionated to isolate acid insoluble C (Loya et
al. 2003).
Active C was quantified
by incubation
(Fissore et al. 2008).
Acid soluble C estimated
by difference.
Radiocarbon in bulk and
acid insoluble fractions
were quantified, and
MRT estimated or
modeled for each fraction (Torn et al. 2002).
The MRT for active C showed a strong response to MAT.
The MRT for slow and recalcitrant C showed much weaker
responses to MAT (Q10 < 1.4).
Active SOC
3.5
100
a.
% of tot SOC
3.0
100
c.
e.
80
80
2.5
60
60
2.0
40
40
1.5
20
20
1.0
0.5
40
12000
15
9000
10
6000
5
0
0
0
5
10
15
MAT (oC)
20
25
f.
15000
20
20
-5
d.
25
years
60
0
0
b.
80
MRT
days
Recalcitrant SOC
Slow SOC
3000
0
-5
0
5
10
15
MAT (oC)
20
25
-5
0
5
10
15
MAT (oC)
20
25
Take home
‹ Soil
carbon decomposition rates for
upland forests appear less sensitive to
temperature than currently predicted.
‹ Apparent
temperature response of SOC
decomposition rate were influenced by
the supply of substrate to soil microbes.
‹ Soils
with large labile C stocks
(anaerobic, frozen) are highly sensitive
to warming.
Hawaii Permanent Plot
Network (HIPPNET)
Rebecca Ostertag, UH-Hilo
Lawren Sack, UCLA
Susan Cordell, IPIF
Christian Giardina, IPIF
($500,000 in NSF EPSCoR Support
to the University of Hawaii)
Using remote, field and tower based approaches to:
1) Quantify responses of forest structure (composition, C
storage) & function (production, resource use, recruitment)
to climate change and non-native plant / animal invasion.
2) Create core infrastructure to support future research in
plant community ecology, biogeochemistry, meteorology,
ecophysiology, & invasive species biology.
Pacific NEON Domain
USFS EFR Network
Sensor networks
& cyberinfrastructure
will be deployed in the
HETF to gather data on
our most compelling
ecological challenges
NEON infrastructure will be located along an elevation/MAT
gradient where geology and vegetation are constant.
Kanakaleonui
Bird Corridor
Stations and Plots
Waipunalei
Stations and plots
HIPPNET
Tower and Plot
HETF
Laupahoehoe
Interactions between
climate change and invasive
species across landscapes
of Hawaii using plot based
and remotely sensed data
Flint Hughes, IPIF
Greg Asner, Carnegie Institution of Washington
Using state-of-the-art LiDAR and Hyperspectral imagery and field
based approaches to:
1) Investigate the combined and interactive influences of invasive
species and climate change on the composition, structure, and
function in forests of the HETF.
2) Determine the effects of changing precipitation, temperature,
and plant invasion on the composition, biomass, and productivity
of HETF forests.
Breaking the
Grass/Fire Cycle in
“Dry Forest”
Landscapes in Hawaii
Susan Cordell, IPIF
Gregory P. Asner, Carnegie Institution of Washington
Jarrod Thaxton, University of Puerto Rico
($1.6 million SDERP Grant from the US DOD to IPIF and CIW)
Combines remote sensing and field based studies to:
1) Define the current condition and historical change.
2) Quantify restoration potential in face of climate change
3) Develop landscape restoration and monitoring technologies.
4) Develop effective fuel and fire risk reduction measures.
Breaking the
Grass/Fire Cycle in the
Cetti Bay Watershed
in Guam
Karen Bennett, IPIF
Christian Giardina, IPIF
Rich MacKenzie, IPIF
Boone Kauffman, IPIF
($5 million Grant from US DOD to Government of Guam and IPIF)
Using a remote and field based approaches to:
1) Define historical, current & desired future conditions.
2) Develop and implement watershed scale prescriptions to
eliminate fire and return native tree species cover.
3) Implement watershed scale monitoring protocols.