Kealia Pond California Bulrush Eradication Study

Kealia pond national wildlife refuge is one of over 500 refuges in the United States. This refuge is a home to endangered native water birds. The two endangered species that needs to be saved are the Hawaiian coot and Hawaiian stilt. The Hawaiian coot is endemic to the Hawaiian Islands. Its natural habitats are freshwater lakes, freshwater marshes, coastal saline lagoons, and water storage areas. This endangered species is threatened by habitat loss. The Hawaiian stilt is also endemic to the Hawaiian Islands. Its natural habitat is coastal ponds and fish ponds. This endangered species is also threatened by habitat loss. Some native plants that can be found in the Kealia Pond are saltgrass and sea purslane. They are very helpful to the animals in the Kealia Pond because they provide homes for them. However, the invasive plant that needs to be eradicated is the California Bulrush. They can be found typical in a clump of 10 feet x 100 yards in marshy areas. They grow to a height of 1-2 meters and their roots can grow to a minimum depth of 36cm. However, they have no tolerances for shade. This invasive plant is not providing homes for the animals in the Kealia pond. This directly affects the endangered species because they can’t find a good place to hide their eggs and themselves so their prey are finding them more easily and killing the endangered species and their eggs. This is a problem because their numbers are declining and if this keeps on happening there wouldn't be any Hawaiian coot or Hawaiian stilt.

The significance of this study is important for the tourism on Maui because some tourists come to this island for bird watching and if there are no birds to watch then, there might be less tourist coming to the island to watch birds which will impact Maui’s economy. It’s also important to the Kealia Pond because if the California Bulrush keeps on growing all around then that provides fewer homes for the animals. However, this study is extremely important to the endangered species because we are providing them more homes and preventing less from being taken away.

This is a picture of the Kealia Pond. ^

So as a class we separated into three different groups and each group was responsible of taking data on their specific study area which could have been either the spray area, the cut area, or the spray and cut area. We also had a control area and that data was collected by the group of students that got completed first with their data for their specific study area. The data that we had to collect was how big the study area was, salinity, water temperature, air temperature, plant height, pH, turbidity, weather condition, water depth and finally density. However, due to unexpected pond conditions some of the data was unable to be collected. Then, after 14 days we went back to Kealia pond to collect post data for each of the study areas. So that we could figure out what treatment was the best to eradicate the California bulrush.

This is a picture is of the spray area.^

This is a picture is of the cut area.^

This is a picture is of the spray and cut area.^

This is a picture is of the control area.^

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Graphs

This is a graph of the height of the Bulrush before the treatments.^

This is a graph of the density of the Bulrush before the treatments.^
This is a graph of the height of the Bulrush after the treatments. ^

This is a graph of the density of the Bulrush after the treatments.^

In conclusion the treatment that worked the best out of all the three treatments was the spray and cut. The reason why is because if you look at the results on my density post treatment graph you will see that there was a greater amount of dead bulrush than the other two treatments. I believe this treatment is the best because the bulrush was cut so low that it got exposed to shade and the spray also helped by speeding up the killing of the bulrush.

REEF Survey

What REEF is...
An active organization of divers and marine enthusiasts committed to ocean conservation.

REEF's Mission
To conserve marine ecosystems for their recreational, commercial, and intrinsic value by educating, enlisting and enabling divers and other marine enthusiasts to become active stewards and citizen scientists.

For More Information about REEF, please visit
http://www.reef.org/
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A student snorkeling looking for fish and holding his underwater slate and pencil.

Ko'ie'ie Fishpond

We were at Ko'ie'ie Fishpond in Kihei on Maui, HI trying to take a survey of the fish there.

Procedure
1. Get into groups of 2
2. Put on Snorkel gear
3. Get materials: underwater slate and a pencil
4. Go into Ko'ie'ie Fishpond5. Swim around the walls of the fishpond looking for fish

Results
In conclusion, my group member and I didn't find any fish in the Ko'ie'ie Fishpond. The reason why is because of sediment that ran off into the fishpond due to the recent storm we had to go through made it very hard to see anything.

Loko Kuapa

This is a picture of a Loko Kuapa.

Ancient Hawaiians built this fish pond by hand for the harvesting of food and resources. Between the Kuapa- the rock walls was the opening for the stationary makaha. The makaha of the Loko Kuapa was built by vertical wooden pieces with one inch gaps in between. This allowed for small fish to enter, get bigger, then cannot escape. The height of the Kuapa was designed with lava rocks from the mountain, coral, and limu. This was designed to allow water to continuously circulate this pond. Makahas were placed in precise locations where currents occurred. They were designed to take full advantage of currents, streams, local fish, and invertebrates populations.Construction of this type of pond could take a year or more to build.

This type of pond is found at the shore on the coastlines all over Hawaii.

• Between 2 close points of land
• The mouth of a small bay
• A barricade along the shoreline to form a semicircular figure

The men worked in the Loko Kuapa. Traditionally women were not allowed to work in the Loko Kuapa.

The three most common ways of harvesting in the Loko Kuapa.

• Spearing
• 2 guys would hold a net and 1 guy would hit the water
• 2 guys stands on the wall puts a net by the makaha and waits till he tide goes out

8 species that can be found in a Loko Kuapa

Barracuda (kaku)

• It was sometimes eaten
• Difficult to get rid of

Plankton (oula ula)

• Provides nutrients

Crab (papa'i)

• They were known to be up upon the fishpond walls.

Coral (puna)

• Helps to build fishpond

Mullet ('ama 'ama)

• Most important fish
• Longest in numbers

Algae (Limu)

• Helps to build fishpond

Shrimp ('opae)

• They were known to live in the walls.
• Hard to harvest

Milkfish (awa)

• Believes to be born from human parents
• Gifts for the gods
  
  This is a picture of how all these species all help each other live.

Intertidal

The intertidal zone is separated into 5 different areas known as the splash zone (barren, rocky, never immersed only exposed to sea spray), upper intertidal zone (immersed only at high tide), lower intertidal zone (exposed only at low tide), tide pools (permanent collections of water influences by tides), and sub tidal zone (always submerged, includes many tide pools). In each location it provides a habitat and food for all different types of marine and land animals. There are many adaptations that these animals in each zone must use to help it survive in its specific environment such as camouflage, poison, mobility, and much more.

We were at Waipuilani on Maui, HI comparing the lower intertidal zone and the sub tidal zone to see in which location there would be more pipipi. When we went out to Waipuilani we performed two trials counting the number of pipipi in a quadrant in the intertidal and sub tidal zones and also figured out the temperature and salinity.

After collecting all of our data on September 12, 2007 at 8:01am with a low tide we found out many interesting things. We found out that the lower intertidal zone has more pipipi than the sub tidal zone. The average of the number of pipipi found in the lower intertidal zone from all two trials that we performed was 65/m2. And the average of the number pipipi found in the sub tidal zone from all two trials that we performed was 2/m2.

This is a graph showing the results.


Tammy taking a picture with a pipipi suctioned to her hand.

Travis counting up the number of pipipi in a quadrant in the lower intertidal zone.

This is a video clip of Waipuilani.

Plankton

Plankton is any wandering organism that lives in water such as: oceans, seas, and bodies of fresh water. They are understood to be some of the most important organisms on Earth, due to the food they provide to most aquatic life. Also the reason why we study plankton is because there are a lot of different types of plankton that we still have not discovered yet.

I was at Kihei Boat Ramp and Ho'okipa on Maui, HI trying to find out the most abundant color in my two locations. When we went out to both locations we took some sample of plankton with the plankton net and also figured out the temperature, salinity, turbidity, cloud cover, and precipitation.

After collecting and testing all of our samples our group found out that the most abundant color in Kihei Boat Ramp is clear. And we also found out that the most abundant color in Ho'okipa is black.

The graph of our results.

Dakota figuring out the salinity with the handheld refractometer.

Travis putting the plankton sample into our water bottle.

Tammy recording all of our data down for our plankton lab.