Hawaii 



Overview 



Of the thousands of 

 islands in the world's 

 oceans, none has captured the fancy and dreams 

 of adventure more than those in the central and 

 south Pacific. Even among those magical 

 islands, however, the Hawaiian Archipelago 

 stands out. Mark Twain remarked in Roughing 

 It. "They are the loveliest fleet of islands that 

 lies anchored in any ocean." 



The Hawaiian Islands are geographically 

 diverse. Stretching over some 2,200 km (364 

 mi) of ocean, they vary in size from hectares to 

 thousands of square kilometers and in elevation 

 from sun-drenched atolls less than 6 m (20 ft) 

 above sea level up to snow-capped peaks 4,270 

 m (14,000 ft) high. Rainfall ranges from less 

 than 50 cm (20 in) to more than 1,140 cm (450 

 in) per year. This diversity of environments and 

 the islands' extreme isolation (more than 4,000 

 km [2,490 inij to the nearest continent) have 

 resulted in a spectacular variety of species. The 

 Hawaiian Islands are a true showcase of evolu- 

 tion that has resulted in degrees of endemism 

 (species restricted to a particular area) 

 unmatched anywhere else in the world. Studies 

 show that on Hawaii 46% of mosses, 70% of 

 ferns, 91% of flowering plants, 91% of gym- 

 nosperms, 99% of tenestrial mollusks and ter- 

 restrial arthropods, 100% of land mammals, and 



8 1 % of birds are endemic at the subspecies level 

 (Gagne 1988). 



Unfortunately, loss of species in the islands 

 has been staggering, and what remains often 

 occupies but a fraction of its historical range. 

 Seventy percent of the extinctions known to 

 have occuned in the United States took place in 

 Hawaii. The islands have lost more than 50% of 

 their birds (Scott et al. 1986: Scott et al. 1988: 

 Olson and James 1991: Pyle, this section: 

 Jacobi and Atkinson, this section): perhaps 50% 

 of their plants, 90% of their native land snails, 

 and an unknown percentage of their terrestrial 

 insects. Flora and fauna that evolved over mil- 

 lions of years have been devastated in less than 

 2.000 years since the arrival of humans. But 

 despite huge losses, what remains is spectacu- 

 lar. 



Today's unique assemblage of species is 

 rapidly being lost. Twenty-five percent of the 

 U.S. endangered taxa occur in the islands. The 

 reasons for their endangerment are many, but 

 loss of habitat and introduction of non-native 

 species are prominent factors. Both are the 

 result of a steadily increasing human population 

 and the more than 4 million tourists that visit 

 the islands annually. Few visitors realize that 

 the lush lowland vegetation and colorful llowers 

 they marvel at are not native to the islands, but 



Science Editor 



J. Michael Scott 

 National Biological Service 



Idaho Cooperative Fish 

 and Wildlife Research Unit 



Moscow, ID 83843 



