Cherie Kauahi
TCBES Graduate Student Wai, freshwater, plays a key role in the function and success of loko iʻa, Hawaiian fishponds, in Hawaiʻi. However, few studies have documented the freshwater inputs of these dynamic coastal ecosystems. In this study, relative groundwater flow and chemical composition of groundwater springs will be examined within three loko iʻa. The data gathered within this study will be used to create a model to assess change within these processes and provide a forecast in how these processes will be altered in the face of climate change. Findings from this study will provide baseline hydrology and water quality information that can be used by fishpond managers contribute to restoration efforts and aid in planning for environmental changes in the future. |
Kamala Anthony
Honokea Kiaʻi Loko and TCBES Graduate Student Lokoi’a are dynamic systems dependent on the balance between fresh groundwater inputs from uka (uplands) and landward flow of kai (seawater), which all vary depending on the behavior of our climate, including rainfall, tides, and storms. This nutrient rich groundwater meeting the seawater at the coast allows for an abundant growth of limu or primary productivity attracting many of Hawaii’s favorable native brackishwater and herbivorous species. Having an intimate relationship with this natural coastal nursery, Hawaiians effectively modified these coastal habitats into lokoi’a to provide a sustainable food source for the communities in which they reside. |
To maximize the productivity of lokoi’a today, and plan for the future, lokoi’a practitioners would greatly benefit from methodologies to quantify the variability of environmental changes through time and specific impacts of climate phenomena, changes in rainfall and sea level. These factors have the potential to interfere with primary productivity and alter lokoi’a systems interactions entirely. This study will focus particularly on the abundance of primary productivity within different salinity regions of each lokoiʻa. The objective is to provide lokoiʻa practitioners with a baseline analysis of the relationship between primary productivity and salinity in lokoiʻa ecosystems of Honohononui and Waiuli and quantify the interactions of primary productivity within lokoi’a throughout various environmental changes over time.
Kainalu has been tasked with mapping groundwater springs along the Keaukaha coast and collecting samples for chemical analysis. He is also analyzing the amount of way that which flows through the loko iʻa.
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2017 PIPES Interns
Kainalu Steward (REU) Candice Uʻi Miner-Ching (UH-HIP) |
Uʻi has been doing historical research on pūnāwai and conducting interviews to understand the socioecosystems of Keaukaha through the perspectives of those who have an experience-based relationship. Through those interviews she will be forming a product to share with the kiaʻi loko to further their mālama loko iʻa efforts.
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Nā Poʻe Hana o UH Hilo a me Nā Poʻe Kākoʻo
(UH Hilo Personnel and Support)
(UH Hilo Personnel and Support)
Nā poʻe hana e aʻe:
Andy, Wheatly, Keenan, Kailey, Troy Sakihara (HI-DAR), Blake McNaughton, Luka Kanakaʻole.
Andy, Wheatly, Keenan, Kailey, Troy Sakihara (HI-DAR), Blake McNaughton, Luka Kanakaʻole.