Assessment of natural resources and watershed conditions for Kalaupapa National Historical Park
Fung Associates Inc. and SWCA Environmental Consultants. 2010. Assessment of natural resources and watershed conditions for Kalaupapa National Historical Park. Natural Resource Report. NPS/NPRC/WRD/NRR—2010/261. National Park Service, Natural Resource Program Center. Fort Collins, Colorado
This report summarizes the condition/ecological status of the terrestrial, freshwater, and marine resources at Kalaupapa National Historic Park (KALA); existing and emerging threats or stressors that act on those resources; and important information gaps and recommended future studies. KALA is located on the north central coast of the Island of Moloka‘i, within the State of Hawai‘i. The park encompasses a total area of 10,726 acres (ac), including roughly 8,726 ac of land and 2,000 ac of water. The Kalaupapa peninsula was established as a quarantine settlement for people with leprosy (Hansen's disease) beginning in 1865. The historic Kalaupapa Settlement and the surrounding area were incorporated into the National Park System in December 1980. The terrestrial environment within KALA is divided into seven ecological management zones. The terrestrial ecosystem contains 35 federally endangered, threatened, or candidate terrestrial plant species and provides critical habitat for 12 plants. The freshwater ecosystem within KALA includes palustrine, lacustrine, anchialine, and riverine habitats. The lacustrine and riverine habitats contain unique macrofauna and habitats. Lake Kauhakō is the forth-deepest lake in the United States and has the greatest relative depth (ratio of depth to surface area) of any lake in the world. Two of the 10 streams within KALA are candidate streams for preservation protection in the Hawaii Stream Assessment. The marine ecosystem is divided into three habitats—intertidal, coastal reefs, and offshore islet reefs. The endangered monk seal uses the intertidal habitat at KALA for pupping, resting, and feeding. The coastal and offshore reef ecosystems are healthy and robust compared to other reefs in the main Hawaiian Islands. The physical environment and ecological communities within the marine, freshwater, and terrestrial ecosystems at KALA have been adversely impacted and risk further degradation by a myriad of threats and stressors. Threats are defined as environmental trends with potentially negative impacts; stressors are physical, chemical, or biological perturbations to a system that cause significant changes in the ecological components, patterns, and processes in natural systems. This assessment identified 12 biotic and five abiotic existing and potential threats and stressors. Because of the uncertainty surrounding future land management and ownership, some issues that are not currently a problem have the potential to become a problem in the long-term (>20 years) if the park is opened to the wider public, resulting in increased anthropogenic impacts (e.g., increased harvesting, sewage, spread of invasive species).
- Type
- Published Report
- Authors
- Fung Associates Inc.; SWCA Environmental Consultants
- Date of Issue
- 2010-10
- Publisher
- National Park Service, Natural Resource Program Center
- Units
- KALA , NRSS
- Keywords
- Algae, amphidromous species, anchialine, Bird, CAVE, Climate Change, Condition assessment, Coral Reef, Disease, Endangered Species, feral ungulate, Fish, Freshwater, Hansen's disease, Harvest, Hawaii, Intertidal, Invasive Species, Invertebrate, islet, KALA, Kalaupapa National Historic Park, LAKE, Lava Tube, Mammal, Marine, monk seal, National Natural Landmark, Plant, Sewage, Stream, stressor, Terrestrial, Threat, volcanic crater