A collection of microclimate data under eight lava flow conditions on the Big Island of Hawaii

Brown, Jeff

By investigating the daily fluctuations of temperature and humidity it was intended that a link might be drawn between microclimate conditions and the primary succession rate of many species. Eight sites were chosen on the assumption that between them there would be a marked difference in both temperature and humidity fluctuation. A team of five spread out over the lava flows along Chain of Craters Road within Hawaii Volcanoes National Park on the Big Island of Hawaii searching for suitable data collection sites. Once sites were found, data was collected using Veriteq data loggers placed inside makeshift Stevenson screens. Eight sets of data were collected simultaneously over a period of four days. The datasets showed great variation. The report provides a detailed graphic analysis of each of the datasets making inferences as to the effects each environment would have on plant propagation. While it was the original goal of this research to establish a link between diurnal temperature and humidity variation, it has become clear that to attempt to establish such a link based solely on the collection of microclimate data would be highly credulous. Instead, the outcome of this research has been to produce a workable set of standalone data relating to the temperature and humidity fluctuation for eight different microclimate settings and analysis has focused on the trends for each of the environments studied.