Hawai‘i at Manoa

Abstract: Prosopis species first arrived in the Hawaiian Islands during the early part of the 19th century and rather quickly became a widespread useful species, serving as a shade tree, fuel source, and bee food. Prosopis became a dominant in the arid areas of these islands, displacing many of the native endemic lower dry forest species because of its deep tap roots, thorny armor, and the presence of alien invasive and domesticated hoofed mammals. Prosopis is a genus of phreatophytic trees adapted to hot deserts and semiarid grasslands, especially in the New World from where the species in Hawai`i is ultimately derived. Although trees in arid areas are exposed to atypical environmental temperature and water stress, relatively few studies have evaluated their water relations. This is especially the case for Prosopis species growing in areas where a large percentage of human water use comes from ground water such as in Hawai’i today. This paper reviews the origin, spread, history of use, and hydrological implications for the human population in Hawai’i, with a special emphasis on potential phylogenetic, ethnobotanical and ecological research.

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Open to the public.

Event Sponsor
Ecology, Evolution, and Conservation Biology, Manoa

More Information
Lucy Kida, 956-4602, lkida@hawaii.edu, http://www.hawaii.edu/eecb

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