Nearly half of the hawaiian flora is considered rare and 425 plants are listed as threatened or endangered by the U.S. Fish and wildlife service

This Project Grant award from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, under the Endangered Species Recovery Implementation program (CFDA 15.657), provides $2,637,020 to the State of Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR) to support the recovery of Hawaii's threatened and endangered plant species. The project aims to identify microsite locations across Hawaii that are more resilient to climate change, in order to improve the success of plant translocation efforts. This will involve developing spatial distribution and climate sensitivity models, as well as conducting experimental outplantings to test the selected sites. DLNR will then use this information to guide future translocations and establish a web application tool for species managers. The award period is December 1, 2024 to November 30, 2034.

These species and their habitats are in decline due to the impacts of invasive non-native species, wildfires, and land conversion. Recovery of hawaiis threatened, endangered, and other rare or vulnerable plant species in the wild can be accomplished through translocation. The state of hawaiis division of forestry and wildlife native ecosystem protection and management section (dofaw-nepm), supports fieldwork and a network of facilities that provide propagation and horticultural services for all of hawaiis threatened and endangered plants. Plant translocations are expensive, and sometimes species have limited attempts due to the availability of seeds for propagation. Therefore, identifying locations where the species are best suited and protected from threats is critical for increasing the probability of success. This project aims to support translocation success by identifying microsites throughout and outside of a species known range, that are more resilient to changing climates in hawaii. Microsites are areas less susceptible to climate change that have the ecological characteristics we presume are important for species resiliency, and therefore are key areas for translocations in the hopes that populations can persist at these sites for longer to allow for dispersal and adaptation as climatic conditions shift and change across the landscape. Using spatial distribution models, currently under development by the united states fish and wildlife pacific islands fish and wildlife office (USFWS-pifwo), climate sensitivity models can then be developed by the united states geological survey (USGS) to determine how sensitive each species is to climate change, and microsite resiliency to climate change can be identified across the state. After a review of the models, several species will be selected based on their climate sensitivity for experimental out plantings to test how well the model selects sites favorable to species persistence. Helicopters and remote field camping will likely be necessary to access the selected sites, especially as temperatures increase across the state, pushing suitable habitat to more remote locations. Plants are anticipated to be ready to outplant in one to three years. At that point, dofaw-nepm will conduct the translocations, and then monitor and maintain management over the remainder of the 10-year project. Survival of the outplants will be monitored for three to five years. Models will be refined as needed based on the results, and a web application tool will be developed for species managers to view the recommended sites for each ESA listed species. This tool will serve as a starting point for selecting sites, so that additional factors, such as landowner permission, accessibility, and habitat management, can be considered. IT can also serve as a starting point for utilizing the service s decision support framework for conservation introductions.