Future Prospects

 The chart above depicts outplant total from the 2007 census by 

species at the Kaupulehu Dry Forest Hawaii Preserve. The Numbers 

in parentheses represent the percent survival. Those 12 species 

represent more than 90% of the total of the species outplanted 

at Kaupulehu between 1999 and 2006. (2)

Over 90% of the lowland Shrublands have been lost in Hawaii’s Tropical Dry Forest because of human development and invasion of nonnative vegetation. Currently, the ecosystem is in a critical state and very endangered. Things such as fire, weed invasion, and feral animals threaten the future of Hawaiian Tropical Dry Forest (3). If efforts to preserve and restore these engendered areas are not made, there is a significant risk of losing much of its biodiversity. If the spread of alien species on the ecoregion continues, it could have a devastating impact, leading to permanent, low diversity grassland. Transects are also put in forests to get an idea of the species of trees that remain and what can be done to protect them(11). Fences have also been put around the native tropical dry forests to keep out invasive plants and to protect them from human and animal impact, but fences can be expensive and difficult to maintain. (video) The future prospects for the Tropical Dry Forest of Hawaii does not seem very good and could have detrimental effects for its overall survival, if we don't do anything about it.

http://www.fs.fed.us/psw/publications/cordell/psw_2008_cordell001.pdf 

http://wwf.panda.org/about_our_earth/ecoregions/hawaiis_dry_forests.cfm
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_49R_J8Zpaw

Daisy Gallegos