A living guide to Kauaʻi
Kauaʻi species, habitats and conservation records
Explore the island’s native and introduced species, habitats, watersheds and conservation work. Each record connects its description, images and sources with the interactive Atlas.
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Coastal inundation
Temporary marine flooding of low-lying coastal habitats during high water and wave events.
Salt-spray deposition
Wind-driven deposition of sea salts that structures coastal vegetation and soil chemistry.
Beach-wrack deposition
Stranding of algae, seagrass, wood and other marine organic matter on shorelines.
Insect pollination
Transfer of pollen by bees, flies, moths, butterflies, beetles and other insects.
Bird pollination
Transfer of pollen by nectar-feeding birds, including Hawaiian honeycreepers.
Wind pollination
Airborne pollen transfer among wind-pollinated plants.
Native-bird seed dispersal
Movement of native plant seeds by endemic and indigenous birds.
Nonnative-bird seed dispersal
Movement of native or invasive plant seeds by introduced birds.
Wind and gravity seed dispersal
Movement of seeds or spores by air currents, gravity or ballistic release.
Water-mediated propagule dispersal
Movement of seeds, spores or plant fragments by runoff, streams, floods or coastal water.
Seed predation
Consumption or destruction of seeds by vertebrates and invertebrates before germination.
Seed-bank persistence and release
Storage of viable propagules in soil or litter and their later activation under suitable conditions.
Germination
Transition of viable seeds or spores into actively growing seedlings or gametophytes.
Seedling establishment and recruitment
Survival and growth of young plants into established population members.
Canopy-gap regeneration
Plant recruitment and growth triggered by increased light and resources after canopy opening.
Vegetative propagation
Asexual spread by rhizomes, stolons, fragments, suckers or other clonal structures.
Ecological succession
Directional community change following disturbance, substrate creation or abandonment.
Forest regeneration
Combined seed arrival, germination, establishment, growth and replacement that renews forest structure.
Terrestrial herbivory
Consumption of living terrestrial plant tissue by insects, birds, mammals and other herbivores.
Marine herbivory and grazing
Removal of algae or plant material by reef fishes, sea urchins, turtles and other grazers.
Predation
Consumption of living animals by predators across terrestrial, freshwater and marine food webs.
Nest predation
Predation on eggs, chicks or incubating birds at nests.
Scavenging and carrion recycling
Consumption and decomposition of carcasses, returning nutrients to food webs.
Detritivory
Consumption of dead organic material by invertebrates and other detritivores.
Competition
Negative interaction where organisms reduce one another’s access to limiting resources.
Facilitation and nurse effects
Positive interaction where one organism improves habitat or resource availability for another.
Mutualism
Reciprocal interaction in which both partners receive a net ecological benefit.
Mycorrhizal symbiosis
Root–fungus associations affecting nutrient uptake, water acquisition and plant establishment.
Coral–algal symbiosis
Metabolic exchange between corals and photosynthetic symbionts.
Parasitism
Resource extraction by parasites from hosts, potentially affecting survival or reproduction.
Host–pathogen transmission
Spread of infectious agents among susceptible hosts.
Vector-borne pathogen transmission
Transmission of pathogens by biological vectors, including mosquitoes carrying avian malaria.
Microbiome-mediated function
Effects of host-associated microbial communities on nutrition, health, decomposition or disease resistance.
Cleaning symbiosis
Removal of parasites, mucus or tissue by cleaner organisms from host animals.
Ecosystem engineering
Modification of habitat structure or resource availability by organisms such as corals, burrowers and vegetation.
Top-down trophic control
Regulation of prey, herbivores or competitors by consumers at higher trophic levels.
Bottom-up resource control
Regulation of populations and food webs by nutrients, primary production or habitat resources.
Trophic cascades
Indirect multi-level food-web changes triggered by alteration of predators, herbivores or other consumers.
Local organism dispersal
Movement of individuals or propagules among nearby habitat patches.
Aerial dispersal
Wind- or flight-mediated movement of organisms, spores, insects or propagules across the island.
Marine larval dispersal
Transport of planktonic larvae by currents among reefs, shorelines, estuaries and islands.
Juvenile settlement and habitat entry
Transition of dispersing juveniles into benthic, reef, estuarine or terrestrial habitats.
Metapopulation connectivity
Exchange among spatially separated populations that affects persistence and recolonization.
Gene flow
Movement of genes among populations through dispersal and reproduction.
Seasonal migration
Regular seasonal movement between foraging, breeding or refuge habitats.
Elevational movement
Movement along elevation gradients in response to resources, breeding, temperature or disease risk.
Colonization
Establishment of a population in previously unoccupied habitat.
Recolonization after disturbance
Return of organisms to habitats following local population loss or severe disturbance.
Reproduction
Production of offspring through sexual or asexual reproduction.
Recruitment
Addition of new individuals into a population or life-stage class.
Mortality
Loss of individuals through predation, disease, senescence, starvation, disturbance or other causes.
Density dependence
Changes in survival, reproduction or movement caused by population density.
Source–sink dynamics
Persistence of low-productivity populations through immigration from higher-productivity source areas.
Larval export from streams to ocean
Downstream transport of newly hatched amphidromous larvae from freshwater to marine plankton.
Oceanic larval development of stream fauna
Marine planktonic growth phase of amphidromous fishes and invertebrates.
Freshwater-plume orientation cueing
Use of river plumes or associated cues by returning juveniles locating stream mouths.
Upstream juvenile recruitment
Movement of returning juveniles from estuaries and stream mouths into freshwater habitats.
Waterfall-mediated longitudinal filtering
Sorting of stream species by climbing ability and barriers along steep Hawaiian streams.
Flood disturbance and stream recolonization
Population reduction by floods followed by recolonization from marine or downstream reservoirs.
Stream detritus retention and processing
Capture, breakdown and consumption of leaf litter and other organic matter within channels.
