Photographic guide to the leaf litter arthropod community of the lowland wet forest ecosystem of the Island of Hawaiʻi

Hawaii Cooperative Studies Unit Technical Report HCSU-116
By: , and 

Links

Abstract

Leaf litter arthropods are important components of the food web in forests, and their presence and diversity can provide information on forest health. There has been very little documentation of the leaf litter arthropods in Hawaiian forest ecosystems. This technical report is a photographic guide to some common arthropods collected from forest leaf litter at the Liko Nā Pilina Hybrid Ecosystems Project study site, a lowland wet forest in Hilo, Island of Hawaiʻi, USA. Leaf litter samples were collected from plots of invaded and experimental restoration communities using two complementary methods (litterbags and quadrats), and arthropods were extracted using Berlese funnels. The field site contained many morphospecies that were rare and locally distributed across plots, and only a few that were very common and widely distributed. The majority of the morphospecies identified were mites. This photoguide is designed to help identify arthropods found in plant litter in Hawaiian lowland forests and it may assist with research and education efforts concerned with the diversity, ecology, or conservation of litter arthropods across the Hawaiian archipelago and other Pacific islands.

Study Area

Publication type Report
Publication Subtype State or Local Government Series
Title Photographic guide to the leaf litter arthropod community of the lowland wet forest ecosystem of the Island of Hawaiʻi
Series title Hawaii Cooperative Studies Unit Technical Report
Series number HCSU-116
Publication Date May 29, 2025
Year Published 2025
Language English
Publisher University of Hawai'i
Contributing office(s) Pacific Island Ecosystems Research Center
Description iv, 43 p.
Country United States
State Hawaii
City Hilo
Other Geospatial Keaukaha Military Reservation
Additional publication details