Hawai'i Conservation Conference

NEON will be participating in the Hawai'i Conservation conference happening July 27-29. 

Conference Details

"The Hawaiʻi Conservation Conference allows a diverse group of scientists, policymakers, conservation practitioners, educators, students and community members from Hawaiʻi and the Pacific to converge and discuss conservation. It’s a time to connect, share and inspire, all with the common goal of caring for our natural resources."

• Date: July 27th- 29th, 2021 
• Location: Virtual
• Learn more and register for the conference here 

NEON Events

Workshop: How to access and use the National Ecological Observatory Network's open access ecological database in Hawai'i and nationally 

• Abstract: The National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON) is a continental-scale facility that collects long-term, open access, ecological data to better understand ecosystem processes across the United States. NEON will provide 30 years of data from 81 ecologically diverse terrestrial and aquatic field sites via standardized collection methods designed to support research studies at varying spatial and temporal scales. NEON data cover a range of subject areas within ecology, including organismal observations, biogeochemistry, aerial lidar, hyperspectral imagery, and micrometeorology.  All samples and data collected by NEON are publicly available and can be accessed digitally through the NEON website. Locally, NEON’s field site at Puʻu Makaʻala Natural Area Reserve on Hawaiʻi Island began collecting ecological data on a Hawaiian montane wet forest in 2018. Data from this site are being used as part of the curriculum at Teaching Change, an educational partnership led by the University of Hawaiʻi, for Hawaiʻi Island schools. We invite you to our two-hour workshop to learn more about NEON, the field site in Hawaiʻi, and how to access and work with NEON data. During this hands-on workshop we provide an introduction to discovering, accessing and preparing a variety of NEON data for your research or teaching, primarily using R.  If you are a researcher interested in local ecological, phenological, and aerial data, or an educator looking to incorporate locally sourced data into your lesson plans, this workshop will provide you with practical applications on how to get started with NEON data.
• Date: Tuesday, July 27th, 1:00PM HST (7:00PM EDT)
• Presenters: Marie Faust, Science Outreach Specialist, faust@battelleecology.org; Mike Long, Domain 20 Manager, mlong@battelleecology.org

Talk: The National Ecological Observatory Network: Ground Beetle (Coleoptera: Carabidae) Abundance and Diversity in Pu`u Maka`ala, Hawai`i Island

• Abstract: The National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON) is a continental-scale interdisciplinary observation facility designed to collect 30 years of open-access data to better understand how ecosystems are changing. Data are collected from 81 diverse field sites across the United States, including Pu`u Maka`ala (PUUM) Natural Area Reserve on Hawai`i Island. Across NEON, Carabidae are sampled as indicators of changing ecosystems due to their presence in many habitats, well-defined species richness gradients, sensitivity to disturbance, and influence on trophic structure. In Hawai`i, Carabidae are relatively understudied and repeated annual sampling for abundance and species diversity will provide insight into potential changes in Hawaiian ecosystems. Bi-weekly sampling from April to October started in 2019 and collections were from 3 pitfall traps in each of 10 plots distributed throughout PUUM. Preliminary results showed 1432 carabids in 2019 (13 species in 4 genera) and 422 carabids in COVID-abridged 2020 (13 species in 4 genera, including 2 newly collected species). Additionally, in 2020, there was a 24% increase in the proportion of non-native Trechus obtusus, which could signal declining native Carabidae. Future annual collections can provide better perspective of changes in beetle abundance and diversity over time. Specimens are archived at Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum in Honolulu, Hawai`i and are available for public review and analysis. Carabidae sampling is one example of NEON terrestrial, aquatic, and atmospheric data streams freely available (data.neonscience.org) for monitoring environmental change by researchers, educators, and students, and to inform land management and policy decisions.
• Date: Thursday July 29^th, 3:40PM HST (9:40PM EDT)
• Presenter: Sam Preer, Domain 20 Field Ecologist, preer@battelleecology.org