Inventory of the Ferns and Fern Allies of Hawaii

Regents Of The University Of Michigan - Ann Arbor, Ann Arbor MI

Investigators

Abstract

Inventory of the Ferns and Fern Allies of Hawaii In Hawaii ferns and fern allies make up approximately one-sixth of the total native vascular flora and comprise a very important element of the vegetation. Unfortunately, there is no modern inventory of these plants. Many are poorly known and understood, and many are rare, threatened, or endangered. The objective of this project is to complete and publish a manual containing a description and key to identification of the species, varieties, and hybrids of all the ferns and fern allies of Hawaii. The manual will complement the two-volume "Manual of the Flowering Plants of Hawaii" by W. L. Wagner (no relation), D. R. Herbst, and S. H. Sohmer (1990). Descriptions of 70 percent of the species have been completed with support of two previous NSF grants, but problems exist in determining the names and relationships of many of the remaining taxa. Field surveys in Hawaii will be made and herbarium collections will be studied, especially at the Bishop Museum, Honolulu. Volunteer botanists in Hawaii have already augmented our knowledge of existing species, finding some that were thought to be extinct. Explorations by them in seemingly inaccessible locations will contribute substantially to the completion of the manual. Photocopies of fresh specimens collected in the field will be used for illustrations in the manual. Duplicate specimens will be distributed to herbaria throughout the world. A database for Hawaiian ferns will be developed. The Hawaiian ferns suggests taxonomic problems beyond the scope of the manual. The islands are geographically the most isolated in the world, and, without land bridges to the continents, the ferns have adapted and evolved in diverse ways. A complete manual of the ferns and fern allies will encourage and enable botanists to study questions of their origin and evolution. Hawaii has many naturalists and non-professional botanists who, for years, have been asking for a manual with which to identify this important element of the vegetation, before the invasion of exotic species and encroaching development eliminate more of this flora.