Collaborative Research: Addressing knowledge and capacity shortfalls to advance conservation science and action for endangered native Hawaiian land flora and fauna.

Pomona College, Claremont CA

Investigators

Abstract

On average, an estimated 200 species of plants and animals go extinct each day because of habitat destruction, overexploitation, invasive species, disease, and climate change. Many of these species existed long before humans. They evolved to fill critical roles in ecosystems on which humanity relies for food, clean air, clean water, fertile soils, and a host of other services that make life possible and comfortable on this planet. For decades conservation efforts have focused primarily on saving select species. Unfortunately, such approaches do not encompass the bulk of biodiversity or the more complex interactions among species. These approaches leave gaps in scientific understanding of ecosystem level processes and interactions needed to implement effective conservation actions. This is especially evident for high diversity but poorly studied groups like snails, which account for the highest number of recorded extinctions in human history. Hawaiian Island land snails include some of the most diverse groups of snails on the planet. They are also among the most heavily impacted by extinction, with more than half of the more than 750 known species already lost. Saving the remaining species and restoring these jewels of the Hawaiian forests requires knowledge of species interactions and their ecological requirements. Understanding why land snails live where they do, what they feed on, and what their other habitat requirements are is critical to successful captive rearing of the remaining species and to returning them to the wild in protected and restored habitats. In addition, this project will help fill the human resource capacity shortfall by providing conservation experiences and broadening participation of groups underrepresented in science and conservation specifically. Students and researchers will engage and contribute to a broader understanding of ecology, applied conservation, and the biology of lesser-known groups like snails. At a deeper community level, this will expand knowledge and engagement with indigenous practices and ways of understanding. Hawaiian land snails hold deep cultural presence and Hawaiians hold generations of natural history insights about the natural world. This project will help bridge biocultural land snail knowledge with physical objects, natural history data, and genomics. Collectively, this will increase stewardship and sustainability of environmental resources, support conservation management efforts through indigenous value systems, and instill appreciation and protection of our precious resources for generations. Researchers will incorporate studies in microbial genomics, field ecology, and captive rearing diets that address the most urgent knowledge gaps in Hawaiian land snail ecology. By examining resource preferences and feeding ecology of Hawaiian lands snails this project will 1) determine snail feeding preferences on bacteria and fungi that grow on their native host plants; 2) characterize the microbial communities that likely form key components of snail diets; and 3) identify preferred plants and microbial communities that improve snail survivorship and breeding in captivity. The data gathered will be used to expand captive rearing capacity, restore degraded habitats with preferred plant resources, and build long term capacity for effective land snail conservation in Hawaii. Knowing which microbial assemblages enhance snail survivorship, growth, and fecundity will provide conservationists with a powerful tool to assess quality of snail habitat. It will also enable restoration practitioners to create habitats to support extant populations in the wild. This project is being supported via a joint program involving the Divisions of Environmental Biology and Integrative Organismal Systems and the Paul G. Allen Family Foundation. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.