Fire and nonnative species in Hawai‘i

Clay Trauernicht, PhD University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa

Annual area burned has increased 300%

Hawaiian fire regimes are changing

Ignitions

ClimateFIRE
REGIME

Vegetation

Hawaiian fire regimes are changing
Wet and dry cycles
Long-term drying trends

Ignitions

ClimateFIRE
REGIME

Vegetation

Hawaiian fire regimes are changing
99% Human-caused ignitions
Wet and dry cycles
Long-term drying trends

Ignitions

ClimateFIRE
REGIME

Vegetation

Hawaiian fire regimes are changing
99% Human-caused ignitions
Wet and dry cycles
Long-term drying trends

Ignitions

ClimateFIRE
REGIME

Vegetation

Unmanaged, nonnative
grasslands & shrublands

Hawaiian fire regimes are changing

Unmanaged, nonnative
grasslands & shrublandsforestdeveloped

grassland
agriculture
Hawaiian ecosystems
wetlandshrublandsparseHawaiian ecosystems à 1.3 million acres
Nonnative ecosystems à 1.5 million acres>1 million acres of “grass-dominated” vegetation(Trauernicht et al. 2015. Pacific Science)waterforestforestgrasslandgrasslanddeveloped
developed
agriculture
agriculture

Hawaiian ecosystems
Hawaiian ecosystems
wetlandwetlandshrublandshrublandsparsesparseHawaiian ecosystems à 1.3 million acres
Nonnative ecosystems à 1.5 million acres>1
Activemillion
ranchlands
acres ofà“grass-dominated”
750,000 acres
vegetation
Fires!
Current fencing:(1999-2020)
Hawaiian ecosystems
36,000ecosystemsà300,000
acresacres(23%)
grasslands/shrublands
Nonnative ecosystems à 60,000
158,000
acresacres
forests(Sparse land cover à 160,00023,000
acres) acres
Future fencing:
Hawaiian ecosystemsà42,000 acres
Nonnative ecosystems à 22,000 acres

waterwater

Why Hawai‘i is burning points to systemic problems

What should land care look like?

What we have:
SOCIAL INFRASTRUCTURE
Relationships across agencies
Engaged communities
Educational resources
Community-informed plans
Fire threat

www.hawaiiwildfire.org

What we have:
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY FUNDAMENTALS:High resolution fire history data
Current and Future Fire Probability Maps
Fuels Maps
Climate Data
Best practices for post-fire, fuels mitigation, etc.
Fire threat

Fire effects

What we have:
LOCAL KNOWLEDGE FOR FUELS MANAGEMENT
Traditional agriculture
Ecosystem restoration
Plant propagation
GRAZINGKa‘ala FarmWeeds vs Resources

Bulla Iaea’s farm

forestdeveloped

grassland
agriculture
Hawaiian ecosystems
wetlandshrublandsparseHawaiian ecosystems à 1.3 million acres
Nonnative ecosystems à 1.5 million acres>1 million acres of “grass-dominated” vegetationwaterforestdeveloped

grassland
agriculture
Hawaiian ecosystems
wetlandshrublandsparseHawaiian ecosystems à 1.3 million acres
Nonnative ecosystems à 1.5 million acres>1 million acres of “grass-dominated” vegetation
Active ranchlands à 750,000 acres

waterWhat we need
“FIRE-ADAPTED COMMUNITIES”
COMMUNITY ACTIONSEFFECTIVENESS

SPEED

OTHER
COST BENEFITS

Improving ingress/Egress

HIGH

SLOW

HIGH All hazards

Retrofitting/hardening homes

MED

SLOW

HIGH

Updated Vulnerability
Assessment

MED

FAST

LOW

Landscaping codes/standards

MED

FAST

LOW

Fire effects

What we need“Fire-Resilient Landscapes”
LANDSCAPE ACTIONSEFFECTIVENESS

SPEED

COST

OTHER BENEFITSAgricultural expansion/
restoration

HIGH

MED

MED

Jobs, Food security

MED

Biodiversity,
Ecosystems
Biodiversity,
Farming

Green breaks/
Reforestation

HIGH

SLOW

Watershed/stream
restoration

HIGH

MED

HIGHGrazing
Fuel break networks

MED
MED

FAST
FAST

LOW
MED

Jobs, Food security
Fire effects

What we need“Fire-Resilient Landscapes”
UTILITY ACTIONSEFFECTIVENESS

SPEED

COST

OTHER BENEFITS

Underground utilities

HIGH

SLOW

HIGH

All Hazards

Diptank expansion

HIGH

MED

LOW

Multi-use

Reservoir restoration

MED

MED

HIGH

Multi-use

Depowering protocols

LOW

FAST

LOW

Fire effects

What we need
Regulation, Enforcement, Funding
REGULATION/LEGISLATION
Resources for enforcement

EFFECTIVENESS
HIGH

SPEED
MED

OTHER
COST BENEFITSMED Revenues?

State Fuels Mitigation FundHIGH

FASTMatching
MED funds

Updated codes/statutes

HIGH

FAST

LOW Revenues?

MEDMatching
MED funds

State Post-fire Response Fund

MED

Fire threat

Fire effects

What we need
Dedicated Fire and Land Care Programs
PROGRAMMATIC ACTIONSEFFECTIVENESS

SPEED

OTHER
COST BENEFITS

Fire threat
Cross-boundary planningLand Care Program Funding(HAWP, DOFAW, ISCS)

HIGH
HIGH

MED

LOW All Hazards

MED

Jobs, AllMED Hazards

Public education

MED

MED

School
LOW curricula

Increased firefighting resources

MED

MED

MED

Fire effects

What we needSCIENCE TECHNOLOGY ACTIONS

NEED

SPEED

COST BENEFITS

Water resources assessment

HIGH

FAST

LOW

Agriculture

Plant Materials Capacity assessment

HIGH

FAST

LOW

Seed production/storage

HIGH

MED

MED

Underway
Biodiversity,
Ecosystems

Green Break Trials

HIGH

MED

MED

Fire Assessment/Mapping

MED

FAST

LOW

Existing
capacityFire threat

What should land care look like?

Clay Trauernicht
Extension Specialist in Ecosystems and Fire
trauerni@hawaii.edu

https://www.kumupono.com/lahaina/