Date of Award
Summer 8-23-2025
Document Type
Masters Thesis
Degree Name
M.S. in Biological Sciences
Organizational Unit
College of Natural Science and Mathematics, Biological Sciences
First Advisor
Anna Sher
Second Advisor
Shannon Murphy
Third Advisor
Robin Tinghitella
Fourth Advisor
Jennifer Hoffman
Copyright Statement / License for Reuse
All Rights Reserved.
Keywords
Plant functional traits, Hawaii, Trait responses, Gulches
Abstract
To understand how abiotic conditions influence the expression of plant functional traits across different spatial scales, we compared plant functional traits at different elevations, habitat conditions, and regions within the Nature Conservancy’s Waikamoi Preserve in Maui, HI. We sampled plants from five sites in each of two regional bands spanning a range of elevations and habitat types. Using a species-agnostic approach, we tested community-level differences in functional traits including plant height, foliar stomatal density, and specific leaf area, to determine broader community-level patterns. Ultimately, we found that even slight differences in environment and geographic conditions resulted in significantly different community-level trait responses, most strongly shaped by the presence or absence of gulches. We also evaluated how representative trait data from public sources are by comparing values from our locally sampled Maui data with aggregated functional trait data from public sources. Our species mean trait values from Waikamoi, Maui were generally much smaller values across both traits and species, demonstrating the importance of local sampling in functional trait studies. Together these results show the value of incorporating local trait data and holistically evaluating landscape characteristics for studies on functional ecology on montane forest communities in the Hawaiian Islands.
Copyright Date
8-2025
Publication Statement
Copyright is held by the author. User is responsible for all copyright compliance.
Rights Holder
Hannah Louise Wilson
Provenance
Received from ProQuest
File Format
application/pdf
Language
English (eng)
Extent
83 pgs
File Size
6.2 MB
Recommended Citation
Wilson, Hannah Louise, "Plant Functional Ecology in the Hawaiian Islands" (2025). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 2657.
https://digitalcommons.du.edu/etd/2657