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Abstract
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Flammable, invasive grasses have changed the island landscape, say its shaken scientists.
In the wake of a series of powerful wildfires that ripped through Maui's dry forests and the historic city of Lahaina this week killing more than 100 people, researchers on the island remain concerned about the personal fallout for fellow scientists and their families. Some are reeling from disruption to their projects: Studies of whales may be disrupted, for example, and a rare plant facility sustained damage. "We're still wrapping our heads around what this really means, because right now, most of us are still in shock," says marine mammal ecologist Marc Lammers. "And, of course, we're thinking about our colleagues."
The fires, which have burned since Tuesday night, began when a host of complex factors combined to reach a flash point, says Scott Fisher, a restoration ecologist at the Hawaii Land Trust. Maui has been in the throes of a drought for several years, he notes. That was compounded by what Fisher called "exceptional" winds on the island this week--augmented by Hurricane Dora passing southwest of the Hawaiian archipelago--a plethora of highly combustible invasive plants, and the fires sparking on the island's western side, where the forests are drier than elsewhere. It was a "perfect recipe for disaster," says ecologist Carla D'Antonio of the University of California, Santa Barbara...
Language: en |