Hawaii Biological Survey

Hawaii Biological Survey
Name	Hawaii Biological Survey
Formation	1992
Type	Research program
Location	Honolulu, Hawaiʻi
Parent organization	Bishop Museum

Hawaii Biological Survey is a statewide inventory program based in Honolulu, Hawaiʻi, dedicated to documenting the biota of the Hawaiian Archipelago. It operates as a coordinated initiative involving the Bishop Museum, the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, the State of Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources, and other institutions to compile species records, specimen collections, and distributional data. The program informs conservation planning, natural resource management, and taxonomic research across the islands and nearby atolls.

History and organization

The survey was established through collaborations among the Bishop Museum, the University of Hawaiʻi system, and the Department of Land and Natural Resources (Hawaii), influenced by statewide concerns voiced in policy forums such as the Hawaii State Legislature and advisory committees linked to the Nature Conservancy and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Early leadership included curators and researchers connected to the Honolulu Academy of Arts (now part of Bishop Museum activities) and field biologists with ties to international institutions such as the Smithsonian Institution and the California Academy of Sciences. Organizational structure aligns collection management at Bishop Museum with survey coordination through university and state partners; projects often receive support from agencies like the National Science Foundation and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Mission and objectives

The survey's mission emphasizes comprehensive documentation of species across terrestrial, freshwater, and marine habitats in the Hawaiian Islands, including the Main Hawaiian Islands, Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, and remote atolls such as Kure Atoll and Midway Atoll. Objectives include maintaining specimen-based inventories at repositories like the Bishop Museum Herbarium and entomological collections, producing checklists used by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, informing Endangered Species Act assessments, and supporting invasive species detection in coordination with the Hawaii Invasive Species Council. The program engages taxonomists associated with journals and societies such as the Pacific Science Association and leverages partnerships with botanical gardens like the National Tropical Botanical Garden.

Research and survey programs

Research spans taxonomic revisions, biogeographic analyses, and targeted field surveys. Taxonomists working on plant groups coordinate with the International Association for Plant Taxonomy standards and collaborate with experts at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and the New York Botanical Garden. Invertebrate and vertebrate surveys involve entomologists and herpetologists linked to the Entomological Society of America and the Herpetologists' League. Marine programs coordinate with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Hawaiian field offices and research vessels associated with the University of Hawaiʻi Sea Grant College Program. Long-term monitoring projects are informed by methodologies from the Global Biodiversity Information Facility and datasets comparable to those curated by the Museum of Comparative Zoology.

Collections and databases

Specimens collected by the survey are curated at the Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum collections, the University of Hawaiʻi Herbarium (HAW), and partner repositories such as the Hawaiʻi Department of Land and Natural Resources Natural Area Reserves System holdings. Digital databases include specimen records, georeferenced occurrence data, and photographic archives; these are shared with aggregators like the Global Biodiversity Information Facility and used in analyses with tools developed by institutions such as the Smithsonian Institution's data services and the Atlas of Living Australia for comparative biogeography. Molecular vouchers deposited in collaboration with sequencing centers link to resources such as the National Center for Biotechnology Information databases and support phylogeographic studies with colleagues at the Australian National University and the University of California, Berkeley.

Conservation and policy impact

Survey outputs inform conservation actions by agencies and organizations including the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Hawaii Department of Agriculture, the Nature Conservancy (United States), and municipal authorities in Honolulu County, Hawaii and county governments of the County of Hawaiʻi. Scientific evidence from the survey has supported listings under the Endangered Species Act and management plans for critical areas such as Haleakalā National Park and Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park, and has influenced invasive species responses coordinated with the Interagency Invasive Species Working Group. The program's data contribute to regional assessments produced for international conventions such as the Convention on Biological Diversity and inform restoration projects conducted by groups like the Kupu (organization) and community-based ʻahupuaʻa initiatives.

Public outreach and education

Public engagement includes citizen-science initiatives, field workshops, and exhibitions at the Bishop Museum and outreach partnerships with the University of Hawaiʻi Outreach College and K–12 educators in collaboration with the Hawaiʻi State Department of Education. The survey supports training for emerging taxonomists through fellowships and internships tied to programs at the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo and field courses linked to the Pacific Cooperative Studies Unit. Educational materials and talks have been presented at venues such as the Honolulu Zoo and community centers in neighborhoods like Kakaʻako and Waikīkī to raise awareness of native species, cultural connections to biodiversity noted by practitioners of Hawaiian ethnobotany, and local stewardship efforts.

Category:Natural history of Hawaii Category:Biological surveys Category:Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum