First progress report and second-year budget, International Biological Program (IBP), Hawaii Terrestrial Biology subprogram

Abstract

The Hawaii subprogram of the U.S. Contribution to IBP was funded six months ago, in June 1970. It is one of three subprograms of the "Origin and Structure of Ecosystems Integrated Research Program" under the directorship of W. Frank Blair. Each of the subprograms has passed the IBP and NSF requirements of an integrated research program (IRP). The subprograms are: 1. Evolutionary and Ecological Diversity Subprogram (C. Nelson, Director); 2. Hawaii Terrestrial Biology Subprogram; 3. Structure of Ecosystems Subprogram (O. Solbrig, Director). Common to these three subprograms is the intent to integrate the study areas of ecology and evolution. Problems of ecosystems structure and development form the underlying theme. Ecologically, questions of species diversity, niche utilization and life form interaction are in the foreground of consideration. Evolutionarily, questions of factors, mechanisms and rates of speciation are pursued. More specifically, the Hawaii IBP has four general objectives. The two ecological objectives are: 1. to gain an understanding of selected Hawaiian ecosystems in terms of structural interaction and to assemble these into functional models; 2. to investigate the relative stability of these ecosystems. The two evolutionary objectives are: 3. to gain an understanding of speciation by comparison of taxa that have highly speciated with others that have not; 4. to investigate their rates of speciation. These four objectives are further detailed by a number of hypotheses presented in our funded proposal of February 2, 1970. These hypotheses evolved from previous and ongoing research, and they were scrutinized for their testability.