More than 100 people now known to have died when wildfires swept through the Hawai'ian town of Lāhainā.

One hundred and fourteen people, including a number of children, are now known to have died as wildfires swept through the town of Lāhainā on the west coast of the island of Maui, Hawai'i, on 8 August 2023. Around 1300 people are still missing following the fires, leading to fears that the total number of dead will be much higher, possibly even in excess of 1000. The remains of the town are currently being searched by rescue teams with specially trained Cavender Dogs, but the huge are affected by the fires, means that this task is likely to take a long time. Furthermore, once bodies have been found, identifying the victims of fires is seldom simple, and often reliant on dental or DNA evidence, so that it will take even longer to know exactly who has perished. At the time of writing only about ten of the fire's victims have been identified.

The remains of the town of Lāhainā, which was destroyed by fire on 8 August 2023. Patrick Fallon/Agency France Press/Getty Images.

Hawaii had been suffering from a prolonged period of drought before the fires broke out, with sixteen percent of Maui officially being in a state of severe drought at the beginning of August 2023, part of a general trend towards a warmer, drier climate being experienced on the islands, associated with global warming. The danger of fires has been made worse by the amount of abandoned agricultural land on lowland parts of Maui, which have largely been overtaken by invasive species such as Guinea Grass, Megathyrsus maximus, which produce more dry, fire-prone vegetation than native Hawai'ian flora, and which are not managed to prevent fire propagation in the way that managed crops are.

Burning vegetation in rural Kihei, Maui, on 8 August 2023. Kahunapule Michael Johnson/Flikr/Wikimedia Commons.

On 8 August 2023 a high pressure system had been settled over Maui for several days, bringing with it hotter, drier conditions, when Hurricane Dora (essentially a giant low pressure system) passed about 1100 km to the south of the island. The pressure difference between the two systems led to high winds blowing across the Hawai'ian islands, even though the storm was a long way away, creating perfect conditions for the spread of any fire through the dry vegetation.

Graphic detailing wind direction and intensity during the early morning of 8 August 2023. Locations of significant fire reports, as well as significant wind gusts are labelled. Wikimedia Commons.

On 8 August a number of fires had broken out in the interior of Maui, many of them caused by power lines brought down by the high winds, and all spreading rapidly through the dry vegetation. This led to many fire-fighters being called away from the island's coastal towns. A fire was detected to the east of Lāhainā at 6.37 am, and a number of areas evacuated, but this was thought to have been contained by 9.00 am, and people returned to their homes. At 3.30 pm the fire flared up again, and while some evacuations were carried out, other people were advised in their homes. High winds prevented fire-fighters from containing the blaze, which reached the main part of the town by 4.40, and the Pacific Ocean by 5.45. 

The remains of buildings on the waterfront at Lāhainā.  Patrick Fallon/Agency France Press/Getty Images.

The failure to order a prompt evacuation at Lāhainā has been widely cited as a major contributor to the large number of deaths that occurred there. The town had a disaster evacuation process in place, with regularly rested sirens and a system of text and social media alerts, but this was not activated, so that when many people tried to flee they found roads blocked. The head of the Maui Emergency Management Agency, Herman Andaya (who has since resigned) defended this decision, citing fears that the sirens, which are primarily used for tsunami warnings, might send people in the wrong direction, although this does not explain the failure to send messages via text or social media, which can be more nuanced.

See also...

Follow Sciency Thoughts on Facebook.

Follow Sciency Thoughts on Twitter.

Californian man killed by Shark off Hawai'ian beach.

A 65-year-old Californian man has died after being attacked by a Shark off Ka'anapali Shores Beach in western Maui on Saturday 25 May 2019. The as yet unnamed man was reportedly swimming about 60 m from shore when he was attacked, with rescue workers responding promptly after being alerted by witnesses at a hotel overlooking the beach. The man was recovered from the water promptly, but had apparently lost his left leg below the knee, and could not be resuscitated.

Warning sign on a Hawai'ian beach following a Shark attack this week. CNN.

Despite their fearsome reputation, attacks by Sharks are relatively rare. Most attacks on Humans by Sharks are thought to be mistakes, made by species that feed principally on Marine Mammals (which we superficially resemble when we enter the water), gaining the majority of their nutrition from the thick adipose (fat) layers of these animals (which we lack). Due to this, when Sharks do attack Humans these attacks are often broken off without the victim being consumed. Such attacks frequently result in severe injuries, but are seldom immediately fatal, with victims likely to survive if they receive immediate medical attention.

See also...

Follow Sciency Thoughts on Facebook.

Melicope oppenheimeri: A new species of Citrus from West Maui, Hawaii.

Citrus Trees and Shrubs of the genus Melicope are found across tropical Asia and the Islands of the Pacific to Australia, New Zealand and Hawaii. They are variously known as Corkwoods, Doughwoods, Euodoias, Alani, Melicopes or Peleas. The plants are hosts to many species of Insects and other invertebrates, including many species of Butterfly and Moth Caterpillars, and Beetles and their larvae, making them an important part of the ecosystems in which they are found. However many species in Hawaii are threatened by habitat loss and competition from invasive plants.

In a paper published in the journal PhytoKeys on 25 August 2016, Kenneth Wood of the National Tropical Botanical Garden, Marc Appelhans of the Department of Systematic Botany at the University of Göttingen and the Department of Botany at the Smithsonian Institution, and Warren Wagner, also of the Department of Botany at the Smithsonian Institution, describe a new species of Melicope from Wailuku District in West Maui, Hawaii.

The new species is named Melicope oppenheimeri, in honour of Hank Oppenheimer of the Maui Nui Plant Extinction Prevention Program, who collected the first specimens of the plant. The new species is a small tree reaching 3-4 m in height, producing flowers and fruit more-or-less year round.

Melicope oppenheimeri. (A) Flowering branch, (B) Inflorescence, (C) Undehisced fruit, showing beaked carpels, (D) Fruit, partly open, (E) Fruit, fully opened (F) Fruit endocarp showing venation and hairs. Alice Tangerini in Wood et al. (2016).

Only seven trees of Melicope oppenheimeri were found, growing in the upper part of the Waihe‘e Valley at an elevation of about 770 m. Only three of these trees currently survive, and no further trees have been found, though the site where the trees were growing was accessable only by helicopter. The area is considered to be degraded by ferral Pigs, Sus scrofa, which have been introduced to the island, and which modify their environement by their foraging in ways which are highly detrimental to native Hawai'ian plants, as well as by numerous non-native plants which survive well in Pig-modified environments.

Habit of Melicope oppenheimeri. Hank Oppenheimer in Wood et al. (2016).

Due to the very low number of Melicope oppenheimeri specimens known and the disturbance to the ecosystem in which the plants were found, the species is cosidered to be Critically Endangered under the terms of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature's Red List of Threatened Species.

 

Melicope oppenheimeri (A) Flowers (B) Fruit, showing beaked carpels. Hank Oppenheimer in Wood et al. (2016).

See also...

   

Coprosma cordicarpa: A new species of Pilo from Hawai‘i.                                             Pilos, Comprosma spp., are fruiting plants related to the Coffees, Coffea spp., found on Pacific islands from Borneo to the Juan Fernández Islands, with the maximum diversity occuring in New Zealand, where there are 55 recorded species. Pilos range from trailing woody shrubs to small trees, and produce a...

A new species of Burr Marigold from Rapa in the Austral Islands, French Polynesia.           The Austral Islands are a group of eight volcanic islands to the south of the Society Islands in the southern Pacific Ocean. Rapa is the second largest of these, covering about 40 km², and reaching...

A new species of Hibiscus from Maui Island, Hawaii.                                                   Hibiscus trees of the genus Hibiscadelphus are known only from the Hawaiian Islands, to which they are endemic. Like many Hawaiian plants and animals...

Follow Sciency Thoughts on Facebook.

Coprosma cordicarpa: A new species of Pilo from Hawai‘i.

Pilos, Comprosma spp., are fruiting plants related to the Coffees, Coffea spp., found on Pacific islands from Borneo to the Juan Fernández Islands, with the maximum diversity occuring in New Zealand, where there are 55 recorded species. Pilos range from trailing woody shrubs to small trees, and produce a berry-like fruit with two seeds. These fruits are sometimes eaten (particularly the larger ones), and occasionally used to make a Coffee-like drink. The leaves of some Pilos give off a dung-like smell when crushed.

In a paper published in the journal PhytoKeys on 11 February 2016, Jason Cantley of the Department of Biology at Bucknell University and the Department of Botany at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa, Margaret Sporck-Koehler of the Division of Forestry and Wildlife of the State of Hawai‘i and the Department of Botany at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa, and Marian Chau of the Lyon Arboretum Hawaiian Rare Plant Program and Department of Botany at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa, describe a new species of Pilo from Maui.

The new species is named Coprosma cordicarpa, meaning 'heart-shaped fruit, inreference to the shape of the berries. Coprosma cordicarpa is a shrub reaching 2-7 m in height. It was found growing on thesouthern slopes of Haleakalā (East Maui) volcano, with five separate populations between 1000 and 2000 m above sea-level, streteched ut in a rough line 21 km in length from the Kanaio Natural Area Reserve in the eastto the Kaupō Gap Trail in the west.

Field images of Coprosma cordicarpa. (A) Habit and habitat of whole plant with Jason Cantly. (B) Male stem and inflorescences. (C) Female stem and inflorescences. (D–F) Fruits illustrating population variation in color and degree of calyx connation. (A–C), (E) From Kanaio Natural Area Reserve. (D), (F) from Auwahi. Black scale bar at bottom right indicates the following lengths: 0.5 m (A), 1.5 cm (B–C), (E–F), 5 cm (D), 2 cm. Cantly et al. (2016).

Due to the low numbers of Coprosma cordicarpa observed, and its scattered distribition over a very limited range, in an area where much of the environement has been degraded by invasive, introduced animals (particularly Goats) and plants (particularly Kikuyu Grass), leads Cantly et al. to conclude that Coprosma cordicarpa should be considered to be Vulnerable under the terms of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature’s Red List of Threatened Species.

See also...

Sommera cusucoana: A new species of Sommera from Honduras.                    Sommeras are tropical shrubs or small trees belonging to the Rubiaceae (the same group as plants as Coffee) found in tropical rainforests and occasionally dry Oak forests in Central and South...

A new species of Hibiscus from Maui Island, Hawaii.                                                   Hibiscus trees of the genus Hibiscadelphus are known only from the Hawaiian Islands, to which they are endemic. Like many...

Follow Sciency Thoughts on Facebook. 

A new species of Hibiscus from Maui Island, Hawaii.

Hibiscus trees of the genus Hibiscadelphus are known only from the Hawaiian Islands, to which they are endemic. Like many Hawaiian plants and animals they have fared badly due to human activities, notably the introduction of non-native species that either outcompete indigenous species or modify their environment irreversibly. Of seven previously described species of Hibiscadelphus, four are believed to be extinct, two survive only in cultivation, while one only has two surviving wild populations, each of 15-20 individuals.

In a paper published in the journal Phytokeys on 25 July 2014, Hank Oppenheimer and Keahi Bustamente of the Plant Extinction Prevention Program at the Department of Botany at the University of Hawai'i, Manoa and Steven Perlman of the National Tropical Botanical Garden in Kalaheo, describe a new species of Hibiscadelphus from West Maui.

The new species is named Hibiscadelphus stellatus, meaning ‘star shaped’, a reference to the pattern of the hairs on its leaves which are arranged in star-shaped clumps, and the bracts which surround its flowers. Hibiscadelphus stellatus is a small tree reaching 3-6 m in height, with many branches and smooth bark.

Hibiscadelphus stellatus. (A) Habit. (B) Flowers and leaves. (C) View of bracts illustrating stellate arrangement. (D) Close-up of flower. Oppenheimer et al. (2014).

Hibiscadelphus stellatus was found growing only on steep rocky slopes at altitudes of between 800 m and 900 m; the slopes all had a windward aspect, and the trees were midslope, between the upper rim of a deep valley and a stream at its bottom, in areas of mosaic tree and shrubland with an open canopy, growing on volcanic basalt derived soils. The trees were observed in February and April, when they were producing buds, flowers, immature and mature fruit; the flowers opened in the middle of the day and produced abundant nectar.

Hibiscadelphus stellatus. (A) Habit. (B) Flower bud. (C) Surface of calyx showing stellate hairs. (D) Flower. (E) Surface of corolla showing two sizes of stellate hairs. (F) Fruit. (G) Longitudinal section of fruit showing seed. Oppenheimer et al. (2014).

Only three populations of Hibiscadelphus stellatus are known, comprising 25, 40 and 23 plants respectively. All three populations are within 400 m of one-another. Seeds were collected from twelve plants representing all three populations, and are being raised at the Olinda Rare Plant Facility on Maui, National Tropical Botanical Garden on Kaua`i and the Lyon Arboretum on O`ahu. The area where the trees was found is judged to be at risk of fire, draught and a variety of invasive species, including Rats, Mice, Slugs, Sand Weevils, Caterpillars, Goats, Pigs and fire-adapted Grasses (Grasses that can survive periodic burning, which kills native Hawaiian plants, thereby allowing the Grasses to spread and colonize new areas).

Distribution map showing known locations of Hibiscadelphus stellatus on West Maui. Oppenheimer et al. (2014).

Hibiscadelphus stellatus is judged to be Endangered under the terms of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature’s Red List of Threatened Species.

See also…

 A new species of Rust Fungus from the Chatham Islands.

The Chatham Island Forget-me-not (Myosotidium hortensium) is a robust perennial herbaceous plant found in coastal habitats in the Chatham Islands, a remote group of islands roughly 860 km east of Christchurch, New Zealand. The plant of interest to botanists and biogeographers, since its closest known...

 The Freckled Cypripedium classified as Endangered.

The International Union for the Conservation of Nature published its annual update of its Red List of Threatened Species on Thursday 12 June 2014, marking the 50th year of the list's existence, and revising...

 Governor Laffan's Fern declared Extinct in the Wild.

The International Union for the Conservation of Nature published its annual update of its Red List of Threatened Species on Thursday 12 June 2014, marking the 50th year of the list's existence, and...

Follow Sciency Thoughts on Facebook.