Trait-based approaches feature prominently in ecology, providing mechanistic insights into plant interactions with abiotic and biotic factors. Increasingly, traits are used in restoration and conservation to select species with target functions and to monitor performance in restoration settings. Physiological traits are rarely used, despite their clear relevance for restoration in the context of climate change. We provide rationale and guidance for the expanded integration of physiological traits (e.g., metabolic and energy transfer processes, gas exchange, nutrient dynamics, and hydraulics) into restoration to enhance resilience of terrestrial ecosystems to climate change. We identify traits mediating the tolerance of climate stressors, particularly drought, heat, and salinity due to sea level rise. Physiological traits are highly dynamic, within and among species, and this variability can be leveraged to inform species selection and monitoring efforts. Trait variability via phenotypic plasticity and climate stress thresholds offers key insights into plant performance and population stability under climate stress. Trait-based approaches complement existing restoration and conservation strategies, including those based on Indigenous ecological knowledge and resource management. Effective researcher-practitioner collaborations are essential to successfully integrate physiology into ecological restoration. Synthesis and applications. Climate stress is increasing globally, and physiological traits are critical for understanding stress tolerance in plants. Integrating physiology into restoration will contribute to climate resilience, but depends on partnerships between researchers and practitioners and will benefit from increased physiological trait sampling of more species, sites, and traits. Expanded trait coverage will enhance species selection and performance monitoring, improving restoration and species stabilization in a changing climate.

European colonialism altered the connections between First Peoples, local communities, and groundwater systems across the world. In many countries, the practice of hydrogeology remains intertwined with the economic agendas of colonial settler communities, making colonialism a useful lens through which to consider our work. This paper briefly summarizes connections between First Peoples, local communities and groundwater, as well as the role of groundwater as a resource in the process of European colonization. The key contemporary legacies of colonization pertaining to groundwater resource utilization and management are outlined, and established human rights that relate to the practice of hydrogeology are highlighted. The paper concludes with a call for more meaningful relationships between hydrogeologists and local communities, a broader practice of hydrogeology that respects and integrates traditional knowledge and community perspectives so that we can walk together into a better future.

In Hawai'i, sweetpotato cultivation is important for commercial markets and holds an important role in Indigenous Hawaiian and present-day multicultural food systems. Although Hawaiian heritage cultivars maintained in contemporary botanical collections include ancestral varieties from across the Hawaiian Islands, these have not been systematically evaluated for virus content. Collaborating with a local network, the 'Uala Working Group, we obtained 117 sweetpotato accessions, including Hawaiian heritage cultivars, from the National Tropical Botanical Garden (island of Kaua'i), Maui Nui Botanical Garden (island of Maui), Waimea Valley and Lyon Arboretum (island of O'ahu), and Amy Greenwell Ethnobotanical Garden (Hawai'i Island). Samples from each cultivar were tested for viral content via reverse transcription PCR for eight sweetpotato viruses: sweetpotato virus G (SPVG), sweetpotato feathery mottle virus (SPFMV), sweetpotato virus 2 (SPV2), sweetpotato virus C (SPVC), sweetpotato leaf curl virus (SPLCV), sweetpotato pakakuy virus (SPPV), sweetpotato symptomless virus 1 (SPSMV-1), and sweetpotato chlorotic stunt virus (SPCSV). Seven of the eight sweetpotato viruses tested for were present, making this the first documented occurrence of these viruses in Hawai'i, with the exception of SPVG (documented previously in 2008). High frequencies of the viruses were observed, with results confirming the presence of SPSMV-1 (92%), SPFMV (79%), SPPV (72%), SPVG (65%), SPV2 (44%), and SPLCV (26%), with SPVC showing the lowest frequency of occurrence at 10%. SPCSV was not observed in the sample set. The majority of heritage cultivars exhibited multiple infection combinations with double (11%), triple (23%), quadruple (31%), quintuple (25%), sextuple (4%), and septuple (0.8%) infections observed; less than 2.6% were virus free or hosted a single infection. Here, we report the incidence of sweetpotato viruses and prevalent virus strains in Hawaiian heritage cultivars, which has broad implications for conservation and cultivation of Hawaiian heritage sweetpotato across the Hawaiian Islands.

Pacific Islands present unique challenges for water resource management due to their environmental vulnerability, dynamic climates, and heavy reliance on groundwater. Quantifying connections between meteoric, ground-, and surface waters is critical for effective water resource management. Analyses of the stable isotopes of oxygen and hydrogen in the hydrosphere can help illuminate such connections. This study investigates the stable isotope composition of rainfall on O‘ahu in the Hawaiian Islands, with a particular focus on how altitude impacts stable isotope composition. Rainfall was sampled at 20 locations from March 2018 to August 2021. The new precipitation stable isotope data were integrated with previously published data to create the most spatially and topographically diverse precipitation collector network on O‘ahu to date. Results show that δ18O and δ2H values in precipitation displayed distinct isotopic signatures influenced by geographical location, season, and precipitation source. Altitude and isotopic compositions were strongly correlated along certain elevation transects, but these relationships could not be extrapolated to larger regions due to microclimate influences. Altitude and deuterium-excess were strongly correlated across the study region, suggesting d-excess may be a reliable proxy for precipitation elevation in local water tracer studies. Analysis of spring, rainfall, and fog stable isotope composition from Mount Ka‘ala suggests fog may contribute up to 45% of total groundwater recharge at the summit. These findings highlight the strong influence of microclimates on the stable isotope composition of rainfall, underscore the need for further investigation into fog's role in the water budget, and demonstrate the importance of stable isotope analysis for comprehending hydrologic dynamics in environmentally sensitive regions.

Global water systems are facing unprecedented pressures, including climate change-driven drought and escalating flood risk, environmental contamination, and over allocation. Water management and governance typically lack integration across spatial scales, including relationships between surface and ground water systems. They also routinely ignore connectivity across temporal scales, including the need for intergenerational water planning. As a global and interdisciplinary group of scientists, we seek to highlight how power and scale dynamics influence and determine water outcomes. We argue that attending to complex water systems challenges requires understanding the function and influence of power at different temporal and spatial scales. Building this understanding is key to designing multi-scalar, reflexive, and pluralistic policy solutions that avoid ineffective or unintended outcomes. We use a co-learning process to reveal important lessons for the challenge of interdisciplinary research and set a pluralist agenda for understanding power and scale in future water governance. This article is categorized under: Human Water > Water Governance Human Water > Water as Imagined and Represented Human Water > Methods

To understand community impacts and needs after the August 2023 Maui wildfires, we conducted a rapid survey-based field investigation two weeks after the incident.

Abstract Gridded air temperature data are required in various fields such as ecological modeling, weather forecasting, and surface energy balance assessment. In this work, a piecewise multiple linear regression model is used to produce high‐resolution (250 m) daily maximum (Tmax), minimum (Tmin), and mean (Tmean) near‐surface air temperature maps for the State of Hawaiʻi for a 32‐year period (1990–2021). Multiple meteorological and geographical variables such as the elevation, daily rainfall, coastal distance index, leaf area index, albedo, topographic position index, and wind speed are independently tested to determine the most well‐suited predictor variables for optimal model performance. During the mapping process, input data scarcity is addressed first by gap‐filling critical stations at high elevation using a predetermined linear relationship with other strongly‐correlated stations, and second, by supplementing the training dataset with station data from neighboring islands. Despite the numerous covariates physically linked to temperature, the most parsimonious model selection uses elevation as its sole predictor, and the inclusion of the additional variables results in increased cross‐validation errors. The mean absolute error of resultant estimated Tmax and Tmin maps over the Hawaiian Islands from 1990 to 2021 is 1.7°C and 1.3°C, respectively. Corresponding bias values are 0.01°C and −0.13°C, respectively for the same variables. Overall, the results show the proposed methodology can robustly generate daily air temperature maps from point‐scale measurements over complex topography.

The recent Land Back movement has catalysed global solidarity towards addressing the oppression and dispossession of Indigenous Peoples’ Lands and territories. Largely absent from the discourse, however, is a discussion of the alienation of Indigenous Peoples from Water by settler-colonial states. Some Indigenous Water Protectors argue that there cannot be Land Back without Water Back. In response to this emergent movement of Water Back, this review of research by Indigenous and non-Indigenous writers traces the discursive patterns of Indigenous Water relationships and rematriation across themes of colonialism, climate change, justice, health, rights, responsibilities, governance and cosmology. It advances a holistic conceptualization of Water Back as a framework for future research sovereignty, focusing mainly on instances in Canada, Australia, Aotearoa New Zealand, and the United States. We present the findings on the current global Waterscape of Indigenous-led research on Indigenous Water issues. Water Back offers an important framework centring Indigenous ways of knowing, doing, and being as a foundation for advancing Indigenous Water research.

The recent Land Back movement has catalysed global solidarity towards addressing the oppression and dispossession of Indigenous Peoples' Lands and territories. Largely absent from the discourse, however, is a discussion of the alienation of Indigenous Peoples from Water by settler-colonial states. Some Indigenous Water Protectors argue that there cannot be Land Back without Water Back. In response to this emergent movement of Water Back, this review of research by Indigenous and non-Indigenous writers traces the discursive patterns of Indigenous Water relationships and rematriation across themes of colonialism, climate change, justice, health, rights, responsibilities, governance and cosmology. It advances a holistic conceptualization of Water Back as a framework for future research sovereignty, focusing mainly on instances in Canada, Australia, Aotearoa New Zealand, and the United States. We present the findings on the current global Waterscape of Indigenous-led research on Indigenous Water issues. Water Back offers an important framework centring Indigenous ways of knowing, doing, and being as a foundation for advancing Indigenous Water research.

Sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas [L.] Lam.) is one of the most important staple crops globally with particular cultural and economic significance in the Hawaiian Islands, yet the extent to which traditional cultivars persist remains unknown. The objective of this study was to elucidate the relationships between traditional Hawaiian sweet potato varieties and cultivars that originated elsewhere in the world. We sought to characterize genetic and phenotypic diversity of sweet potatoes represented in the Hawaiian Islands. To this end, a genetic assignment analysis was conducted on a sample of 77 individuals that consisted of traditional Hawaiian, USDA NPGS accessions, and recent herbarium samples. Additionally, voucher specimens of Hawaiian cultivars from the early twentieth century were assessed for variation in leaf morphology. We identified several inconsistencies within the Hawaiian-named varieties, as identically named varieties turned out to be genetically distinct, and similarly named voucher specimens varied in leaf morphology. Our findings call attention to the value of a set of Hawaiian sweet potatoes as "heirloom." These genetically distinct traditional cultivars have unique value in local markets and present an opportunity to increase cultivar diversity in the markets and fields, support farmer income and diversified agriculture, all while contributing to reinvigoration of Hawaiian cultural heritage.

Maunakea, the proposed site of the Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT), is a lightning-rod topic for Native Hawaiians, Hawaii residents, and the international astronomy community. In this paper we, Native Hawaiian natural scientists and allies, identify historical decisions that impact current circumstances on Maunakea and provide approaches to acknowledging their presence. Our aim is to provide an Indigenous viewpoint centered in Native Hawaiian perspectives on the impacts of the TMT project on the Hawaiian community. We summarize the current Maunakea context from the perspective of the authors who are trained in the natural sciences (inclusive of and beyond astronomy and physics), the majority of whom are Native Hawaiian or Indigenous. We highlight three major themes in the conflict surrounding TMT: 1) physical demonstrations and the use of law enforcement against the protectors of Maunakea; 2) an assessment of the benefit of Maunakea astronomy to Native Hawaiians; and 3) the disconnect between astronomers and Native Hawaiians. We close with general short- and long- term recommendations for the astronomy community, which represent steps that can be taken to re-establish trust and engage in meaningful reciprocity and collaboration with Native Hawaiians and other Indigenous communities. Our recommendations are based on established best principles of free, prior, and informed consent and researcher-community interactions that extend beyond transactional exchanges. We emphasize that development of large-scale astronomical instrumentation must be predicated on consensus from the local Indigenous community about whether development is allowed on their homelands. Proactive steps must be taken to center Indigenous voices in the earliest stages of project design.

Mauna a Wākea is “ka makahiapo kapu na Wakea,” the sacred firstborn of the union of Papahānaumoku,1 She who is the foundation birthing islands, and Wākea, He who is the wide expanse of the heavens....

Climate change models project an increase in the frequency and duration of drought globally. Changes in rainfall are expected to have particularly detrimental effects on seedlings due to their inability to reach deep water sources. We conducted a greenhouse experiment to test how the timing of watering affects seedling performance, physiology, and morphology in a keystone island endemic tree, Metrosideros polymorpha. Seedlings were grown for 60 days in one of five conditions: control treatment with daily watering to 100% field capacity (FC), a 28-day pulse drought with no water, and three groups maintained at 80% FC and watered every 2, 7, or 14days. Seedling drought tolerance depended on the duration of drought; growth for plants watered to 80% FC every 2 or 14 days was comparable to 100% FC plants, but was reduced in the 28-day pulse drought and 7-day 80% FC. Survival was high in all treatments except the pulse drought. Stomatal conductance, chlorophyll content, and C:N ratio were positively related to height and biomass under drought. Traits associated with resource investment, fluorescence, and water use were plastic in their expression, shifting under drought compared to control conditions. M. polymorpha seedlings exhibit trait plasticity that allows them to tolerate drought, but its duration and intensity influence their survival and growth. Our results highlight the need for experimental studies manipulating temporal variation in water with explicit consideration of the role of trait plasticity in drought tolerance.