The Hawaiian islands have an extraordinary endemic biota. Modern ecological and evolutionary studies of this biota are limited by logistic problems of remote locations and the absence of field stations near those locations. Critical conservation studies of endangered species are similarly limited. With initial funding from the World Environment and Resources Program of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the University of Hawaii is constructing a biological field station at Hakalau Forest National Wildlife Refuge on the Island of Hawaii. The 33,000 acre refuge, located at 6000 ft elevation on the eastern slope of Mauna Kea, contains 6 species of Hawaiian Honeycreepers in old growth ohia-koa forest, 5 additional species of native birds, the hoary bat, and 6 species of endangered or candidate plants. This will be the first field station in the state of Hawaii that is located in a remote area near the significant biota and that is designed for education as well as research. The objective of this proposal is to complete construction of two major buildings and outfit the station with an initial phase of appropriate furnishings and equipment. Funds would be used to finish a dormitory building that can sleep 20 people and a main building that has a kitchen, large diningall purpose room, 2 offices, a laboratory, and a workroom. The current state of the buildings is advanced framing. The remote location requires rural technology for production and storage of electricity, and for collection and use of water. The location also requires wheel-drive vehicles. Furnishings for the buildings include office furniture, chests of drawers, and tables and chairs for meeting and dining. The general design of the finished facility provides user friendly conditions for long-term residents: vehicles to get to remote study sites; simple but comfortable sleeping and eating conditions; gathering places; power, space, and equipment for working indoors during the evening and du ring inclement weather; a cellular telephone; and a washing machine. The first phase of new scientific equipment includes computer workstations. These will enable residents to be productive during evenings and foul weather. The computers will also be the sites of curation of long-term data sets that documemt the ecological heterogeneity on established study areas on the refuge. They will eventually be integrated with a series of weather stations in established study areas and a GPSGIS system as part of a future second phase of equipping.
