Environment
Bringing multiple values to the table: assessing future land-use and climate change in North Kona, Hawai‘i
As ecosystem service assessments increasingly contribute to decisions about managing Earth’s lands and waters, there is a growing need to understand the diverse ways that people use and value landscapes. However, these assessments rarely incorporate the value of landscapes to communities with strong cultural and generational ties to place, precluding inclusion of these values—alongside others—into […]
Read MoreDoes the Allocation of Property Rights Matter in the Commons?
A popular solution to the Tragedy of the Commons is to create private property rights to access the commons. If resource users care about equity, they may be unwilling to respect property rights regimes that lead to less equitable outcomes. We explore in a series of laboratory experiments whether it is possible to undermine the efficiency of property rights […]
Read MoreBringing multiple values to the table in local decision making – NSF Coastal SEES
By Leah Bremer “Want to carry one up?” the natural resource management team with Limahuli gardens in Haʻēna, Kauaʻi asks us as they hand out potted endangered plant seedlings before our hike up the trail toward one of their native forest restoration areas. We arrive 30 minutes later to the first restoration plot and are […]
Read MoreA Scoping Study for Climate Action Planning in Kauaʻi
This report documents best practices for county-level climate action plans (CAPs), with considerations for Kaua‘i. A CAP is primarily a process by which a jurisdiction agrees upon greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction strategies and policies. This report is based on the gathering of studies and protocols addressing climate action planning and GHG mitigation best practices.
Read MoreJoint Management of an Interconnected Coastal Aquifer and Invasive Tree
Kiawe (Prosopis pallida), a mesquite tree considered invasive in many parts of the world including Hawai‘i, has been shown to reduce regional groundwater levels via deep taproots. In areas where aquifers are primary sources of fresh water, kiawe control has the potential to be an integral component of water management planning. We develop an analytical […]
Read MoreEstimating Cost-Effectiveness of Hawaiian Dry Forest Restoration Using Spatial Changes in Water Yield and Landscape Flammability Under Climate Change
Resource managers increasingly seek to implement cost-effective watershed restoration plans for multiple ecosystem service benefits. Using locally adapted ecosystem service tools and historical management costs, we quantified spatially explicit management costs and benefits (in terms of groundwater recharge and landscape flammability) to assist a state agency in evaluating cobenefits for a predefined restoration scenario (focused […]
Read MoreCost-Effectiveness of Herbicide Ballistic Technology to Control Miconia in Hawaii
By James Leary, Kimberly Burnett and Christopher Wada UHERO is working with Dr. James Leary (CTAHR) to assess cost effectiveness of Herbicide Ballistic Technology (HBT) operations to control invasive miconia (Miconia calvescens) plants before reaching maturity. Based on studies in Costa Rica, Tahiti and Australia, we can interpret spatial and temporal implications of management driven […]
Read MoreA review of the current state of research on the water, energy, and food nexus
The purpose of this paper is to review and analyze the water, energy, and food nexus and regions of study, nexus keywords and stakeholders in order to understand the current state of nexus research. Through selected 37 projects, four types of nexus research were identified including water–food, water–energy–food, water–energy, and climate related. Among them, six […]
Read MoreWater, energy, and food security in the Asia Pacific region
Security measures of three resources; water, energy and food are analyzed for thirty two countries in the Asia Pacific region which are faced to Pacific Ocean, in terms of amounts of the resource, self-production, and diversity of sources of each resource. Diversity for all the three resources is also analyzed using surface water and groundwater for water […]
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