The historical ecology of an area can be best understood from a biocultural perspective in which human social systems and ecosystems are interrelated and interdependent. We utilized such a perspective to investigate the effects of socioeconomic, political, and cultural viewpoints on the intentional introduction of at least 91 game species to Hawai‘i over the past 230 years. Historical records of game species introductions and inter-island translocations were described in relation to historical events since European contact (1778). Changes in public opinion toward game shifted according to the prevailing cultural climate of the time, corresponding with historical periods that can be demarcated by five major political events: European contact (1778), the Kingdom of Hawai‘i (1819), the Territory of Hawai‘i (1898), the end of World War II (1945), and the Endangered Species Act (1973). In Hawai‘i, environmental management approaches have been integrated with changing cultural values, and the resultant game management policies have reflected shifting views of game species from valuable food sources to recreational sport to ecological nuisance. Such recognition of the interrelationship between politics, economics, and ecosystems allows us to better utilize past lessons to bring about future change by encouraging resource managers to consider cultural factors when formulating effective present and future ecological management goals.

Lord Howe Island, situated 790 km northeast of Sydney in the Tasman Sea, was first encountered in February 1788, and one of the last islands discovered by humans. Apparently, Polynesians were unaware of the island. At the time of discovery, seabirds dominated the island, with a terrestrial avifauna comprising five endemic species and eight subspecies. The island was initially a whaling refurbishment station until establishment of a settlement in 1834, which resulted in the extinction of three endemic birds due to over-hunting. The accidental invasion of black rats in 1918 resulted in another wave of extinctions, with the loss of five passerines, followed by an endemic owl c. 1940. Museum skins represent all but one of these species, but almost no skeletal remains exist. Here, we present the results of a palaeontological survey that explored subfossil depositaries on Lord Howe Island, including analysis of hitherto unstudied Lord Howe bird subfossil collections held in Australian museums. Our discoveries include the first known skeletal elements of six extinct species, five recorded in context, and a particularly fossil-rich sand dune site on Lord Howe Island that contained hundreds of terrestrial bird subfossils.

Migratory birds travel over long distances twice a year throughout the course of their lives. Knowledge on the routes and travel patterns among linked areas is essential for migratory bird conservation and international population monitoring. In this study, we tracked the full migration of three White-throated Needletails (Hirundapus caudacutus) breeding in northern Japan using light-level geolocators. The migration routes for all the individuals were similar and followed a “figure 8” pattern overall. The destination of all the birds was eastern Australia. This migration route between northern Japan and eastern Australia follows the land arrangements in East Asia to Australia to some extent, but long-distance offshore movements were also observed. None of the three individuals had a notably constant location during the period in Australia. The migration routes of two of the birds were similar. This is the first report on the migration of a swift species in the East Asian–Australasian Flyway.

Three albatross species occur in Perú that nest in New Zealand offshore islands: Salvin's (Thalassarche salvini), Buller's (T. bulleri ssp.), and Chatham albatross (T. eremita). To determine their spatial distribution, relative abundances, and foraging behavior in Perú, we conduct two surveys coinciding their wintering time in the austral autumn and spring 2019. The study area was from 06° S to 18° S and from the coastline to 100 nautical miles (nm) offshore. We recorded 483.7 hours of observation while surveying 7,678 km², recording 249, 200, and 22 individuals of Salvin's, Buller's, and Chatham albatrosses, respectively. Salvin's occupied shallower waters along the continental shelf-break in the northern and central regions (07°–12° S), while Buller's and Chatham's preferred oceanic waters in southern regions (12°–17° S). Salvin's greatest abundance was during autumn (April–June) when adults dominated (85.7%) and shifted to the north. In spring (October–December), the Salvin's abundance was lower and dominated by subadults (62.5%) shifting to the south. Conversely, Buller's greatest abundance was in spring, with similar age-classes to those of Salvin's, while in autumn a lower abundance was observed and adults dominated (>85%). Chatham's adults (80%) were abundant in autumn, while in spring Chatham's were very few (n = 3 total observations). According to a Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and Correspondence Analysis (CA), Salvin's were positively associated with higher sea temperature and salinity, lower latitudes, and shallower depths. Buller's and Chatham's were associated with greater shelf-break distance and wind velocity. Salvin's presence in Perú could primarily originate from birds coming from the Western Chain in The Snares. We suggest that adult Buller's seen in autumn, probably originate from the Chatham Islands, while those in spring probably originate from The Snares. Salvin's were spatially associated with cephalopods and Buller's and Chatham's with fishes. The two latter species were attracted to offal discards of small-scale fisheries.

Understanding microsite preferences of species at the sapling stage is crucial for successful forest restoration, as efforts can be concentrated onto the most promising sites, and invaded sites can be manipulated toward more suitable conditions for target species. The Hawaiian Lowland Wet Forest is a highly endemic and endangered ecosystem that has received limited attention in terms of research on recruitment dynamics. Our study combined density records and sapling-based measurements within a forest reserve, an invaded forest, a traditional restoration project and a novel restoration project. We recorded substrate type, soil depth, surface roughness, and light availability for 382 saplings of the four native tree species Metrosideros polymorpha, Myrsine lessertiana, Pipturus albidus, and Psychotria hawaiiensis, and 146 spots where the target species were absent. The invaded forest had the lowest native sapling density, lower light availability, and lower surface roughness than the remaining management units. The novel restoration project had more moss/nurselog sites and higher light availability than the remaining management units. The traditional restoration project was mainly characterized by rocky substrate. Metrosideros and Pipturus showed significantly higher light demand than Myrsine and Psychotria. Pipturus was associated with rough microsites and Metrosideros with moss/nurselog substrates. Our findings suggest that restoration strategies considering manipulation of the canopy light environment and microsite preferences of target species can better facilitate native recruitment into heavily invaded forests.

Antipathes galapagensis and Myriopathes panamensis are black coral species (Order Antipatharia) distributed in the Eastern Pacific from the Gulf of California to the coasts of Peru, at depths from -10 m to -200 m for A. galapagensis and to -50 m for M. panamensis. Antipatharians have great ecological importance as engineer species and major constituents of “coral forests,” which are recognized as vulnerable marine ecosystems. Antipathes galapagensis has been a target of fisheries in several countries and has frequently been overexploited. Thus, the aim of this study was to compile a database of georeferenced records of A. galapagensis and M. panamensis, and use distribution data and environmental variables to construct habitat suitability models with Maxent software, in order to better understand black coral environmental requirements and potential distributions in the Eastern Tropical Pacific. The models showed good fit and performance (AUC > 0.9); key variables that drive the potential distribution of both species were chlorophyll a, nutrient concentration, and seawater temperature. The models did not predict occurrences beyond the recognized distribution range limits of the species; notwithstanding, they indicated that the Pacific coast of the Baja California Peninsula and the central and southern coasts of the Mexican Pacific have areas of high suitability for the presence of these corals. To our knowledge, no black coral records from these sites exist in the literature to date; thus, field validations are needed to verify the model predictions. With these results, it is possible to offer suggestions of new conservation sites for black corals based on the areas with the highest probability of occurrence of the species.

The distribution of odontocetes on a daily scale is largely driven by bottom-up processes that in turn influence foraging opportunities. Environmental variables such as bathymetry may help indicate productive foraging regions and serve as useful tools when assessing dolphin spatial and temporal patterns. To begin to understand daily spatial patterns of different odontocete species relative to heterogeneous benthic habitat, passive acoustic monitoring was conducted near an understudied basin of the Hawaiian Islands, the Maui Nui region (Maui, Lāna‘i, Kaho‘olawe, Moloka‘i). Results showed that the acoustic activity of smaller species was stronger at night than day, particularly closer to shelf waters. In contrast, the acoustic activity of less common larger species tended not to follow a diel pattern, except at sites of a moderate proximity to shelf waters. These findings support previous research showing that smaller odontocetes, such as spinner dolphins (Stenella longirostris), track and feed upon the daily vertically migrating mesopelagic boundary community at night, while larger odontocetes, such as false killer whales (Pseudorca crassidens), may forage across most of the region during both the day and night. This information will help inform best management practices that account for interspecies variation in use of the Maui Nui basin.

We present a first limnological study of three humic crater lakes in the archipelago of Samoa. The basins of Lakes Lanoto‘o (17.5 m deep) and Olomaga (12.2 m) on Upolu Island and of Lake Mataulano (5.6 m) on Savai‘i Island developed during consecutive periods of volcanic activity ranging from the middle Pleistocene to the late Holocene. Lake Olomaga may be a permanently stratified meromictic lake, while stratified lakes Lanoto‘o and Mataulano contained oxygen down to the bottom. Forty-seven phytoplankton and 8 zooplankton taxa were identified in the pelagic zones of the three lakes. The Samoan endemic Diaphanosoma samoaensis, the cyclopoid Mesocyclops roberti originally described from neighboring archipelagos, and a hitherto undescribed species of Microcyclops were recorded. Lake Lanoto‘o is the only lake with introduced fish: goldfish (Carassius auratus) and tilapias (Oreochromis niloticus) were stocked and it harbored more than four times more phytobiomass (8 mg L^-1) than the smaller, unstocked lakes (1.2–1.6 mg L^-1). Fish introduction poses a threat to unstocked lakes in Samoa. Measures should be taken to protect them from any alterations.