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 Research Projects 2026-2028

The impacts of increasing temperatures and herbivore loss on Hawaiian intertidal community structure and ecosystem function

A diagram showing the setup for growing corals on different colored plates.
Example of the experimental plate design to monitor rocky intertidal recruitment. Black-bordered settlement plates will mimic basalt rocks with aerial heat stress, while white-bordered plates will mimic limestone sites with ambient conditions. (HOBO = temperature logger.)

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR: Jamie McDevitt-Irwin
Co-INVESTIGATORS: Nyssa Silbiger, Joanna Philippoff, Kim Kanoeʻulalani Morishige
Graduate fellow: Madigan Boborci
Research Track: Island Sustainability and Resilience

The intertidal zone in Hawaiʻi, a vital ecosystem for endemic species and sustenance fisheries like ʻopihi (limpets) and hāʻukeʻuke (urchins), is exceptionally threatened by increasing ocean and aerial temperatures. While temperature and herbivore top down control are strong determinants of this ecosystem’s structure, the interactive effects of rising aerial temperatures and herbivore loss on ecosystem function remain unexplored in the tropics. This project addresses a critical knowledge gap by experimentally evaluating how atmospheric warming and the removal of these culturally important herbivores jointly alter the Hawaiian intertidal. The research will establish large scale field experiments on Oʻahu and Hawaiʻi, crossing passive warming treatments with herbivore exclusion to manipulate these key stressors. Over a three month succession period, the study will quantify changes in community structure, as well as crucial ecosystem function metrics like Net Community Production (NCP) and Net Community Calcification (NCC). The resulting data will provide the necessary mechanistic understanding to inform adaptive management strategies and bolster the resilience of Hawaiian coastal ecosystems.