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FACET was involved in another project for year 2 (2000) of the Hawaii Coral Reef Initiative Program (HCRI). The goals for year 2 will be primarily to investigate alien algal species in the state of Hawai'i. Geographic Information Systems (GIS) will be utilized to generate alien species distribution maps for 5 of the main Hawaiian Islands including Hawaii, Maui, Molokai, Oahu and Kauai. Dozens of sites will be surveyed on each island. Surveys will involve a visual assessment of the degree of impact caused by alien algae, the status of the fish communities, habitat characteristics, and any other physical and/or biological data that can be accessed. Simultaneously, herbivore preference tests will be conducted to investigate whether or not herbivores including fish and urchins will consume these alien species. Alien algae will also be manipulated in a variety of nutrient regimes to assess their physiological response to elevated nutrients. A genetic component of this project will use AFLP's to determine if certain species of alien algae reproduce sexually or are strictly clonal.
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