ISLAND OF MOLOKAI

hotel molokai

In the pictures above note the piles of algae on the beach. With close examination, the algae were identified as the alien species Hypnea musciformis and Acanthophora spicifera as well as a few other  species such as Spyridia filamentosa and Ulva expansa. Offshore, several large clumps (about 3 ft. diameter) of these multispecies assemblages were observed tumbling along the bottom.

The reef flat in the area directly adjacent to the Hotel Mokolai on the south side of the island was surveyed at several different distances from shore. Immediately adjacent to shore in very soft mud Enteromorpha, Cladophora and Ulva spp. were growing on small rocks. About 20 meters from shore Gracilaria cornopifolia was very abundant but was interspersed with the alien algae Acanthophora spicifera and Hypnea musciformis. At about 50 meters from shore the cyanobacteria Lyngbya became dominant in a large band that extended out towards the reef crest for about 50 meters. Beyond this Lyngbya band the substrate began changing from mud to sand and rubble at which point many large macroalgae became abundant (Sargassum, Dictyota, Turbinaria, Halimeda etc.). The depth was fairly uniform throughout this entire reef flat area. Close to shore large clumps of mixed alien algal species were found tumbling along the bottom unattached to any substrate. There was also evidence of a lot of alien species washed up on shore in this area.

Table 1.  Information regarding site characteristics and alien species abundances. The  number recorded for each alien species of algae is a ranking of the abundance of that species at each given site. Impact ranking values range from 0 (not present) to 10 (100% cover). 

Table 2.  Species list of all of the algal samples that were collected at this site. Alien species are displayed in green.  

Table 3.  Species list and relative abundance of herbivores at this location.