Conservation status of the Hawaiian endemic fern Diplazium molokaiense (Athyriaceae) in Honomanu, East Maui, Hawai’i

Abstract

Diplazium molokaiense W. J. Rob is one of Hawai'i's rare and endangered endemic fern species. This paper summarizes its conservation status with information concerning its historical and current distribution and its morphology, habitat, and ecology within the Honomanu region of the Nature Conservancy's Waikamoi Preserve, East Maui. With 303 of Hawai'i's plant taxa federally listed as endangered there is an urgent need to conduct rapid biological assesments of remote insu- lar ecosystems and to make conservation collections of the endangered flora. Poorly known species such as D. molokaiense could easily become extinct without receiving special attention, while this biodiversity of many tropical areas is rapidly disappearing before having been adequately surveyed.