What is the OPIHI program?
Our Project In Hawaii’s Intertidal (OPIHI) is a year-long undergraduate course designed for undergraduates at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. The goals of the program are to collaborate with researchers and community groups engaged in the study and management of Hawai‘i’s coastal ecosystems and to mentor the next generation of ecologists by engaging them in authentic, place-based and community-driven research.
Recent projects include (1) measuring benthic recruitment on recovering reefs in Maunalua Bay, (2) identifying baseline populations of ghost and mole crabs at James Campbell Refuge (collaboration with U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service), and (3) describing food web dynamics in two mullet species at He‘eia fishpond (collaboration with Paepae o He‘eia). Place- and field-based research experiences help students connect directly with their local environment and make better-informed environmental decisions. In addition to engaging in authentic research, the undergraduates participate in service learning— partaking in outreach with the communities where they do their research. The year-long undergraduate research experience with OPIHI provides students with unique exposure to collaborative research on relevant topics in marine field ecology. |
Maunalua Bay Restoration:
This long-term project focuses on settlement plates deployed in the degraded, but recovering Maunalua Bay coastal reef system. OPIHI and collaborators are interested in the succession of benthic marine organisms, specifically crustose coralline algae (CCA), macro-algae (such as the invasive Gracilaria salicornia GSAL), and corals. Understanding the relationships between submarine groundwater discharge (SGD) and its role in settlement dynamics is an important step for conserving the functional role of diversity on coral reefs.
OPIHI students are also helping to remove alien invasive algae (IAA) which has established itself in Maunalua Bay. Removing invasive species has been helping native algae and seagrass regain a crucial foothold, transforming the local biodiversity and helping to improve water quality throughout the bay. These removal efforts are focused around the Paiko Lagoon Restoration Area, which is currently managed by Mālama Maunalua and the community.
OPIHI students are also helping to remove alien invasive algae (IAA) which has established itself in Maunalua Bay. Removing invasive species has been helping native algae and seagrass regain a crucial foothold, transforming the local biodiversity and helping to improve water quality throughout the bay. These removal efforts are focused around the Paiko Lagoon Restoration Area, which is currently managed by Mālama Maunalua and the community.
Map of invasive algae removal plots in the Paiko Restoration Area of Maunalua Bay, Oahu, HI. Plots are colored by total invasive algae percent cover.
James Campbell National Wildlife Refuge:
OPIHI is working with the James Campbell National Wildlife Refuge to establish baseline population dynamics of the Hawaiian pallid ghost crab (Ocypode pallidula) and mole crab (Hippa pacifica). These two species of crabs are an important part of the diets for endangered shorebirds, and understanding their population dynamics will further help conservation of this fragile food chain, especially during the recent invasion of the yellow crazy ant (Anoplolepis gracilipes), which threatens the entire ecological community at the James Campbell National Wildlife Refuge. Determining whether or not populations of endemic crabs are in decline will help managers protect this fragile ecosystem.