The Hawaii Permanent Plot Network (HIPPNET) was initiated in 2007 by faculty and research ecologists at the University of Hawaii, USDA Forest Service, and UCLA to investigate forest dynamics across the island of Hawaii. Three 4-hectare plots are currently being established, and an additional 1-2 plots will be started in 2008. Initial censuses for all plots are expected to be completed by 2009. Support for the project has been provided by NSF EPSCoR, USDA Forest Service, and the University of Hawaii.
The data collected through coordinated projects carried out at the HIPPNET sites will enable the University of Hawaii and collaborators to become leaders in numerous important areas of ecology. We plan to begin the network with 3 permanent plots of native dominated forest, 4 ha in area, on the Big Island (montane wet, montane mesic, and lowland dry), and to extend plots to other habitat types and to other islands as funding is acquired. The permanent plots are being established following widely used protocols developed for tropical and temperate forests by the Center for Tropical Forest Science. Within each plot all free-standing native woody plants are tagged and mapped. The forest plots will be re-censused every 5 years. This data, along with continuous climate data, will add substantially to our understanding of forest dynamics.