Ben Nyberg was perched on a cliff overlooking the Na Pali Coast in Hawaii, scanning the surrounding red-rock ridges’ lush crevices with his gaze. If not for a drone’s faint humming as it flew among flocks of watchful white-tailed tropicbirds, all was silent.
Nyberg used the iPad in his hands as a viewfinder while he guided the drone toward the opposite ridge. And there it was: Wilkesia hobdyi.
Its tufted brilliant green leaves seemed like they were taken straight out of a Dr. Seuss book as they stood out from other plants that were clinging to the cliff.
W. hobdyi, a member of the sunflower family also known by the popular name dwarf iliau, was previously widespread on Kauai in Hawaii. However, the plant was grazed to almost extinction after European settlers brought goats to the island in the late 1700s.
Being cut off from continental landmasses prevented W. hobdyi from developing livestock-defeating defenses like bitter leaves or jagged thorns.
For decades, intrepid botanists who rappelled by rope down perilous cliffs to seek what was lost carried out the task of finding such difficult-to-reach plants and collecting samples.
But because of this reckless approach, it was simple to overlook plants. Ropes could only be extended so far, there weren’t many clip-ins on the sheer cliffs, and vegetation frequently blocked sightlines.
Thanks to advancements in technology, researchers may now search for the remaining survivors before it’s too late in locations that are too dangerous for people to enter.
Nyberg, who oversees the National Tropical Botanical Garden’s GIS and drone programs, assisted in the 2016 beginning of an airborne initiative to use drones to seek uncommon species.
Less than 600 individuals of W. hobdyi were believed to be flourishing throughout the Na Pali Coast. Many of Kauai’s rare vegetation can only grow on its highest cliffs, away from goats’ grasp. But there were now more than 100 plants in the foliage that were stretched out before Nyberg. In order to corroborate his findings in the lab, he piloted the drone within 5 meters (16 feet) of the vegetation and took high-resolution pictures.
Together with the Division of Forestry and Wildlife of the State of Hawaii, Nyberg and the National Tropical Botanical Garden (NTBG) team have rediscovered three species from Kauai that were previously believed to be extinct or locally extinct. They have also uncovered larger populations of numerous other critically endangered species with populations smaller than 100 individuals.
After years of research, the drone would eventually discover 5,500 additional individuals in just a few months, representing a more than 900% increase in the plant’s known population.
News Mania Desk
