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Seven exclosure sites located on Mauna Kea, Hawaii and established in the 1960s and 70s were sampled to characterize long-term response of the mamane (Sophora chrysophylla) forest to protection from feral sheep grazing, and to assess impacts of non-native plant species and recurrent sheep presence on forest recovery. The forest provides essential habitat for an endangered bird, the palila (Loxoides bailleuO. Vegetation was sampled inside exclosures during 1972-1976, 1998, and 2009, and also outside exclosures during 2009. Patterns of response varied among exclosures, but overall, mamane trees and native shrubs showed increasing cover between the 1970s and 1998, then a slowed rate of increase in cover or a decline between 1998 and 2009. Cover of native herbaceous vegetation showed variable trends between the 1970s and 1998, and then appeared to decline between 1998 and 2009. Mamane height class distributions inside exclosures indicated that recruitment was initially high but then declined as heights shifted toward larger size classes, and presumably an older age distribution. We found limited evidence of a negative effect of non-native species on forest regrowth, but the effect was not consistent over time or among sites. Recurrent sheep presence outside exclosures negatively affected mamane canopy density and perhaps tree density at all sites, and mamane condition at some sites. Our results indicate that the mamane forest has shown substantial regrowth inside exclosures at some sites, especially those protected the longest. However, these exclosures represent a small portion of the mamane forest. Sheep presence continues to impact mamane recovery outside exclosures, and thus habitat quality for the palila. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Hawaiian Islands have lost nearly all their native seed dispersers, but have gained many frugivorous birds and fleshy-fruited plants through introductions. Introduced birds may not only aid invasions of exotic plants but also may be the sole dispersers of native plants. We assessed seed dispersal at the ecotone between native- and exotic-dominated forests and quantified bird diets, seed rain from defecated seeds, and plant distributions. Introduced birds were the primary dispersers of native seeds into exotic-dominated forests, which may have enabled six native understory plant species to become reestablished. Some native plant species are now as common in exotic forest understory as they are in native forest. Introduced birds also dispersed seeds of two exotic plants into native forest, but dispersal was localized or establishment minimal. Seed rain of bird-dispersed seeds was extensive in both forests, totaling 724 seeds of 9 native species and 2 exotics with over 85% of the seeds coming from native plants. Without suitable native dispersers, most common understory plants in Hawaiian rainforests now depend on introduced birds for dispersal, and these introduced species may actually facilitate perpetuation, and perhaps in some cases restoration, of native forests. We emphasize, however, that restoration of native forests by seed dispersal from introduced birds, as seen in this study, depends on the existence of native forests to provide a source of seeds and protection from the effects of ungulates. Our results further suggest that aggressive control of patches of non-native plants within otherwise native-dominated forests may be an important and effective conservation strategy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]