Anchialine Pools: Vulnerability to Climate Change in West Hawai’i
April 04, 2019
The ways that anchialine pools, also known locally as wai ‘ōpae or loko ‘ōpae ‘ula, are threatened despite being unique coastal ecosystems that support West Hawai‘i biodiversity, fisheries, cultural activities, and tourism.
Anchialine pools, known locally as wai ‘ōpae or loko ‘ōpae ‘ula, are landlocked bodies of water with a subterranean connection to the ocean (from Greek ankhialos, ‘near the sea’).
Anchialine pools are unique coastal ecosystems that support West Hawai‘i biodiversity, fisheries, cultural activities, and tourism.
Healthy anchialine pools filter run-off and provide habitat for the native shrimp Halocaridina rubra (‘ōpae ‘ula) and Metabetaeus lohena, along with numerous other endemic species. Hawai‘i island has one of the highest concentrations of anchialine pools in the world.
Anchialine pool ecosystems are gravely threatened by introduced fishes, changes in landuse that contribute to habitat loss, reductions or impairments of freshwater water quantity and quality, and rising sea levels.
Marrack L, Maynard J, Tracey D, Gove J, Marra J, Conklin E, Genz A, Most R, Seidel B, Springer H, Wiggins C. 2019. Anchialine pools: vulnerability to climate change in west Hawai?i. Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center, PIFSC Special Publication, SP-19-003, 10 p. https://doi.org/10.25923/ahyk-vd31.