Kīpuka
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A kīpuka is an area of land surrounded by one or more younger
lava Lava is molten or partially molten rock (magma) that has been expelled from the interior of a terrestrial planet (such as Earth) or a Natural satellite, moon onto its surface. Lava may be erupted at a volcano or through a Fissure vent, fractu ...
flows. A kīpuka forms when lava flows on either side of a
hill A hill is a landform that extends above the surrounding terrain. It often has a distinct summit, and is usually applied to peaks which are above elevation compared to the relative landmass, though not as prominent as Mountain, mountains. Hills ...
,
ridge A ridge is a long, narrow, elevated geomorphologic landform, structural feature, or a combination of both separated from the surrounding terrain by steep sides. The sides of a ridge slope away from a narrow top, the crest or ridgecrest, wi ...
, or older
lava dome In volcanology, a lava dome is a circular, mound-shaped protrusion resulting from the slow extrusion of viscous lava from a volcano. Dome-building eruptions are common, particularly in convergent plate boundary settings. Around 6% of eruptions ...
as it moves downslope or spreads from its source. Older and more weathered than their surroundings, kīpukas often appear to be like islands within a sea of lava flows. They are often covered with
soil Soil, also commonly referred to as earth, is a mixture of organic matter, minerals, gases, water, and organisms that together support the life of plants and soil organisms. Some scientific definitions distinguish dirt from ''soil'' by re ...
and late
ecological succession Ecological succession is the process of how species compositions change in an Community (ecology), ecological community over time. The two main categories of ecological succession are primary succession and secondary succession. Primary successi ...
al
vegetation Vegetation is an assemblage of plants and the ground cover they provide. It is a general term, without specific reference to particular Taxon, taxa, life forms, structure, Spatial ecology, spatial extent, or any other specific Botany, botanic ...
that provide visual contrast as well as habitat for animals in an otherwise inhospitable environment. In volcanic landscapes, kīpukas play an important role as biological reservoirs or refugia for plants and animals, from which the covered land can be recolonized.


Etymology

Kīpuka, along with '' aā'' and '' pāhoehoe'', are Hawaiian words related to
volcanology Volcanology (also spelled vulcanology) is the study of volcanoes, lava, magma and related geology, geological, geophysical and geochemistry, geochemical phenomena (volcanism). The term ''volcanology'' is derived from the Latin language, Latin ...
that have entered the
lexicon A lexicon (plural: lexicons, rarely lexica) is the vocabulary of a language or branch of knowledge (such as nautical or medical). In linguistics, a lexicon is a language's inventory of lexemes. The word ''lexicon'' derives from Greek word () ...
of
geology Geology (). is a branch of natural science concerned with the Earth and other astronomical objects, the rocks of which they are composed, and the processes by which they change over time. Modern geology significantly overlaps all other Earth ...
. Descriptive proverbs and poetical sayings in Hawaiian oral tradition also use the word, in an allusive sense, to mean a place where life or culture endures, regardless of any encroachment or interference. By extension, from the appearance of island "patches" within a highly contrasted background, any similarly noticeable variation or change of form, such as an opening in a forest, or a clear place in a congested setting, may be colloquially called ''kīpuka''.


Significance to research

Kīpuka provides useful study sites for
ecological Ecology () is the natural science of the relationships among living organisms and their environment. Ecology considers organisms at the individual, population, community, ecosystem, and biosphere levels. Ecology overlaps with the closely re ...
research because they facilitate replication; multiple ''kīpuka'' in a system (isolated by the same lava flow) will tend to have uniform substrate age and successional characteristics, but are often isolated-enough from their neighbors to provide meaningful, comparable differences in size,
invasion An invasion is a Offensive (military), military offensive of combatants of one geopolitics, geopolitical Legal entity, entity, usually in large numbers, entering territory (country subdivision), territory controlled by another similar entity, ...
, etc. They are also receptive to experimental treatments. ''Kīpuka'' along Saddle Road on
Hawaii Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...
have served as the natural laboratory for a variety of studies, examining ecological principles like
island biogeography Insular biogeography or island biogeography is a field within biogeography that examines the factors that affect the species richness and diversification of isolated natural communities. The theory was originally developed to explain the pattern ...
, food web control, and biotic resistance to invasiveness. In addition, ''
Drosophila silvestris ''Drosophila silvestris'' is a large species of fly in the Family (biology), family Drosophilidae that are primarily black with yellow spots. As a rare species of Drosophila, fruit fly endemism in the Hawaiian Islands, endemic to Hawaii (“the B ...
'' populations inhabit kīpukas, making kīpukas useful for understanding the fragmented population structure and
reproductive isolation The mechanisms of reproductive isolation are a collection of evolutionary mechanisms, ethology, behaviors and physiology, physiological processes critical for speciation. They prevent members of different species from producing offspring, or ensu ...
of this fly species.


See also

*


References


External links


USGS Photo Glossary: Kipuka
Volcanic landforms Ecology Hawaiian words and phrases {{ecology-stub