Nihoa: Difference between revisions

{{Short description|Island in Hawaii}}

{{for|the genus of spiders of the same name|Nihoa (spider)}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=August 2023}}

{{Infobox islands

[[File:Hawaiianislandchain_USGS.png|thumb|upright=1.4|Map showing the location of Nihoa in the Hawaiian island chain]]

 

 

The island is home to 25 species of plants and several animals, making it the most diverse island in the entire NWHI. Endemic birds like the [[Nihoa finch]] and [[Nihoa millerbird]], and endemic plants like ''[[Pritchardia remota]]'' and ''[[Schiedea verticillata]]'' are found only on Nihoa. ''[[Amaranthus brownii]]'' was considered the rarest plant on Nihoa and has not been directly observed on the island since 1983, and is now considered to be extinct. The plant communities and rocky outcrops provide nesting and perching areas for 18 species of seabirds, such as [[red-footed boobies]] and [[brown noddies]], terns, shearwaters, and petrels. Prehistoric evidence indicates Native Hawaiians lived on or visited the island around AD 1000, but over time the location of Nihoa was mostly forgotten, with only an oral legend preserving its name. Captain [[James Colnett]] rediscovered the island in 1788, and [[Kaʻahumanu|Queen Kaʻahumanu]] visited it in 1822. It was made part of the [[Kingdom of Hawaii]] by [[Kamehameha IV|King Kamehameha IV]].

 

 

[[File:NASA Nihoa.jpg|thumb|left|Nihoa island]]

<!--[[File:Nihoa cliff.jpg|upright|thumb|Tanager Peak, looking east from Miller Peak]]-->

Among features on Nihoa are Dog's Head Peak ({{convert|358|ft|m|abbr=on|disp=or}}), named for its likeness, and Pinnacle Peak ({{convert|626|ft|m|abbr=on|disp=or}}), a [[Dike (geology)|volcanic dike]] created when less resilient rock was eroded away and harder rock was open to the elements. The only flat area on the island is Albatross Plateau, just below Miller's Peak. The Devil's Slide is a narrow cleft descending {{convert|700|ft|m|-1|}} irrespective of the surrounding elevation. Extending northward from Albatross Plateau, it ends at the vertical cliffs with a {{convert|190|ft|m|-1|adj=on}} drop straight down to the ocean below. In this chasm, rare [[fern]]s grow, along with several [[Endemism|endemic]] species, including a [[Thaumatogryllus conanti|giant cricket]].<ref name="Rauzon_2001">{{harvnb|Rauzon|2001}}.</ref>

 

 

==Ecology==

[[File:Millerbird2.jpg|thumb|Nihoa millerbird]]

[[File:Nihoa Pritchardia remota.jpg|thumb|Nihoan fan palms]]

 

The north side of the island's cliffs are mostly bare, but the sloping valleys are covered with a variety of grasses and shrubs.<ref name=USFWS/> The two most common grasses on these slopes are ''Eragrosis Varabilis'' and ''Panicum torridum''.<ref name=USFWS/>

Nihoa, along with [[Necker Island (Northwestern Hawaiian Islands)|Necker Island]] to the northwest, is among the most northern, isolated, smallest and driest of the high volcanic Hawaiian islands, and receives the lowest dust and [[tephra]] input. All of these features were found to strongly predict [[deforestation]] among the [[Pacific Islands]]. The abandonment of Nihoa may be tied to deforestation although this has not been proven and small groves of trees were noted in the major drainage valleys during survey work conducted in 1928.<ref name="Emory28" />

 

 

The heiau on Nihoa and [[Necker Island (Hawaii)|Necker Islands]] are unique in the Hawaiian chain representing a raised pavement of basalt stones with upright stones placed across this pavement often near the edges<ref name="Emory28" /> as opposed to the form common to other islands in the chain represented by a high stacked stone wall enclosing a central space. This difference in form represents an earlier iteration of Hawaiian monumental architecture that offers a unique perspective on cultural norms prior to the abandonment of Nihoa.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Kirch |first=Patrick Vinton |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/11841243 |title=Feathered gods and fishhooks: an introduction to Hawaiian archaeology and prehistory |date=1985 |publisher=University of Hawaii Press |isbn=0-8248-0981-5 |location=Honolulu |oclc=11841243}}</ref> Thanks to this difference in form, scholars often use the term '[[marae]]' as opposed to 'heiau' in reference to these structures and some scholars argue that the shift in form represents a shift in ritual practice in Hawaii.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Kirch |first=Patrick Vinton |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1099790638 |title=Heiau, ʻaina, lani : the Hawaiian temple system in ancient Kahikinui and Kaupō, Maui |date=2019 |others=C. L. N. Ruggles, Andrew B. Smith |isbn=978-0-8248-7942-6 |location=Honolulu |oclc=1099790638}}</ref>

* {{cite book| last = Juvik| first = Sonia P.|author2=James O. Juvik |author3=Thomas R. Paradise | title = Atlas of Hawaii| publisher = University of Hawaii Press| year = 1998| isbn = 978-0-8248-2125-8 }}

* {{cite book |last=Kirch |first= Patrick Vinton |title=Feathered Gods and Fishhooks: An Introduction to Hawaiian Archaeology and Prehistory |author-link=Patrick Vinton Kirch |publisher=University of Hawaii Press |isbn=9780824819385|year=1985 }}

* {{cite journal |last=Olson |first=Storrs L. |year=1996 |title=History and ornithological journals of the ''Tanager'' Expedition of 1923 to the northwestern Hawaiian Islands, Johnston and Wake islands |journal=Atoll Research Bulletin |volume=433 |issue=433 |pages=1–210 |url=http://si-pddr.si.edu/jspui/handle/10088/5880|publisher=[[National Museum of Natural History]]|doi=10.5479/si.00775630.433.1 }}

* {{cite journal |last=Palmer |first=H. S. |year=1927 |title=Geology of Kaula, Nihoa, Necker and Gardner Islands, and French Frigate Shoals |journal=Bernice P. Bishop Museum Bulletin |volume=35 |series=Tanager Expedition Publication Number 4 }}