3^2 Hawaii ? Our Living Resovyces 
In 1992 the Hawaii State Legislature estab- 
lished a biological survey at Bishop 
Museum, Hawaii's Museum of Natural and 
Cultural History. The survey conducts an 
ongoing natural history inventory of the 
archipelago and locates, identifies, evalu- 
ates, and maintains the reference collections 
of all native and non-native species of flora 
and fauna within the state. The survey works 
in cooperation with other agencies, includ- 
ing the Hawaii Heritage Program, various 
state agencies, and the National Biological 
Service, 
More than 14,000 terrestrial, 300 fresh- 
water, and 4,000 marine species inhabit 
Hawaii (Table 1 ). Bishop Museum maintains 
the world's largest biological collections 
for Hawaii (ca. 4,000,000 specimens; Table 
2). Through the Hawaii Biological Survey 
program, and in cooperation with many part- 
ner organizations, the museum is organizing 
information from these collections and asso- 
ciated literature into comprehensive comput- 
erized data bases and conducting field sur- 
veys to document distributions of these 
organisms. The resulting information base 
Table 1. Terrestrial and freshwater plant and 
animal species in Hasvaii, In addition, another 
4,000 marine organisms inhabit Hawaiian 
waters. Species at risic include those on the fed- 
eral lists of endangered, threatened, and candi- 
date species (not including marine). 
Taxon 
$p?cle$ 
(no.) 
End?mk 
(%) $p9cl?$ at rbk 
Lower plants >1,800 Few 0 
Higher ports 2,143 44 359 
Nerratodes >147 Few 0 
MollusKs 1,100 05 eo 
Insects and nites >e,800 560 340 
Fish >25 24 1 
Amphibians 4 0 0 
Reptiles 13 0 0 
Birds 131 43 35 
MamnBis 19 5 0 
Total >14,182 795 
Hawaii Biological Survey 
by 
Allen Allison 
Scott E. Miller 
Gordon M. Nishiela 
Bishop Museum, Hawaii 
has many applications in conservation, agri- 
culture, forestry, public health, fisheries, and 
land management. 
In 1992 and 1993, the Hawaii Biological 
Survey: 
? published a summary list of the more 
than 8,600 species of Hawaiian insects 
and related arthropods; 
* produced a catalog of Hawaiian land 
snails, including nearly 1,000 species; 
? continued progress on the book series 
Reef and Shore Fauna of Hawaii., with 
another volume nearing completion; and 
* began a collaborative project with the 
Smithsonian Institution and local agen- 
cies to create a database of specimens of 
Hawaiian plants. Other plant projects in 
progress include a manual of cultivated 
plants in Hawaii (2,500 species treated in 
detail, with an additional 10,000 species 
evaluated); a manual of marine algae; 
and an updated, electronic bibliography 
of Hawaiian plants. 
A five-stage process was developed to 
irrplement the biological survey. For each 
major group of plants and animals, the process 
involves developing a computerized literature 
data base; preparing summary lists of species 
names (checklists) based on the literature, col- 
Megixlagrionpacificum, a damselfly in a genus 
endemic to the Hawaiian Islands. 
lections, and consultation with experts; creat- 
ing a database of specimen information in our 
collections; creating databases of information 
from other collections and other sources or 
establishing computer linkage to this informa- 
tion; and filling gaps and updating informa- 
tion through field surveys. 
Table 2. The comprehensive collections of 
Bishop Museum are a core resource for the 
Hawaii Biological Survey. This chart indicates 
the relative sizes of the Hawaiian collections, 
plus related materials from the Pacific region 
and elsewhere that provide the context for under- 
standing the Hawaiian biota. 
Croup Hawaiian 
collections 
Total 
collections 
Plarts (Inducing a??. etc) 175,000 500,000 
500,000 
6,000,000 
35 
Marine inwertebrates 
Mollus?s 
250,000 
3,000,000 
50 
50 
Inseotsarrinites 500,000 13,000,000 4 
Fish 15,000 130,000 12 
Terrestrial vertebrates 20,000 85,000 24 
Library 100.000 
Archives 1,100,000 
For further information; 
Allen Allison 
Bishop Museum 
Box 19,000-A 
Honolulu, HI 96817. 
Page 362 in: E. T. LaRoe et al. eds. (1995) Our living resources: a report to the nation on the distribution, 
abundance and health of U.S. plants, animals, and ecosystems. National Biological Survey, Department 
of Interior, Washington, D.C.