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The Unwitting War on Hawaiian

Endemic Biodiversity
Is it war if one does not know they are fighting?

Native Hawaiian ecosystems and the wide-range of ecological niches they foster give rise

to a prolific biodiversity which now, more than ever, is threatened by a an arsenal of

anthropogenic forces. Although most environmentally-harmful human activities are not

deliberate, all of them stem from our willful struggle against the archipelago’s natural systems. It

was never anyone’s intention to develop these islands into the world’s capital for endemic

species extinction. This process occurred as an indirect result of our own careless actions and our

ignorance towards traditional values. ‘Going against the current’ in the individual and industrial

quests for financial freedom while refusing to pay mind to the rate at which doing so disrupts the

balance of terrestrial and aquatic environments will prove to be the crux of our own demise. The

Hawaiian islands have long been subject to the consequences of those who embody a ‘tragedy of

the commons’ philosophy; disregarding the interdependence of all aspects of the living

environment around them for personal gain. This is evident by the increased extinction rates in

many endemic flora and fauna families. Corporate greed is uninterested in the downstream

effects of reckless land and watershed stewardship because, in many cases, those with a vested

interest in the exploitation of same are not in the cross-hairs of its direct repercussions. This

mentality and those who upheld it paved the way for the wringing of Hawaii’s natural resources
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and for the associated residential and military industrial infrastructure developments which came

in succession. All of which has been in direct violation of the traditional virtues and values of

Mālama ‘Āina, Pono, and Mālama Honua embodied by ancient Hawaiian society. It is this

stubborn disobedience to the natural systems around us which could drive the remaining 48

extant endemic bird species; especially the 30 of which are already endangered, as well as the

remaining endemic Hymenoptera and Lepidoptera species, into a grim mass-extinction.

Birds & Bees Before Humans: The Golden Era of Hawaiian Endemism

Prior to the arrival of Polynesian settlers, Hawaiian Island ecosystems sustained flourishing

endemic populations which took millennia to develop. This is due in part to the extreme variation

in climate, humidity, soil composition & pH,

topography, and other factors exhibited between

relatively proximal locations, and which give rise

to highly diversified habitats. Many species that

could not migrate long distances may have a hard

time getting to Hawaii; seeing as it is the most

isolated land on earth from the nearest continent,

but upon establishing themselves, they were able to

diversify through both vicariance and dispersal to

produce the vast array of speciation and the

subsequent rich variation in morphology among

members of the same genera. Hawaii is so ecologically diverse, in fact, that 10 out of the 12 soil
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orders can be found on the islands [2]. This coupled with the dynamic, volcanic high-island

landscape provided enough ecological stress and strain on certain individuals so to accelerate and

promote natural selection. As more trees slowly arrived on the islands by means of rafting or

aerial seed dispersal, birds (sometimes bringing seeds of their own) also arrived and filled in the

empty ecological niches created by the arrival of new plant species. Many invertebrates could

not make their way to Hawaii; such as the ant, mosquito, and various others, and their arrival by

means of colonial ships, as we will mention, would come to spell the end of many endemic

species, but the worst had yet to come.

Hawaiian Time: Birth of Mālama Pono & Mālama ‘Aina.

Current academic consensus regarding the date of

initial Polynesian settlement on the Hawaiian

Archipelago is disparate. Some references suggest it

may have been as early as 400 C.E., while others

indicate that it was likely around 1100-1200 CE.

[10] It is now known that they arrived by means of

meticulous and methodical navigation using the

stars, wind, and perhaps even; as evident by

Marshallese navigators, wave-forms which would

change as they got closer to land; creating an

interference pattern which they could map out and

utilize to discern distance and direction. [11] With them they brought the first ‘introduced’

species known widely as ‘canoe plants’; including notable ones like Bambusoideae, Cocos
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Nucifera, Curcuma, Colocasia, Zingiber, and Ipomoea. They needed these for staple foods and

materials because upon their arrival, the islands lacked enough carbohydrate sources to sustain

their growing population. They modified the land only to the extent at which they needed to in

order to thrive, and never took what they were not ready to give back two-fold. They developed

their own Polynesian dialect which became a language distinct from others in Oceania upon their

further settlement and establishment. In the span of hundreds of years they formed a complex

society which had a flourishing trade-system throughout Oceania and which itself was divided

into chiefdoms. [10]. Though each chiefdom was ruled independently, and they were not void of

clashes, during the peak of Hawaiian society all of them existed in harmony with their natural

systems and went so far as to promote balance within them. They developed a method of

cultivating algae which enabled them to capture, raise, and harvest fish without depleting the

ocean’s resources. They later formed Ahupua’a watershed systems which subdivided each island

into city-states [3]. This was more than land division, though. Hawaiians ensured the survival of

native species by minimizing the impact of their farming systems. Waterways were not siphoned

or blocked off, bur rather emphasized where necessary and strategically diverted so to support

the wetland farming of Colocasia and upland dry-land farming of Ipomoea; the two staple

carbohydrate-sources of ancient Hawaiian times. This ensured that endemic birds, bees, and

other organisms could still occupy their ecological niche; as their habitats were left largely

untouched. Though terraforming was by no means foreign to Hawaiians, they did so in ways that

enriched and promoted the natural flow and order, quite literally. Although they collected birds

for feathers, and made good use of many other native and endemic species, they understood the

interdependence of every organism in their surroundings and used a spiritual methodology; the
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Kapu system, for determining the correct time and manner to harvest anything and everything

from the land (and sea) around them [12].

Colonialism: The ‘Aina Gets a Price Tag.

In the era of colonialism, jesuit missionaries as well as

later western and European explorers brought with

them; just as the Hawaiians did upon their arrival

several centuries prior, many food resources. However

this time they included cattle to sustain their growing

population. They also brought with them a host of

diseases and pests which not only nearly annihilated the

ancient Hawaiians, but began to wreak havoc on the native and endemic flora and fauna. The

first European contact was in 1778, when James Cook arrived at Kauai. [10] At this time the

Ahupua’a land-tenure system was in full-force. Each ‘district’ was managed from ridge to reef

and Pono; righteousness/balance/harmony with the universal laws, was practiced and

systematically applied in every aspect of society. Colonizers were responsible for indirectly

wiping out many ground-nesting bird species as well as endemic tree snail species through the

unintended introduction of rats which boarded their ships. The rats themselves ate the eggs of the

birds as well as the arthropod and invertebrate biomass which supported existing bird

populations [4]. This was the first chapter in the book of endemic species extinctions in Hawaii,

and it was fueled, as it is today, by greed, ignorance, and a patriarchal hegemony over the land as

a means to an end, rather than a sacred source of sustenance.

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Industrialism: Land as a Commodity.

Upon the arrival of more residents both from east and west, Hawaii became a hub

between the two worlds and began to assume a crucial role as a tactical and industrial asset.

Americans arrived and brought with them the fire of democracy and, as some would argue,

unleashed in full effect the doctrine of

discovery upon the local people. Asian

populations brought with them the labor force

necessary to carry out the neo-colonial agenda;

as evident by the consolidation of agricultural

and industrial resources by figures such as

Stanford Dole and Lorrin A. Thurston of the

Committee of Safety. The coincident influx of

immigrants and consolidation of power on the behalf of this secret esoteric order of, notably,

thirteen members, allowed them to quickly take hold of the short-lived provisional government

which was set-up after the overthrow of the Queen. This gave way for a fully-fledged industrial

revolution to take place in Hawaii; now a major exporter of sugar cane and other goods. While

this was happening, the Ahupua’a watershed-tenure system had already been discarded and

conventional monoculture farms were booming. At this point, Honeybees had already been

introduced for commercially cultivating Honey. Deliberately introduced mammals also present at

this time put significant stress on the endemic flora, turning many forests into grasslands. [25]

Birds, especially honeycreepers which symbiotically co-evolved with lobeliads, saw a first surge

of ecosystemic destabilization. The islands also lost many endemic tree-snail species. [33]
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The Aftermath & Willing Rebellion Against our Own Evils: Today’s
Fight for Preserving Endemic Biodiversity.
In modern times we have seen unprecedented growth in urban and suburban areas;

coinciding with a peak influx of tourism and industrial infrastructure development. Although this

change has been exponential, it occurred gradually enough so that today we observe the severe

effects of our past choices, which a the time may have been overlooked. A frog in a pot of water

will not jump out if the increase in temperature is gradual enough, and before it can realize it, it

has been boiled alive. Seven endemic Hylaeus bee species are now endangered. All Mohoidae

bird species are now extinct along with many endemic honeycreepers. Invertebrates such as tree

snails and many arthropod families have also further felt the perils of invasive species,

ineffective bio-control, as well as the unseen forces of V.O.C (volatile organic chemicals) and

P.I.P. (persistent industrial pollutants) pollution, year-round experimental pesticide testing &

harmful pesticide use, and increases in non-native sources of E.M.R smog. Action has already

been taken on nearly all fronts aforementioned; though one offender, arguably the most elusive,

remains absent from all literature on the preservation of Native Hawaiian Ecology. Birds, Bees,

and species in the orders Hymenoptera [5, 10, 15] and Lepidoptera [7, 8,12] have cryptochrome

cells, which imbue them with magnetoreception and the ability to sense changes in circadian

patterns [ 6, 9, 11, 13]. Dr. Andrew Goldsworthy even argues that electromagnetic fields can

have harmful effects on disease resistance among magnetoreceptive animals, since

cryptochromes are also known modulate their immunological processes. [16] Non-native

(anthropogenic) sources of electromagnetic radiation can impair this process and consequently

disorient magnetoreceptive animals, which could induce changes in mating, feeding, and nesting
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behavior and in turn place greater stress on

endemic populations. In birds,

magnetoreception is likely superimposed with

vision. [6, 14] Cryptochromes within the eye

structure of birds are thought to be employed

in sensing magnetic field direction, while

magnetite-based receptors present in the beak

region and linked to ophthalmic nerves are

used to detect magnetic field strength. [9]

Bees have shown avoidance to sources of

electromagnetic radiation [17] and it is also

known that, like birds, they also possess

magnetite within their tissues; specifically in their fat cells, which has been shown to play a

functional role in magnetoreception. [18]. The question then arises; what frequencies are of most

concern? Wi-Fi? Radio? Cellular communications? Studies on the latter two have demonstrated

measurable biochemical changes in honeybees, with consequent altered behavior and

physiological function [18, 19, 20, 23]. Upon exposure to a phone on ‘talk mode’, bees began to

deviate from normal behavior inside the hive and eventually exited the hive en-mass and

swarmed the source of the emissions. [19] Arno Thielens et al. demonstrated frequency-specific

effects of electromagnetic radiation including frequencies proposed by the ‘5G’ (fifth generation)

cellular communications network which is currently being deployed across the islands. Results

indicate that a shift to frequencies above 6 GHz; which is already above what current
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communications networks peak at, would result in a 3-370% increased in S.A.R (specific

absorption rates) of radiation in insects. ’5G’ entails large-scale infrastructure developments

because millimeter-wave frequencies in the high-band (60-120GHz) have a low propagative rate

due to the tremendous energy carried within each wave peak. Measuring a millimeter in length,

these waves readily run into air molecules and are much more easily stopped by solid objects

than longer wavelengths. This means they do not effectively penetrate walls, and consequently

that ‘small-cells’ must be deployed to be no more than 500 feet from one another for the system

to even function. Millimeter-wave technology was previously used in the DOD assault

intervention device, in which it was designed to cause non-lethal bodily harm to protesters. [33]

Governor Ige signed a bill which gave ruling authority over every utility pole and lamp post on

the island to private communications companies [22]. This move, although risky, may have been

deliberate considering the fact that as a result, the FCC does not need to conduct the necessary

safety testing for this novel technology. This was a choice that could not be undone, and now

there are already thousands of small-cells; signal transmitters and repeaters, scattered throughout

every developed urban and suburban Hawaiian district. Hawaiian endemic bird, bee, butterfly,

and fly populations are already at risk from a multitude of threats which they have withstood

over the last few centuries, but the fully-developed, or as the industry puts it; ‘deployed’ 5G

infrastructure looming on the horizon could pose a new kind of danger. One that is orders of

magnitude more severe than anything they’ve ever faced. Bees may become unable to detect

floral electric fields in a sea of non-native electromagnetic smog [24]. Migratory birds which

find sanctuary here could end up lost at sea or worse, being forced to relocate their natural

breeding habitats altogether. Remaining endemic bee species could face extinction, after which
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endemic plants that depend on them, and which are already themselves threatened, would perish.

After all the small-cells are deployed, and the network is fully activated, it will be near

impossible to go back. Putting forth measures to hamper or halt 5G infrastructure development

until safety testing is conducted and high-band frequency restrictions are put in place will serve

as crucial steps towards protecting the remainder of the archipelago’s rich endemic biodiversity.

Solutions: The Dark Side Side of Non-Native Light

The Hawaiian Archipelago is remarkably resilient. It is bountiful in love and with it, the desire to

create and grow in magnitude. Despite all the encumbrances which modern-day settlers have

impinged upon what can be argued as the heart of Gaia, it still stands in (almost) full color as a

testament to the power of Nature. Hawaiian ecosystems have lost some of their enchanting

biological exhibitions, but the fire which gives life unto all beings that find themselves here is

long from extinguished. Whether or not intelligent patterns of creation are phenomenologically

necessary to bestow intelligence upon humans is trivial, because most modern humans have yet

to use their intelligence for the benefit of none other than themselves. It is not all lost, though.

Efforts such as predator-proof fences, endemic species tissue culture and propagation, invasive

species control & extermination, methodic biocontrol methods, and increased academic attention

& public knowledge of ecological conservation initiatives have shown great success. [29, 31, 33]

If we assume our righteous place as stewards of this land through enacting strong legislative and

communal measures to uphold the conservation and remediation responsibilities entailed by this

position, we will see a revival and proliferation of endemic biodiversity from mountain tops to

reef fringes. We must do more than cease ecological harmful activities, and we must go beyond
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the restoration of endemic species and ecosystems. We must restore Pono within our own

societal structures so that they are in alignment with the environment in which we live.

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1] Magnacca KN, King CBA. 2013. Assessing the presence and distribution of 23 Hawaiian yellow-faced

bee species on lands adjacent to military installations on O‘ahu and Hawai‘i Island. Honolulu (HI):

Pacific Cooperative Studies Unit, University of Hawaii at Manoa. Technical Report, 185. 26 pp.

2] N. V. Hue, G. Uehara, R. S. Yost, and M. Ortiz- Escobar. Distribution of Soil Orders in Hawaii.

Department of Tropical Plant and Soil Sciences College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources

University of Hawaii at Manoa

3] Dieter-Mueller Dombois. The Hawaiian Ahupua‘a Land Use System: Its Biological Resource Zones

and the Challenge for Silvicultural Restoration. Biology of Hawaiian Streams and Estuaries. Edited by

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33 (2007).

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Vertical foraging shifts in Hawaiian forest birds in response to invasive rat removal. PLoS ONE 13(9):

e0202869. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0202869

5] Fleischmann, P.N., Grob, R. & Rössler, W. Magnetoreception in Hymenoptera: importance for

navigation. Anim Cogn 23, 1051–1061 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10071-020-01431-x

6] Solov'yov, I. A., Mouritsen, H., & Schulten, K. (2010). Acuity of a cryptochrome and vision-based

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j.bpj.2010.03.053

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8,6 (2009): 55. doi:10.1186/jbiol153

8] Zhu H, Sauman I, Yuan Q, Casselman A, Emery-Le M, Emery P, Reppert SM. Cryptochromes define a

novel circadian clock mechanism in monarch butterflies that may underlie sun compass navigation. PLoS

Biol. 2008 Jan;6(1):e4. doi: 10.1371/journal.pbio.0060004. PMID: 18184036; PMCID: PMC2174970.

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9] Roswitha Wiltschko, Wolfgang Wiltschko. Magnetoreception in birds. Journal of the Royal Society

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PMC2174970.

12] Guerra, P., Gegear, R. & Reppert, S. A magnetic compass aids monarch butterfly migration. Nat

Commun 5, 4164 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms5164

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17] Cammaerts M (2017) Is electromagnetism one of the causes of the CCD? A work plan for testing this

hypothesis. J Behav 2(1): 1006

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21] Thielens, A., Bell, D., Mortimore, D.B. et al. Exposure of Insects to Radio-Frequency

Electromagnetic Fields from 2 to 120 GHz. Sci Rep 8, 3924 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1038/

s41598-018-22271-3

22] https://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/session2018/bills/HB2651_.HTM

23] Wolfgang Harst , Jochen Kuhn * & Hermann Stever, Can Electromagnetic Exposure Cause a Change

in Behaviour?, Studying Possible Non-Thermal Influences on Honey Bees – An Approach within the

Framework of Educational Informatics.

24] DOMINIC CLARKE, HEATHER WHITNEY, GREGORY SUTTON, DANIEL ROBERT

SCIENCE05 APR 2013 : 66-69 Detection and Learning of Floral Electric Fields by Bumblebees

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Web References:
25] https://www.ctahr.hawaii.edu/uhmg/news/V9-Magnacca-NativeBee.pdf

26] https://www.facinghistory.org/sites/default/files/Hawaiis_Legacy_of_Colonialism.pdf

27] https://eos.org/articles/stars-and-swells-guide-a-polynesian-canoe-around-the-world

28] http://www.ulukau.org/elib/cgi-bin/library?e=d-0english-000Sec--11en-50-20-frameset-

book--1-010escapewin&a=d&d=D0.7&toc=0

29] https://pacificrimconservation.org/conservation/predator-proof-fencing/

30] https://bioone.org/journals/Pacific-Science/volume-69/issue-1/69.1.5/Pollen-Carried-by-Native-and-

Nonnative-Bees-in-the-Large/10.2984/69.1.5.short

31] http://www.ks.uiuc.edu/Research/cryptochrome/

32] https://meetings.ami.org/2017/project/5-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2/

33] Cognitive Acquisition of Memories from Biology 360 and SUST 450.