Print PageThe Hawaii Island ULTRA focuses on the island's two major urban areas, Hilo and Kailua-Kona, to provide a comparative analysis of the structure and function of these two socio-ecological systems. Although similar in population and area, these cities have markedly different socio-economic and biophysical characteristics. In recent years, Hilo has struggled with the demise of the sugarcane industry and the transition to a more diversified base, while Kailua-Kona has experienced explosive growth fueled by its attractiveness as a tourist and second-home destination. The study examines Hawai‘i Island’s transition from resource independence in the 18th century to near-total dependence in the 20th to address the question: how have human-nature interactions evolved in Hilo and Kailua-Kona over this period? The research is the first of the LTER or ULTRA studies to use material and energy flow analysis (MEFA), a tool drawn from industrial ecology, to track the input, output, conversion, and accumulation of materials, energy, and selected substances through each urban system. The MEFA is guided by Eurostat protocols. Land-use and land-cover dynamics were analyzed by coupling remote satellite imagery for Hilo and Kona with information collected from historical archives, statistical databases, and a number of stakeholders from county agencies, local businesses, and the community. The project is assessing the analytic power gained by combining the two methods of MEFA and land use/land cover studies.
Results/Conclusions
This project has contributed to a very small set of longitudinal MEFA studies at the urban or regional scale that consciously seek to include the collection of socio-economic data as well as biophysical data. We have completed the basic MEFA of Hilo and Kona as well as for Hawai’i Island as a whole. Significant differences are seen across these urban areas in imports, exports and domestic extraction. Kona extracts much more of its biomass but a far lesser quantity of minerals than Hilo. Hilo has 13 times more water than the dry, tourism oriented Kona, yet Kona not only uses more water daily, but also recycles more water. The project has compiled a material history of Hawai’i Island based upon four key transformations since the 18th century. Accounting for flows within and across Hilo and Kona over time has contributed knowledge of underlying driving forces and feedback loops, and a better understanding of the dynamics that have been generated within the urban boundaries by interactions with systems outside of its boundaries.
