Natural History

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Evolution, Hawaiian Style Lava Dubautia Alpine Dubautia Hawaii is a world-class showcase of evolutionary process. In fact, in many ways it surpasses the examples from the Gala...

Biogeography is the study of how geography affects the biological world. Geographic features play a dominant role in shaping Hawaii’s natural world and make it a great place for biogeographic studies. The Hawaiian islands make up the most extensive archipelago on earth. They contain an incredible diversity of terrain, habitat, and climate zones. ...

Big Island. Big Dreams. Big Adventures. Often referred to as one of the world’s greatest natural history stories, the incredible legacy of the Hawaiian island chain begins with geology. Trillions of tons of rock, driven up from the earth’s molten mantle through a localized hot spot, created landscapes like no other in the worl...

Along with its world-class showcase of biology, evolution, geology, and astronomy, Hawaii has also gained the regrettable reputation as the endangered species capital of the world. Conservationists consider Hawaii to be at the forefront of the global extinction crisis....

Geology of Hawaii Hawaii’s volcanoes Everybody knows Hawaii has volcanoes. In fact, the Hawaiian islands are completely built up from the ocean floor. A volcano-making machine seethes deep beneath the island of Hawaii that geologists call a hot spot. Over the past 44 million yea...