Donald R. Drake

 

     Botany Department

     University of Hawai'i

     3190 Maile Way

     Honolulu, Hi 96822

     USA

 

     phone: (808) 956-3937

     fax: (808) 956-3923

     e-mail: dondrake@hawaii.edu

 

 

 

 

Academic background:

BS summa cum laude, Biology, Florida Institute of Technology, 1981

MS, Botany, Ohio University, 1987

PhD, Botany, University of Hawaii 1993

 

 

Academic positions:

Assistant Professor, Georgia Southern University, 1993-1996

Lecturer, Senior Lecturer, Victoria University of Wellington, 1996-2001

Assistant Professor, Associate Professor, University of Hawaii, 2002-present

 

 

Main research interests:

My main interest is plant ecology, especially aspects of reproductive ecology that influence plant population and community dynamics and are relevant to conservation in the Pacific.  A particular focus is on how changes in Polynesian animal communities (pollinators, seed dispersers, and seed predators) affect plant recruitment from seed.  I am also interested in restoration ecology, both as a conservation technique and as a means to learn more about basic ecological processes.

 

Some recent and current research topics:

Disrupted seed dispersal mutualisms -- Many frugivorous animals became rare or extinct on Pacific islands following colonization by humans and the animals they introduced. Are the remaining frugivores (e.g., birds and flying foxes) still capable of dispersing enough seeds to maintain native plant populations and communities?

At right - fruits of Pleiogynium timoriense that have been chewed upon, spat out, and had their seeds dispersed by the flying fox Pteropus tonganus in Tonga.

 

 Pollination ecology of Polynesian plants -- The suite of flower-visiting animals that interacts with the Pacific flora has changed dramatically in the past 3000 years, owing to losses of bats, birds, and insects, and introductions of alien mammals, birds, and insects.  How do the changes in flower visitation affect pollination, seed set, gene flow, and plant recruitment?

At left - Bidens torta (Asteraceae) in visible light and ultraviolet light, Oahu, Hawaii (photo by Elly Vaes).

 

 

Demography of the Haleakala silversword, Argyroxiphium sandwicense ssp. macrocephalum -- Populations of this threatened, monocarpic perennial are recovering from herbivory by goats in alpine habitats on Haleakala, Maui. We have been monitoring a population since 1993 to characterize basic demographic and life history traits including: lifespan; relationships among plant size, age, and flowering; seedling recruitment; and the rate of population growth.

At right - the Haleakala silversword, Argyroxiphium sandwicense ssp. macrocephalum, Maui, Hawaii.

 

 

Seed predation by alien rodents -- Polynesia lacked mammalian seed predators until rodents were introduced by humans. To what extent does seed predation by rodents now limit recruitment of Polynesian plants? Does diaspore morphology influence susceptibility to predation?

At left - Pandanus tectorius diaspores fed upon and dispersed by flying foxes (pure dispersers) and rats (dispersers and seed predators) in Tonga.

 

 

Lab members completing BScHon's, MS, PhD, or Post-doc:

 

    Current:

Alvin Yoshinaga, PhD: Evolution of seeds traits in the Hawaiian flora

 

    Completed (GSU, VUW, and UH):

Ane Bakutis, Chuck Chimera, Michelle Elmore, Reuben Ferguson, Richard FitzJohn, Anna Franklin, Harshi Gamage, Kate McAlpine, Kim McConkey, Alison McGee, Hayley Meehan, Angela Moles, Edith Nonner, Katherine Postelli, Matiu Prebble, Lara Reynolds, Heather Sahli, Aaron Shiels, Alex Wegmann, Justine Wilson, Debra Wotton.

 

 

Publications:

Drake, D. R., T. Bodey, J. Russell, D. R. Towns, L. Ruffino, and M. Nogales. In press. Direct impacts of seabird predators on island biota other than seabirds. in C. P. H. Mulder, W. B. Anderson, D. R. Towns, and P. J. Bellingham (Eds.). Seabird Islands: Ecology, Invasion, and Restoration. Oxford University press.

Chimera, C. G., and D. R. Drake. 2011. Could poor seed dispersal contribute to predation by rodents in a Hawaiian dry forest? Biological Invasions 13: 1029-1042.

Shiels, A. B., and D. R. Drake. 2011. Are introduced rats (Rattus rattus) both seed predators and seed dispersers in Hawaii? Biological Invasions 13: 883-894.

Nonner, E., S. Cordell, and D. R. Drake. 2011. The role of fire in the germination ecology of fountain grass (Pennisetum setaceum), an invasive African bunchgrass in Hawaii. Pacific Science 65: 17-26.

Chimera, C. G., and D. R. Drake. 2010. Effects of pulp removal on seed germination of five invasive plants in Hawaii. Plant Protection Quarterly 25: 137-140.

Chimera, C. G., and D. R. Drake. 2010. Patterns of seed dispersal and dispersal failure in a Hawaiian dry forest having only introduced birds. Biotropica 42: 493-502.

Drake, D. R., and T. L. Hunt. 2009. Invasive rodents on islands: integrating historical and contemporary ecology. Biological Invasions 11: 1483-1487.

Drake, D. R. 2009. Tonga.  Pp. 918-921 in R. Gillespie and D. Clague (Eds.), Encyclopedia of Islands. University of California Press, Berkeley.

Perez, H. E., A. B. Shiels, H. M. Zaleski, and D. R. Drake. 2008. Germination after simulated rat damage in seeds of two endemic Hawaiian palm species. Journal of Tropical Ecology 24: 555-558.

McConkey, K. R., and D. R. Drake. 2007.  Indirect evidence that flying foxes track food resources among islands in a Pacific archipelago. Biotropica.39: 436-440.

Franklin, J., S. K. Wiser, D. R. Drake, L. E. Burrows, and W. R. Sykes. 2006. Environment, disturbance history and rain forest composition across the islands of Tonga, Western Polynesia. Journal of Vegetation Science 17: 233-244.

McConkey, K. R., and D. R. Drake. 2006. Flying foxes cease to function as seed dispersers long before they become rare. Ecology 87: 271-276.

 

Meehan, H. J., K. R. McConkey, and D. R. Drake. 2005. Early fate of Myristica hypargyraea seeds dispersed by Ducula pacifica in Tonga. Austral Ecology 30: 374-382.

 

McConkey, K. R., H. J. Meehan, and D. R. Drake. 2004. Seed dispersal by Pacific Pigeons (Ducula pacifica) in Tonga, Western Polynesia. Emu 104: 369-376.

 

McConkey, K. R., D. R. Drake, J. Franklin, and F. Tonga. 2004. Effects of Cyclone Waka on flying fox populations in Tonga. Journal of Tropical Ecology 20: 555-561.

 

Franklin, J., D. R. Drake, K. McConkey, F. Tonga, and L. B. Smith. 2004. The effects of Tropical Cyclone Waka on the structure of lowland forest in Vava'u, Tonga. Journal of Tropical Ecology 20: 409-420.

 

McAlpine, K. G., and D. R. Drake. 2003. The effects of small-scale environmental heterogeneity on seed germination in treefall gaps. Plant Ecology 165: 207-215.

 

McConkey, K. R., D. R. Drake, H. J. Meehan, and N. Parsons. 2003. Husking stations provide evidence of seed predation by introduced rodents in Tongan rain forests. Biological Conservation 109: 221-225.

 

Drake, D. R., C. P. H. Mulder, D. R. Towns, and C. H. Daugherty. 2002. The biology of insularity: an introduction. Journal of Biogeography 29: 563-569.

 

Meehan, H. J., K. R. McConkey, and D. R. Drake. 2002. Potential disruptions to seed dispersal mutualisms in Tonga, Western Polynesia. Journal of Biogeography 29: 695-712.

 

Wiser, S. K., D. R. Drake, L. E. Burrows, and W. R. Sykes. 2002. The potential for long-term persistence of forest fragments on a large island in western Polynesia. Journal of Biogeography 29: 767-787.

 

McConkey, K. R., and D. R. Drake. 2002. Extinct pigeons and declining bat populations: are large seeds still being dispersed in the tropical Pacific? Pp. 381-395 in D. Levey, W. Silva, and M. Galetti (Eds.), Frugivory and seed dispersal: evolutionary and conservation perspectives. CAB International, Wallingford, UK.

 

Drake, D. R., and L. W. Pratt. 2001. Seedling mortality in Hawaiian rain forest: the role of small-scale physical disturbance. Biotropica 33: 319-323.

 

Steadman, D. W, J. Franklin, D. R. Drake, H. B. Freifeld, L. A. Bolick, D. S. Smith, and T. J. Motley. 1999. Conservation status of forests and vertebrate communities in the Vava’u Island Group, Tonga. Pacific Conservation Biology 5: 191-207.

 

Moles, A. T., and D. R. Drake. 1999. Post-dispersal seed predation on eleven large-seeded species from the New Zealand flora: a preliminary study in secondary forest. New Zealand Journal of Botany 37: 679-685.

 

Ferguson, R., and D. R. Drake. 1999. Influence of vegetation structure on spatial patterns of bird-dispersed seeds. New Zealand Journal of Botany 37: 671-677.

 

Franklin, J., D. R. Drake, L. A. Bolick, D. S. Smith, and T. J. Motley. 1999. Rain forest composition and patterns of secondary succession in the Vava’u Island Group, Kingdom of Tonga. Journal of Vegetation Science 10: 51-64.

 

Moles, A. T., and D. R. Drake. 1999. Potential contributions of the seed rain and seed bank to regeneration of native forest beneath plantation pine. New Zealand Journal of Botany 37: 83-93.

 

Drake, D. R. 1998. Relationships among the seed rain, seed bank, and vegetation of a Hawaiian forest. Journal of Vegetation Science. 9: 103-112.

 

Kitayama, K., E. A. G. Schuur, D. R. Drake, and D. Mueller-Dombois. 1997. Fate of a wet montane forest during soil ageing. Journal of Ecology 85: 669-679.

 

Orava, C., and D. R. Drake. 1997. Effects of salinity on germination and growth of Solidago sempervirens (L.). Castanea 62: 272-277.

 

Drake, D. R., W. A. Whistler, T. J. Motley, and C. T. Imada. 1996. Rain forest vegetation of ‘Eua Island, Tonga. New Zealand Journal of Botany 34: 65-77.

 

Alpha, C. G., D. R. Drake, and G. Goldstein. 1996. Morphological and physiological responses of Scaevola sericea (Goodeniaceae) to salt spray and substrate salinity. American Journal of Botany 83: 86-92.

 

Goldstein, G., D. R. Drake, C. G. Alpha, P. Melcher, J. Heraux, and A. Azocar. 1996. Growth and photosynthetic responses of Scaevola sericea, a Hawaiian coastal shrub, to substrate salinity and salt spray. International Journal of Plant Sciences 157: 171-179.

 

Goldstein, G., D. R. Drake, P. Melcher, J. Heraux, and T. W. Giambelluca. 1996. Photosynthetic gas exchange and temperature-induced damage in seedlings of the tropical alpine species Argyroxiphium sandwicense. Oecologia 106: 298-307.

 

Drake, D. R., and D. Mueller-Dombois. 1993. Population development of rain forest trees on a chronosequence of Hawaiian lava flows. Ecology 74: 1012-1019.

 

Drake, D. R. 1993. Germination requirements of Metrosideros polymorpha, the dominant tree of Hawaiian lava flows and rain forests. Biotropica 25: 461-467.

 

Drake, D. R. 1992. Seed dispersal of Metrosideros polymorpha (Myrtaceae): a pioneer tree of Hawaiian lava flows. American Journal of Botany 79: 1224-1228.

 

Drake, D. R., and I. A. Ungar. 1989. The effects of salinity, nitrogen level, and population density on the survival, growth, and reproduction of Atriplex triangularis (Chenopodiaceae). American Journal of Botany 76: 1125-1135.