G3+Coqui+Tree+Frog

​​ __** Coqui Tree Frogs **__ by Kayla T., Rhiannon F., and Erin M.

**__Hawaiian Ecosystem:__** The Coqui Tree Frog lives on  the islands of Hawai'i, Maui, O'ahu, and Kaua'i, but mainly on the island of Hawai’i. Hawai’i is one of the world’s wettest places, and 12,000 millimeters of rain falls per year. The Coqui build their homes in lush, moist forests covered with trees draped in vine. Moss coats almost everything there from the ground to the trunks of the trees. Living along with them are fungi, snails, birds, and lots of wildlife. Since this is the ideal habitat for Coqui Tree Frogs, and people complain about their high pitched voice, some believe we need to eliminate them and some disagree. 

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- Plants: Guava, Lilikoi, Mango, Hala, Koa, Naio, Mamane, 'Ohi'a, 'Ohelo, La'au, Hapu'u, Cibotium Glaucum - Animals: 'lo, Pueo, 'Ope'ape'a, Pupu kuahiwi, 'Oma'o, 'l'iwi, Akohekohe, Palila, Axis deer, Pua'a, Pulelehua, caterpillar
 * __Biotic Factors__**

__**Abiotic Factors:**__ -soil: //Histols// are high in organic matter, //Spodosols// are acid and leached, //Oxisols// are highly weathered, //Vertisols// are high in clay, //Aridisols// are dry soils, //Ultisols// contain silicate clays, //Mollisols// are soft due to organic matter, //Inceptisols// are poorly developed substrate horizons, and //Entisols// have no subsurface horizon developement. -tempature: an average of 60-90 degrees Fahrenheit, depending on the season -climate: leeward side: hot, dry, desertlike, sunbaked, arid windward side: cool, moist, junglelike, wet, lush -humitity: an average of 60%-70% -rainfall: an average of 165 inches a year. Hawaii's ecosystem is extremely important because of many reasons. One of them is that 90% of Hawaii's species of animal are endemic and exist nowhere else on the planet. An example of an endemic species is the Moa Nalo, which is a large, flightless waterfowl, and also flightless ducks, ibises, and rails that are native to Hawaii also. Because Hawaii is the "Extinction Capitol of the World", these animals may not survive long, especially with all of the indigenous species like the Coqui Frog invading their habitat and eating their food.
 * __The Importance of the Hawaiian Ecosystem__**

--Because of the Coqui Tree Frogs' extremely large appetite, they exert great pressure on the survival of native arthropods and maybe even snails. --The frogs' large insect consumption may leave native birds without food. --The frogs may cause endemic spiders to go extinct because they prey on similar organisms.
 * __Threats to Hawaii's Ecosystem from the Coqui Tree Frog:__**

__**Conservation Plan:**__ We believe that the Hawaiian ecosystem needs to be protected from the invasive Coqui Frog. We have discovered several ways that can be used to control the increasing population of the Coqui Frog including spraying caffeine and/or citric acid, hand-capturing, and hot water spraying. Hand-capturing can be used to control small populations after flushing the frogs from their hiding places with water about 113 degrees Farenheit, but that can only be used for small clusters of Coqui Frogs. We would spray hot (but not scorching) water in bushes or low shrubs to scare the frogs out. People would then grab the frogs with gloved hands. To dispose of the Coqui, we would have the frogs taken to a veterinarian for euthanasia or anesthetize them at home and //deep freeze// them (-18 degrees F), or maybe we could even send them back to their native habitat, Puerto Rico. That way we would need to make sure that the Coqui Tree Frogs were disposed of in a humane way, but citric acid is our ideal choice for control of the Coqui. It is enviromentally friendly, even though it may damage some sensitive or young plants. The spray would be applied to areas that are likely to be invaded by the frogs or are surely invaded,such as under and in low shrubs and bushes. We could use the unemployed 6.8% of Hawaii's population to spray citric acid at the frogs. Coqui Frogs are killed only by direct contact with the spray, so you would need to spray when Coquis are likely to be out, which is at night.

media type="custom" key="6165893" __**Bibliography:**__ - [] -- [] -- [] -- [] -- [] -- [] --[]