In August 2002 a wood stake study will be started in the Hakalau Forest-National Wildlife Refuge near Hilo, Hawaii to evaluate wood decomposition rates in three tropical forest ecosystems with different temperature/moisture regimes. Six plots (two in each forest type) will be established at elevations ranging from sea level to 1700 m, and on soils developed from two different lava flows - 15,000 and 5,000 years old. In addition, stakes will be installed in an intensively managed 15 year-old Acacia koa plantation, and in an adjacent old-growth Acacia koa stand. Two microplots will be established around soil moisture and temperature data collectors placed in each plot.

Mineral soil - twenty-five stakes (2.5 x 2.5 x 30 cm) of loblolly pine and aspen will be installed in the mineral soil at each microplot - for a total of 600 stakes (25 stakes x 2 species x 3 forest types x 2 microplots x 2 parent materials). Fifty stakes of each species will also be placed in the Acacia koa plantation and the old-growth Acacia koa stand - an additional 200 stakes. Five stakes of each species will be removed from each plot every four months starting in January 2003. Soil moisture will be measured at a 20 cm depth, and soil temperature, and CO₂/O₂ levels will be measured at 10, 20, and 30 cm depths in each plot.

Litter layer (forest floor) - since there is little forest floor in these forests, 25 wood stakes (2.5 x 2.5 x 15 cm) of both tree species will be placed on the soil surface - for a total of 600 stakes (25 stakes x 2 species x 3 forest types x 2 microplots x 2 parent materials x 1 litter layer location). An additional 200 surface stakes will be placed in the Acacia koa plantation and the old-growth Acacia koa stand. Temperatures will be measured at the soil surface, soil moisture will be continuously monitored with an ECH₂O probe at 10 cm.

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