Explore options for using native seed delivered through hydro-seeding methods as viable approach to re-vegetating burned and severely eroded sites.

This project will use a native hydroseed product to combat and restore the detrimental effects of wildfires and severely eroded sites in Hawaii is the main goal of this project. Hydroseeding is defined as a planting process that uses a slurry of seed and hydromulch. The mulch mixture by itself is often called hydromulch, which at the time of application, is a mixture of water, fiber mulch, and tackifier. Hydromulch and seed mixed together essentially creates hydroseed. As described above, hydromulch and aerial seeding have been implemented in large scale restoration projects in the western U.S., but large scale hydroseeding after wildfires, besides studies which tested grass seeds in the Plains areas of the U.S., stands alone in lacking research. NES plans to test and prove the efficacy of using hydroseeding in the landscape scale fire restoration context. Hydroseeding using native seeds of trees, shrubs, and native grasses and sedges will quickly be the next new tool in the tool belt that will give managers the upper hand in forest restoration after wildfires or when tackling hard to establish eroded sites