Human-mediated invasions by exotic species are of world-wide concern due to the threats they pose to native biota. Such invasions are of heightened concern when they occur on isolated oceanic islands, which are commonly known for their high invasibility due to their low species diversity, vacant ecologically niches, and/or poorly competitive local species. To date, the Hawaiian Islands are the most geographically isolated archipelago in the world and have seen considerable human-mediated floral and faunal invasions. One such invasive species is Myrica faya, more commonly known as the firetree. In the 18th century Myrica faya was introduced to Hawaii as an ornamental shrub and then began to invade nitrogen poor substrates across the island, such as dry lava flows. Nitrogen is a vital element needed for the biosynthesis of the basic building blocks of plants, e.g. RNA and DNA, causing its lack of presence in the soil to be lethal to many plant species.

        However, since Myrica faya has the ability to perform nitrogen fixation, converting atmospheric nitrogen gas into ammonium and depositing it into the soil, it is able to survive in such commonly uninhabitable areas, and because islands are often scarce in nitrogen fixing symbionts, species like Myrica faya are able to manipulate this open ecological niche. This ability allows Myrica faya to rehabilitate areas of the island that have either been destroyed or deprived of nutrients and restabilizes the local levels of nitrogen in the soil – creating fertile soil for other species to succeed in regrowth. However, Myrica faya is not confined solely to areas of the islands, finding themselves also disturbing pastures and agricultural crop plots. Therefore, since this invasive plant remains an unwanted nuisance to anthropogenic use of the land, the benefits it and other similar invasive species can have are often overshadowed.

--Austin Garner