"The alpine region starts at 10,000 feet which is about where the air starts to become noticeably thin. Since the air is thinner it makes it harder to adapt to the environment, but if they can then they get less competition. It is home to not very many species though the ones that are there are amazing specimens of evolution at its finest.

    The fauna in the alpine are all birds and people, but people don’t count. The most interesting of the birds are the NeNe which live all over the islands but mainly on Maui and the Big Island. There is also the ‘I’iwi which is a beautiful bird that is only found in the Hawaiian islands, just like the Nene. There are more than just one more bird that lives on the summit of haleakala but is very little known. It is called the ‘Ua’a and is a black and white like a crow that has white.

    Unlike the fauna the flora are very specialized to the environment. The best example of this is the silver sword which has many family members all over the world. They have family in the alps, the Himalayas, the Rockies and the Andes. On the bottom of the crater there is a flowering bush called Pilo which also has a medical purpose. Kūpaoa is related to the silversword and has the same adaptation that lets them live at such a high altitude.

    The ancient hawaiians used the crater in many different ways. One of which was to teach the new Kahuna in a magnificent sacredness of the Kawilinau or the bottomless pit. They also thought of the place sacred because that is where pele and her siblings fought and because Maui’s mom lived on the summit.

    The present day threat to the crater is invasive species like pigs and deer. According to park officials there are no more Ungulates in the park because they fenced the entire park. There is also the fact that the native plants are gone and now the water is eroding the park."  Kasper