**2. Methods**

The authors of this paper operate in the realms of both biophysical and social science, and have a combined study of various aspects of the social-ecological system in Hawai'i that adds up to well over a century of work. The group includes multi-disciplinary ecologists, botanists, aquatic biologists, and geographers, along with scholars of Hawaiian resource management and governing policy. In this paper we draw upon our collective research that has employed various methods such as archival resource analysis (including maps, governing documents of the Hawaiian Kingdom, Hawaiian language newspapers, etc.), elder interviews, spatial modeling, remote sensing, and biological mapping/monitoring from the mountains to sea. Recent advances in our collective work include several inter-disciplinary projects in the biocultural realm, which have allowed us to synergistically engage with one another's research in the pursuit of better understanding the depth and the breadth of the Hawaiian biocultural resource management system. These collaborations have been key to the development of this article.
