the mauna kea ice age reserve on the southern summit flank of mauna kea was established in 1981. the reserve is a region of sparsely vegetated cinder deposits and lava rock, including areas of aeolian desert and lake waiau. this ecosystem is a likely haven for the threatened uau ("pterodroma sandwichensis") and also the center of a study on wēkiu bugs ("nysius wekiuicola").