The hazards are associated with the three erupting volcanic vents on Kilauea's East Rift Zone.

Lisa Hadway, an ecologist with the state's Natural Area Reserves System program on the Big Island, said specific threats include numerous large cracks that are continuing to form in the area, the threat of wildfire from the lava flows, toxic fumes and the likelihood that lava contained in ponds above ground level will spill suddenly, overcoming anyone who may be nearby.

Additionally, areas around the Pu'u 'O'o vent, the previous eruption site, are collapsing, she said.

The entire eruption is within the 16,726-acre Kahauale'a Natural Area Reserve, which lies generally northeast of the Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park boundary.

The best known trail in the area, variously known as the Captain's Trail, Kahauale'a Trail and Pu'u 'O'o Trail, is closed. State conservation enforcement officers will be patrolling the area regularly, the DLNR said in a news release.

The Kahauale'a Natural Area Reserve is the second-largest in the state system. It runs from 3,900 feet above sea level to 1,400 feet above sea level, and most of its vegetation is considered lowland wet forest, Hadway said.

The dominant tall tree is 'ohi'a, with a dense understory of uluhe fern, smaller trees like kopiko and kolea, tree ferns and understory plants. The state's largest population of the endangered fern, Adenophorus periens, is found here.

Hadway said the reserve is an important habitat for some of the more common Hawaiian forest birds, including the 'apapane, 'amakihi, 'elepaio and the 'io or Hawaiian hawk.

The eruption is not doing serious damage to the forest, largely because current flows are are running out over lavas that flowed in the area from 1986 to 1992.

"At this point, it's flowing over flows of 15 years ago that do not have much vegetative cover," Hadway said.