This study aims to evaluate the effect of rat population control on the ability of Hibiscadelphus giffardianus to successfully establish seedlings. We compared H. giffardianus fruiting and recruitment in a stand treated for rats and a neighboring control stand. The study was conducted in two neighboring kīpuka, Kīpuka Puaulu and Kīpuka Kī, which are patches of well-developed forest surrounded by more recent lava flows. These kīpuka lie 2.5 km northwest of Kīlauea Caldera in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park on the island of Hawaii. The 700 × 700 m rat-removal treatment area falls within Kīpuka Kī, and Kīpuka Puaulu served as a control. We monitored 181 mature, fruit-bearing individuals of this species, of which there exist 223 total. Each month from October 2016 through August 2017, the number of seedlings within 3m of each individual H. giffardianus was recorded. All newly established seedlings were located and recorded early in their growth (height < 3 cm). Because of high mortality rates, after February, we placed protective exclosures (1 cm mesh size, designed to exclude non-native Kalij pheasant (Lophura leucomelanos) around remaining and new seedlings.