Spread of Rapid `Ohi`a Death in Puna May By Hindering `Amakihi Population In 2001, Environment Hawai`i reported on research by U.S. Geological Survey entomologist Dennis LaPointe and colleague Carter Atkinson suggesting that climate change-induced temperature increases will likely shrink the habitat … Continued
“This pathogen poses a serious threat to Hawai`i’s flagship native tree species whose loss would be catastrophic for the diversity, structure, and function of Hawai`i’s remaining native forests and the services they provide.” — “First Report of Ceratocystis wilt on … Continued
The rapid spread of the fungus killing `ohi`a on the Big Island is scary enough. The prospect that it could take down `ohi`a on other islands is a nightmare. How to stop it at the shores of Hawai`i island was … Continued
In mid-May, the Hawai`i Department of Agriculture’s Plant Pest Control Branch issued pest advisories on the hala scale, Thysanococcus pandani Stickney, and the bagrada bug, Bagrada hilaris Burmeister. The hala scale was first detected in Hawai`i on trees in Hana, … Continued
Posted 11/07/2011 The director of the state Department of Agriculture, Russell Kokubun, has issued a finding of no significant impact for the release of a scale insect that many in the conservation community hope will deal a blow to the … Continued
Posted 06/30/2011 Since 2008, Malama O Puna and its partners have been working to clear mangroves from the Big Island, in hopes that eventually the entire island can be mangrove-free. According to Ann Kobsa, the group’s invasive species coordinator, the project … Continued
Posted 06/08/2011 One of the world’s worst weeds has found a home on O`ahu’s north shore. Early this year, the O`ahu Army Natural Resources Program found Chromolaena odorata (also known as Siam weed or devil weed) in the Kahuku Training Area. … Continued
Posted 05/27/2011 The state Department of Land and Natural Resources is now confirming that axis deer are present on the island of Hawai`i. (We first reported on this in our April 2011 issue.) DLNR administrator William Aila was quoted as saying … Continued
(POSTED 9/14/06) The Environmental Protection Agency has announced a settlement with Kamehameha Schools stemming from an incident in which it gave pigs an accidental overdose of rat poison in an experiment intended to show the effectiveness of using helicopters to … Continued
The Nature Conservancy’s Waikamoi Preserve in east Maui has been mostly free of feral pigs and goats for the last two decades. But what has that meant for the native vegetation on the high slopes of Haleakala? In 2008, four … Continued