Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 32, Number 10, 1 October 2015 — COULD THIS BE THE END -- FOR THE OHIʻA? [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]
COULD THIS BE THE END
-- FOR THE OHIʻA?
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'ŌHI'A TREES HAVE BEEN DYING AT AN ALARMINū RATE ON HAWAI'I I5LANŪ. "Worst case scenario ... Hawai'i would never be the same," said Flint Hughes of the U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service. Rapid 'Ōhi'a Death is a newly identified disease that has killed thousands of acres of mature 'ōhi'a trees. 'Ōhi'a covers 840,000 acres of land in the state, more than 600,000 of those acres are on Hawai'i Island. Christy Martin, public information officer for the Coordinating Groups on Alien Plant Species, said death of 'ōhi'a could threaten the rainforest. She said the structure of the tree allows it to attract and hold water. "That allows the water to seep very slowly into the watershed," she said. Two years ago, homeowners in the Puna area of Hawai'i Island started to report something was killing mature heahh 'ōhi'a trees in their yards. It wasn't until last year when researchers discovered a fungus called Ceratocystis fimbriata. "This fungus is shutting down the water transport system in the tree and when it turns off the water, obviously the tree is going to tum brown and die," said Martin. The disease has begun to touch Wao Kele o Puna, land owned by the Office of Hawaiian Affairs. Land and Property Manager Jonathan Ching said the disease "is a major threat to our native forest and our cultural practitioners who access and utilize forest products." He added the disease is "affecting the forest's native species canopy, without whieh we ean expect a rise in invasive species that would spring up." "When you think about what 'ōhi'a means to our culture, and what it means to the communities on Hawai'i Island, you're talking about the loss of that part of our culture forever," said State Rep. Jarrett Keohokalole. "For too many Hawaiians already, the only time they see 'ōhi'a is when they visit the hotels. The songs, the chants, the practices associated with 'ōhi'a and all the other plants and animals that depend on 'ōhi'a - will be that mueh harder to eonhnue to preserve if they lose their significance on Moku o Keawe."
In 2014, an estimated 6,000 acres from Kalapana to Hilo had 'ōhi'a stands where at least half the trees had died. As a result, people are no longer able to transport 'ōhi'a plants and plant parts from Hawai'i
Island except by permit. The state Department of Agriculture passed emergency rules in late August in an attempt to prevent the disease from infecting trees on other islands. "We are not seeing it on the other islands and we're determined to do everything we ean to keep it that way," said Hughes. It's not known exactly how the fungus spreads from tree to tree, but what is known is that humans ean help spread it. The fungus remains d1ivp in I h e trpp. fnr Inna d
after it dies or is cut down. Onee the tree dies, Hughes said, beetles bore into it leaving a sawdust-like frass behind that ean be transported on the
clothes, shoes, vehicles and tools. Researchers say shoes ean be decontaminated with a 10-percent solution of chlorine bleach. Clothes and packs should be washed in hot water. Vehicles used off-road in infected areas should have their undercarriages washed so as not to carry infected soil to other places. In addition, tools ean be cleaned with a Lysol-brand concentrate or a 70 percent solution of rubbing aleohol. Martin said those gathering 'ōhi'a for cultural purposes should try to do it in areas currently not infected to minimize the risk of spreading the fungus. SEE 'ŌHI'A ON PAGE 16
What you ean do Decontaminate before anel afteryou visit the forest: • Clean shoes anel tools with a freshly-prepared solution of 10% chlorine hleaeh and 90% water • Tools ean be cleaned with 4oz/gal LysolTM Brand Concentrate or 70% rubbing aleohol solution • Chain saws blades should be brushed elean, sprayed with solution and run briefly • The undercarriage of vehicles used off road should be cleaned so as not to carry contaminated soil to other areas
• Clothing and packs should be maehinewashed in detergent and hot water lf you are gathering 'ōhi'a forcultural practices, visit ohiawilt.org forcurrent map of infected areas and select areas outside the zones for gathering. You may nottransport 'ōhi'a plants and parts from Hawai'i lsland. This includes flowers, leaves, seeds, stems, twigs, cuttings, untreated wood, logs, muleh and green waste without a permit from the Hawai'i Department of Agriculture.
Symptoms of Rapid 'Ohi'a Death • Crowns of infected trees turn yellowish (ehlorotic) and subsequently Ibrown within days to weeks; dead leaves remain on branches forsome time. • In some instances, leaves of single branches or limbs turn brown before the rest of the crown becomes brown. • Within two orthree weeks all the branches in the crown of an infected tree show symptoms. • Ceratocystis manifests itself as dark, nearly black staining in the sapwood alongthe outermargin of thetrunks of affected trees. • The stain is often radially distributed through the wood.
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'Ōhi'a plants blooming at Kīlauea Iki, Hawai'i lsland.
Visitors dunk their boots in a hleaeh bath to decontaminate as a preventive measure.
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'ŌHI'A Continued from page 14
Martin said researehers are in a raee against time. Hughes said there remain signs of hope for the 'ōhi'a. He said it is still too early to tell whether the fungus will infeet all 'ōhi'a saying "what the 'ōhi'a has going for it is broad genetie variation." He said that eould be a signal that some varieties of the tree could be resistant to the fungus. He said researchers have so far not found the disease on the leeward side of Hawai'i Island, whieh could mean that there are environmental factors that could stop the spread of the fungus. And he said researchers are learning more every day. He said he hopes as people take precautions, it will at least slow the spread of the disease to give researchers time to find more answers. Rep. Keohokalole urged everyone to help out. "Get involved. Meet with the people trying to stop this
disease and spread the word about what we ean do to help prevent its spread. Talkto your 'ohana. Talkto . your neighbors. Share information about it on Facebook." he said. Martin said there are many difficult decisions ahead, especially if the spread of Rapid 'ōhi'a Death cannot be stopped. "The potential solutions may be sometbing we're not currently eomfortable with," Martin said. "But faced with the loss of 'ōhi'a, would people consider something that's currently off limits in their mind such as replanting with a hybrid, trying to find varieties that are resistant and replanting the forest with that so at least we don't have watershed collapse?" She said Hawai'i Island has dealt with something similar with the end of sugar cultivation. Acres of watershed land were replanted with trees. "I don't applaud all of the species they chose, but we have water because of that tough decision. I thinkpeople need to prepare themselves for a tough decision." ■