#ceratocystis huliohia

The Hawai‘i Department of Agriculture is reminding travelers attending the Merrie Monarch Festival next week that quarantine restrictions remain on the transport of ʻōhiʻa from Hawaiʻi Island due to the fungal plant disease, rapid ʻōhiʻa death (ROD), which is devastating to native forests. The Merrie Monarch Festival takes place in Hilo from April 20 to 26.

Travelers attending the Merrie Monarch Festival this week are reminded that quarantine restrictions remain on the transport of ʻōhiʻa from Hawaiʻi Island due to the fungal plant disease, rapid ʻōhiʻa death (ROD), which is devastating to native forests.

A University of Hawai‘i at Hilo geographer is putting a new aerial chainsaw device to the test that could assist in the battle to save Hawaiʻi’s ʻōhiʻa lehua trees from a deadly fungal pathogen.

For the first time, researchers have shown that native ʻōhiʻa seedlings can survive for at least a year in areas that have active mortality from Rapid ʻŌhiʻa Death, or ROD, a fungal disease that is devastating to this dominant and culturally important tree in Hawaiian forests. Researchers from the US Geological Survey in Hawaiʻi say his information can be useful to land managers and homeowners as they prioritize conservation actions.

The location of the infected tree is extremely remote and it is considered highly unlikely to have been spread by people. Rapid ʻŌhiʻa Death has now been detected on Hawai‘i Island, Maui, Kaua‘i and O‘ahu since the fungal disease was first discovered in 2014.