Skip to main content

Person

Carter T Atkinson

Research Microbiologist

Pacific Island Ecosystems Research Center

Email: catkinson@usgs.gov
Office Phone: 808-985-6401
Fax: 808-967-8568
ORCID: 0000-0002-4232-5335

Location
PIERC Office Bldg 343
Bldg 344 Chain Of Craters Rd.
Hawaii National Park , HI 96718
US

Supervisor: Robert N Reed
thumbnail
We designed two new samplers for monitoring airborne particulates, including fungal and fern spores and plant pollen, that rely on natural wind currents (Passive Environmental Sampler) or a battery operated fan (Active Environmental Sampler). Both samplers are modeled after commercial devices such as the Rotorod® and the Burkard samplers, but are more economical and require less maintenance than commercial devices. We conducted wind tunnel comparisons of our two new samplers to Rotorod® samplers using synthetic polyethylene spheres (12 - 160 µm in diameter) to compare numbers and size range of particulates that are captured by the samplers. This dataset contains raw numbers of polyethylene spheres that were captured...
thumbnail
This data release includes metadata and tabular data that documents initial water conditions (temperature, pH, dissolved oxygen and salinity) during aquarium trials testing the efficacy of carbon dioxide (CO2) to manage invasive fish in anchialine pools.
thumbnail
This data release documents specificity of quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) assays to detect environmental DNA (eDNA) from tilapia, western mosquito fish and guppies. These assays provide new tools for resource managers to monitor effectiveness of management efforts to remove invasive fish from anchialine pools in Hawaii and to also survey pools for presence and absence of invasive fish. The lab work was conducted during 2019-2022.
thumbnail
Rapid ʽŌhiʽa Death (ROD) currently threatens ōhiʽa lehua (Metrosideros polymorpha) on Hawaiʽi Island. First identified in Puna in 2014, the disease has now spread island wide. Besides direct sampling of trees, environmental sampling could serve as an easier and broader strategy to detect Ceratocystis spp., the fungi causing ROD. Environmental sampling could also help monitor the effect of felling ROD infected trees. We developed Passive and Active Environmental Samplers and deployed them at a property in Puna, where both C. lukuohia, and C. huliohia had been detected, and where the land owner practiced the management method of felling infected trees. We set up 2 Active Environmental Samplers (modified mosquito traps...
Abstract (from ScienceDirect): Avian malaria has played a significant role in causing extinctions, population declines, and limiting the elevational distribution of Hawaiian honeycreepers. Most threatened and endangered honeycreepers only exist in high-elevation forests where the risk of malaria infection is limited. Because Culex mosquito vectors and avian malaria dynamics are strongly influenced by temperature and rainfall, future climate change is predicted to expand malaria infection to high-elevation forests and intensify malaria infection at lower elevations, likely resulting in future extinctions and loss of avian biodiversity in Hawaii. Novel, landscape-level mosquito control strategies are promising, but...
Categories: Publication; Types: Citation
View more...
ScienceBase brings together the best information it can find about USGS researchers and offices to show connections to publications, projects, and data. We are still working to improve this process and information is by no means complete. If you don't see everything you know is associated with you, a colleague, or your office, please be patient while we work to connect the dots. Feel free to contact sciencebase@usgs.gov.