Dennis Lapointe

This USGS data release consists of six data sets and accompanying metadata for a year-long study on the seasonal distribution and relative abundance of the southern house mosquito Culex quinquefasciatus in Kīpahulu Valley, Haleakalā National Park, critical habitat for two endangered Maui endemic forest birds. Culex quinquefasciatus is the vector of the avian malaria Plasmodium relictum, a key limiting factor of endemic Hawaiian forest birds. The main components of the study included: (1) adult mosquito monitoring to document the altitudinal distribution, seasonal occurrence, relative abundance, and trapping efficacy of Culex quinquefasciatus (Kīpahulu Valley, Maui, 1 file); (2) stream surveys to determine the larval...

Categories: Data; Tags: Haleakalā National Park, Hawai'i Island, Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park, Hawaiian Islands, Kauai, All tags... Kīpahulu Valley, Palikea Stream, USGS Science Data Catalog (SDC), Wildlife Disease, avian malaria, biota, extinction, health, incompatible insect technique, kiwikiu, mosquito monitoring, wildlife disease, Fewer tags

Will a warmer and wetter future cause extinction of native Hawaiian forest birds?

Abstract (from http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/gcb.13005/abstract): Isolation of the Hawaiian archipelago produced a highly endemic and unique avifauna. Avian malaria ( Plasmodium relictum), an introduced mosquito-borne pathogen, is a primary cause of extinctions and declines of these endemic honeycreepers. Our research assesses how global climate change will affect future malaria risk and native bird populations. We used an epidemiological model to evaluate future bird–mosquito–malaria dynamics in response to alternative climate projections from the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project. Climate changes during the second half of the century accelerate malaria transmission and cause a dramatic decline...

Categories: Publication; Types: Citation; Tags: Avian, Birds, Forests, Malaria, Pacific Islands CASC, All tags... Wildlife and Plants, Fewer tags

Facilitated Adaptation for Conservation – Can Gene Editing Save Hawaii's Endangered Birds from Climate Driven Avian Malaria?

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

Kawaikoi Mosquito Dissections 2016-2017

Mosquito-borne avian malaria is a key limiting factor on Hawaiian forest bird populations. Preservation of endemic forest birds and restoration of Hawaiian forest bird communities will rely on mosquito control. While landscape level control is being developed, managers need short term and reliable tools for monitoring and controlling mosquito populations to protect remaining breeding bird populations. As part of a larger study looking at the efficacy of the biopesticide VectoMax FG for control of larval Culex quinquefasciatus, USGS and DOFAW personnel monitored adult mosquitoes (Culex quinquefasciatus and Aedes japonicus) along the Kawaikoi Stream during late summer, September through November 2016 and 2017. Ten...

Categories: Data; Tags: Alakai Wilderness Preserve, Culex quinquefaciatus, Hawaiian honeycreepers, Kauai, Kawaikoi Stream, All tags... USGS-EMA-LOW Fish and Wildlife Disease, avian malaria, biota, mosquito vector, wildlife disease, Fewer tags

Kawaikoi Stream Dip Survey

As part of a larger study looking at the ecology and potential control of larval Culex quinquefasciatus, USGS and Hawaii DOFAW personnel surveyed a kilometer long reach of the Kawaikoi Stream for larval mosquitoes (Culex quinquefasciatus), potential larval mosquito habitat and non-target aquatic macroinvertebrates during late summer, September through November 2016 and 2017. Along each 10-meter section of the stream, 20 dip samples were taken (when possible) to record the presence of mosquito immatures (larvae and pupae) and macroinvertebrate encountered. Sampling was restricted to stream margins, perched pools, rock holes and back waters. No swift water was sampled. The number of discreet pools per 10-meter section...

Categories: Data; Tags: Alakai Plateau, Alakai Wilderness Preserve, Culex quinquefasciatus, Kauai, Kauai, All tags... Kawaikoi Stream, Kawaikoi Stream, USGS-EMA-LOW Fish and Wildlife Disease, USGS-EMA-LOW-FWD Ecology and/or Impacts, avian disease, biopesticide, biota, environment, streams, Fewer tags