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Person

Dennis Lapointe

Research Ecologist

Email: dlapointe@usgs.gov
Office Phone: 808-985-6413
Fax: 808-967-8568
ORCID: 0000-0002-6323-263X

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