Climate change, larval mosquito habitat, and riparian corridors:
Potential pathways to mosquito invasion and malaria transmission at Hakalau Forest National Wildlife Refuge
with Dr. Dennis LaPointe,
Research Ecologist, Pacific Island Ecosystems Research Center, USGS
Note: This will be a hybrid event with both zoom availability and guests attending in person at the Hawaiʻi Institute of Geophysics (HIG) building, room 210, on the UH Mānoa campus. Free lunch will be available for the first 25 participants.
Time is running out for the ʻAkikiki, a small Hawaiian honeycreeper endemic to the island of Kauaʻi. Mosquito-borne avian malaria is a key limiting factor for endemic Hawaiian honeycreepers resulting in population declines, range restrictions, and extinctions. And while it has long been recognized that rising global temperatures would have a profound effect on the distribution and severity of vector-borne human disease, the recent, rapid declines in endangered honeycreeper numbers on Maui and Kauaʻi seem to confirm this negative impact of a warming environment. However,increases in temperature may not be the only change driving avian disease dynamics. Dr. Dennis LaPointe, an ecologist with the Pacific Island Ecosystems Research Center, will discuss ongoing research to explore how drying trends in precipitation may influence the invasion and establishment of vector mosquitoes in the remaining critical habitat for a handful of Hawaiian Honeycreepers on the brink of extinction.
Join us for the next seminar of the “Slice of PI-CASC” seminar series hosted by the Pacific Islands Climate Adaptation Science Center! The series is designed for a wide audience to learn about climate adaptation research and science-to-management applications for Hawaiʻi, the US-Affiliated Pacific Islands, and beyond.