HETF Webinar: Documenting the Use of Stream Habitats by Mosquitoes in Hawaiian Forests

One major factor leading to the decline of Hawaiian honeycreepers is avian malaria, transmitted by the invasive mosquito Culex quinquefasciatus. Honeycreeper populations have declined significantly on Kauaʻi and Maui, but they remain relatively stable at Hakalau Forest National Wildlife Refuge on the Island of Hawaiʻi. Limited availability of suitable larval habitat at Hakalau may be one reason C. quinquefasciatus are seldom detected and why avian malaria remains at low prevalence in the avian communities. Changing patterns in precipitation and stream hydrology, however, could increase riparian larval habitat and provide a stepping-stone invasion route into higher elevation forests like Hakalau. We established seven sites on an elevation gradient (1110-1750 m) along two streams in Hakalau and one stream in the adjacent Laupāhoehoe Forest Reserve and conducted regular surveys for available larval habitat and larval presence. Despite the persistence of available habitat and presence of Aedes japonicus, we found no C. quinquefasciatus larvae at Hakalau. Both species were consistently found at all three Laupāhoehoe elevation sites. Our survey and environmental data will be used to assess current and future risk of C. quinquefasciatus invasion at Hakalau and provide a decision threshold for Incompatible Insect Technique (IIT) control.

You can register for the lunch-time webinar HERE.

If you cannot make the webinar series, that they can always watch it on our YouTube channel: 

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLfHAsm-yzOjsakq0JBDhASn9pLR8i19x7.