The Hawaiian ?¨³ó¾±?²¹ trees. A devastating disease called Rapid ??hi?a Death, or ROD, has decimated more than 34,000 acres on Hawai?i Island. Scientists at the have been monitoring the spread of ROD with great concern and are looking for solutions.
- Go to to help support UH¡¯s efforts to preserve ?¨³ó¾±?²¹ trees
¡°They call it Rapid ??hi?a Death because if an individual tree dies very quickly once it gets infected you¡¯ll see the leaves all turn brown and fall off in a couple of weeks,¡± said , extension forester with the UH ²Ñ¨¡²Ô´Ç²¹ . ¡°The extent on the island¡ªthe first places we think we started seeing it spreading was 2010, by 2012 there were hundreds of trees dying, by 2014 there were tens of thousands and now we¡¯re talking hundreds of thousands or millions of trees.¡±
??hi?a trees cover 865,000 acres and ?¨³ó¾±?²¹ is considered by many to be the most important tree in Hawai?i. Half of the native trees on Hawai?i Island are ?¨³ó¾±?²¹. Native birds and tree snails, many of them endangered, live and feed on them.
¡°We currently have about 30 species that still exist and all but a half a dozen of those are already considered to be endangered,¡± said , emerita professor with the UH ²Ñ¨¡²Ô´Ç²¹ . ¡°Without the ?¨³ó¾±?²¹ forest most of those birds would have nowhere to go.¡±
Their canopy protects the innumerable smaller trees and native shrubs, creating the watershed that recharges our water supply.
Said , professor with UH ±á¾±±ô´Ç¡¯²õ , ¡°There is an old Hawaiian proverbial saying, he ali?i ka ?¨¡ina, he kau¨¡ ke kanaka, the land is chief and the people are its servants. And so we remember, that the ?¨³ó¾±?²¹ trees
University of Hawai?i scientists are working diligently to protect and preserve this keystone tree in Hawai?i¡¯s native forest. The at UH ²Ñ¨¡²Ô´Ç²¹¡¯s launched
The seed conservation lab has been storing native Hawaiian seeds for more than 20 years and currently banks more than 12 million seeds.
¡°Our mission is to help prevent extinction of Hawai?i¡¯s rare plant species and seed banking is proven method to accomplish this,¡± said Chau.
Seeds can be stored for decades until the appropriate time where they can be reintroduced.
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