Conservationists have worked hard to keep Rapid ʻŌhiʻa Death in check on Kauaʻi since it was first identified on the Garden Isle in 2018.
But Hurricane Lowell may have spread the fungal pathogen that causes ROD throughout Kauaʻi's native forests.
The fungus infects ʻōhiʻa trees through wounds in their bark and roots. An infected tree is often preyed upon by tiny beetles that produce a powdery frass full of deadly ROD spores. If that frass is picked up by the wind, ROD can spread to new parts of the forest.
High winds from storms can wound trees and potentially carry beetle frass, setting the stage for new ROD outbreaks.
After Tropical Storm Iselle hit Hawaiʻi Island in 2014, new ROD hot spots appeared across the island. State Protection Forester Rob Hauff said there's concern Lowell could similarly exacerbate the spread of ROD on Kauaʻi.
"We're definitely sitting on the edges of our seats after the storm," Hauff told HPR.
Road access into many of Kauaʻi's remote areas was blocked for weeks after the storm, and Hauff said the state and its partners are still assessing impacts in Kauaʻi's native forests.
If more ʻōhiʻa have been infected with ROD, it could take several months for trees to start dying.
The ROD epidemic has been largely concentrated on Hawaiʻi Island, which has lost more than a million of its ʻōhiʻa trees to the disease. So far, Kauaʻi has had fewer than 1,000 cases of ROD, but Hauff points out that Kauaʻi simply has less forest to lose than Hawaiʻi Island.
"They have the highest amount of biodiversity, being the oldest island in the Hawaiian chain, and that's all concentrated in a smaller area. … In a sense, you could say that there's more at stake," he said.
