Ohia trees are dying rapidly, Why?

[Hunt Stoddard]

It's been my experience that ohia that aren't in deep soil are pretty fragile trees. Yes, there may be a virus or fungus that are killing them, but that's probably just a natural process of killing the less hardy trees. Even though ohia seem to like sprouting in almost bare lava, they only seem to attain a limited grown and then die. It's why I don't get too emotionally involved with ohia in shallow soil. Of course, it doesn't mean you have to be fatalistic about it. There may be something that can be done to preserve them longer.