Ohia trees are dying rapidly, Why?

[pbmaise]

Gypsy

Today I read the 1972 USDA report of wide spread sudden deaths of thousands of acres of Ohia and other trees caused by shoe-string root rot

Google

Decline Of Ohia Lehua Forests In Hawaii - USDA
Forest Service


The report very much sounds like what you describe.

Check photos of what it looks like.


Bootstrap fungus is caused by honey mushrooms
( Armillaria mellea), which are parasitic on live wood and
send out long root like structures called rhizomorphs
between the wood of a tree and its bark. When fresh
these rhizomorphs are cream colored but darken to
brown or black as they age. The fungus is also called
armillaria root rot or shoestring root rot. It causes a white
pulpy rot in the wood and kills many species of both soft
and hardwood trees.

https://nhgardensolutions.wordpress.com/tag/blusestain/

It could be a different fungus too.


See
http://m.hawaiitribune-herald.com/sectio...ously.html

That article from 2012 says probably not only shoe-string rot.


Open questions

Is it shoestring root rot?
A different fungus?
An invasive pest.
Why at this time?
Did something make them more susceptible?

Looking at that report is scary. I would think by now a lot more people would be asking questions.

Further, what to do with all the standing dead timber before it is of zero value and forest fire hazard.