Ohia trees are dying rapidly, Why?

[dmbwest]

Obie, is this the guy who goes around harvesting fallen trees ?

just wondering ...
aloha,
pog

[dmbwest]

PB ... Cool ... good luck .. sea ya one day over in PH !

aloha,
pog

[pahoated]

quote:

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Originally posted by Obie
The Ohia's closest to PGV look very healthy and are all in bloom !

Down at Pakalolo Bob's compound they are all dead !
This virus is being transported around the state by people who transport wood from infected areas.

Doesn't Bob run an exotic wood business and didn't you post about your adventures with him while salvaging wood ???

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Kind of wondering the same thing. It looks like it is getting over to Kona by somebody driving it over there. Something bizarre happening here, more bizarre than being fixated on saltwater steam being the devil's own vomit.

"Aloha also means goodbye. Aloha!"

[Guest]

Good morning PW and good to see this as a community concern instead of being ignored. Some interesting views or opinions so far to what this Ohia wilt is or where it started. This Wilt started very close to the geothermal power plant in lower Puna around the year they found THIS?

http://www.earthmagazine.org/article/agu...ising-lava

Pretty sure scientists or environmentalist were all over this discovery of gold here in Puna. Photos should have been taken around that well back in 2008,2009,2010,2011, and so on to compare or study possible environmental or community potential hazards from this Ormat discovery, JMO.

We saw this Wilt first back in 2009, 2010, hitting some of the biggest or most mature Ohia trees. The first calls I made out went to the mayor's office, dlnr, and Forrest division at UHH in the year of 2011. It took repeated calls and almost two years to get J.B friday to come take a look at what had by now devastated more than 50% of our biggest Ohia around the property. Mentioning the possibility of Geothermal contaminating or poisoning the Ohia is what helped get some attention to this growing devastation we were watching daily,jmo.

If geothermal did not cause this environmental disaster or contribute to it in some way then could it be proven they did not? Until then my opinion is that geothermal wells caused this problem seen nowhere else in the world, like there lava magma geothermal wells that are nowhere else in the world. These very hot temperatures, massive amounts of steam, leaking production wells and added geothermal waste could be a breeding ground for such wonders as Ohia wilt in my opinion.

[MarkP]

pbmaise:

The insect you refer to, Tectococcus Ovatus, was studied for 15 years before it was released here. Somewhere in there one of the biologists who specialize in evaluating bio-controls probably addressed those questions.

[leilanidude]

gypsy - the magma didn't make it to the surface, nor did any emissions!
I really hope that PGV files a lawsuit against you for your false statements.
edit to add:
gypsy, can you prove that you stopped beating your wife?

[Obie]

quote:

---

Originally posted by gypsy69

Good morning PW and good to see this as a community concern instead of being ignored. Some interesting views or opinions so far to what this Ohia wilt is or where it started. This Wilt started very close to the geothermal power plant in lower Puna around the year they found THIS?

http://www.earthmagazine.org/article/agu...ising-lava

Pretty sure scientists or environmentalist were all over this discovery of gold here in Puna. Photos should have been taken around that well back in 2008,2009,2010,2011, and so on to compare or study possible environmental or community potential hazards from this Ormat discovery, JMO.

We saw this Wilt first back in 2009, 2010, hitting some of the biggest or most mature Ohia trees. The first calls I made out went to the mayor's office, dlnr, and Forrest division at UHH in the year of 2011. It took repeated calls and almost two years to get J.B friday to come take a look at what had by now devastated more than 50% of our biggest Ohia around the property. Mentioning the possibility of Geothermal contaminating or poisoning the Ohia is what helped get some attention to this growing devastation we were watching daily,jmo.

If geothermal did not cause this environmental disaster or contribute to it in some way then could it be proven they did not? Until then my opinion is that geothermal wells caused this problem seen nowhere else in the world, like there lava magma geothermal wells that are nowhere else in the world. These very hot temperatures, massive amounts of steam, leaking production wells and added geothermal waste could be a breeding ground for such wonders as Ohia wilt in my opinion.

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Gota save this one for posterity !

[Obie]

And there is this :

https://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=118683

Same resource, different ways of using it.

[pahoated]

The fungus has been identified for several months now, Ceratocystis fimbriata. This fungus has been in Hawaii since the 40's but only on sweet potato. Ceratocystis fimbriata is decimating the eucalyptus trees in Australia now. No, the Ohia wilt is a new strain of the fungus that hasn't been identified before.

Fungus doesn't survive boiling water. Geothermal water is superheated steam, more than 3 times the temperature of boiling water. There have been bacteria found that are living 3 miles down but they live almost like robotic machines, eating minerals, and are far removed from affecting a fungus.

"Aloha also means goodbye. Aloha!"

[Guest]

These scientists discuss the Ohia wilt fungus or disease here.

http://www.bigislandvideonews.com/2015/1...-response/

It is promising to see a greater understanding or effort going towards this Ohia wilt. The wild fire continued spreading of the disease and the extensive death rate to the infected Ohia tree stands sounds very bleak though.