Ohia Ash shown to Improve Ohia Health

[PaulW]

Never had a hot pocket. Got plenty of skills. Keep punching!

[Midnight Rambler]

quote:

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Originally posted by leilanidude

Since ROD is a fungus, don't birds and pigs transmit it? Let's ban them from moving around.

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No, the fungus is inside the wood and it rarely forms mushroom-like fruiting bodies. That's why the beetles are the best vector for it - they chew up the wood (including the fungus) and pass it out in their droppings which are like fine sawdust. This can be blown on the wind and the fungal spores can germinate when they land on another ohia.

[HereOnThePrimalEdge]

Sometimes reading this thread, I think it's a case of "can't see the ohia forest for the trees."

"Only fear real things, such as minds full of delusions." -Last Aphorisms

[Midnight Rambler]

quote:

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Originally posted by ohiagrrl

Systemic Disease means that the environment, has altered and conditions align to support disease in individual metabolic processes, ie: 1) hotter planet and proliferation 2) more acidic air and oxygen depletion; creatures that can flourish in anaerobic environment 3) Over population; more people transporting materials 4a) Molecular structures of every living thing are altering due to petroleum saturation.

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Uh...no, this is not at all what "systemic disease" means; this is a list of pseudoscientific mumbo-jumbo. Systemic disease simply means that it involves the entire plant, as opposed to just the leaf where the infecting spore landed on.

[leilanidude]

This can be blown on the wind and the fungal spores can germinate when they land on another ohia.
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You proved my point. Birds and pigs can help transmit it.
Don't the birds and pigs walk on the ground on top of the beetle's droppings? Or are these special droppings that can only be carried by the wind? []

[ohiagrrl]

Paul K,
OK points for taking the hit. Mad skills. LOL! Not trying to be a "Doomer." If anything my new perceptions on old techniques should be able to help save the forest and maybe the soils. I feel like if I, a small, quasi-disabled female can stall the progress of the ROD on one acre in my spare time over the course of one year, then it should be less intimidating for others to try when looking up at the checker board of living and dead trees. I used to worry all the time, now no more. I feel good to see my trees thriving and thankful to exist in their midst. The dead trees are my teachers and rather than mourn their loss I choose to honor them with work and aid in changing their value. Life is good.

Mid Ramble you and I seem to be saying the same thing in different words but glad to see you take your policing duties seriously, I invite you not to waste any more of your time on this thread.

Not so Primal Edge, I was just thinking how myopic and obsessive this woman must be. If you would like to start a new thread to continue beating the ban to death on, I encourage you to do so. I have provided anecdotal history plus substantial supporting data of how the wood ash treatment would counter the fungus and repel the pests. You clearly have done zero actual investigation into whether my assertions are correct and this is an easily accomplished task but would take a few months before results would be apparent, Only constructive criticism are welcome here. I was really hoping to engage with innovators.


PS in two years with constant exposure to trees and cut logs, I have not laid eyes on one Ambrosia Beetle and I have good eyes. Are they microscopic?

[HereOnThePrimalEdge]

I was just thinking how myopic and obsessive this woman must be... beating the ban to death

I wear glasses, yes, but my last comment had nothing to do with moving ohia wood. Also, I'm not a woman, so hopefully that will encourage you to look at some of the other assumptions you've made.

"Only fear real things, such as minds full of delusions." -Last Aphorisms

[ohiagrrl]

LOL!

According to DLNR, 13,000 acres of newly dead Ohia since early 2016. We shall see if the moving ban has any effect on the numbers in the next annual report. It's all about proof.

[kalakoa]

13,000 acres of newly dead Ohia since early 2016

That should justify some more studies and maybe an administrative rule or two.

Maybe it's past time for some reforestation efforts? Before we end up with a watershed of albizia, waiwi, cecropia?

[ohiagrrl]

Kalakoa, Cecropia! I hate that tree! Easy to cut down though. Did you know Albizia was seeded by officials on Kauai after Iniki?

An acquaintance of mine, Mark at Maku'u, has been trying to get a bill passed for years to start reforesting with endemic Sandalwood which is a species that was denuded from the islands by original trade routes....in the 1800's; arguably the first parasitic tree blight to hit the islands, (can't blame just Haole's though, was Chinese too and Hawaiians like sell.) Lawmakers won't release any budget to these reforestation efforts, they can't give what they don't have.

http://www.hawaiihistory.org/index.cfm?f...on=ig.page&PageID=274

This kind of contingency would be a truly beneficial initiative as the wood is extremely valuable and fragrant. Endemic Acacia Koa also would be a great tree to start re-planting wherever it takes because it is a nitrogen fixer. Not sure either would take well in soggy Puna however, not my expertise. Mango does ok and the wood and fruit are marketable and the trees are lovely and grow well, at least makai side. I'm assuming the others do well up mauka, in the drier climates where they already plant eucalyptus for harvest. Puna is a tough environment, you should research it K and make it your project!

Let's talk about alcohol v. potassium hydroxide as a viable insecticide for a forestry blight. Alcohol dissolves bug shell of adult bugs. This is how they make shellac! I've used shellac for decades to seal my table tops, and can melt the hardest dried paintbrush with denatured alcohol. I can see how Flint Hughes and other researchers may have gotten stuck on it. Potassium hydroxide, on the other hand, reacts with fats and kills bug keiki inside their fatty swaddles of biofilms (fungal pathogen also protects self in this way) and likely also deters adult beetles. Potassium hydroxide can be fed to a tree and draw the substance up without harming the tree. I don't believe the same would be true for alcohol. As wood ash, the potassium hydroxide is mixed in with nutrients and alkalizers and what nature intended to feed and purify it's trees. I wouldn't know whether it would be good for the tree to be fed straight Sodium hydroxide but it is certainly worth a look. Alcohol is costly, potassium hydroxide, in the form of ash costs only the sweat equity to cut and burn, gets rid of diseased wood. Economy of motion.
This next article talks about recommended protocol for disposal of a type of avocado tree that was infested by AB in FLA, they recommend chipping as well as burning.

http://trec.ifas.ufl.edu/tropical-entomo...tles.shtml

My initial thought was that Fungal pathogen can"t survive UV sunlight which is why it thrives in Puna in the wet seasons. So cut wood on sunny days.

This quote from clordysis explains germicidal effects of uv;

Ultraviolet light exists within the spectrum of light between 10 and 400 nm. The germicidal range of UV is within the 100-280nm
wavelengths, known as UV-C, with the peak wavelength for germicidal activity being 265 nm. This range of UV light is absorbed
by the DNA and RNA of microorganisms, which causes changes in the DNA and RNA structure, rendering the microorganisms
incapable of replicating. A cell that can’t reproduce is considered dead; since it is unable to multiply to infectious numbers within
a host. This is why UV disinfection is sometimes called ultraviolet germicidal irradiation (UVGI).

According to Wikipedia, "Sunlight is below 400nm on the UV spectrum but all that is needed to be germicidal is 100-280nm. I've red elsewhere that the spectrum of efficacy lies between 254 and 354nm.

TomK pointed out in following post about ozone opaqueness below 290nm

Back and forth about wavelength size and efficacy and the sun's true range....please refer to confusion on subsequent posts below...

However, size does matter, because fungicidal desication may still occur at higher wavelengths of -UVB- sunlight which is 290nm-320nm, which should be above the threshold mentioned by TomK regarding ozone opacity.

https://www.news.cornell.edu/stories/201...er-disease.

Here is a whole other dissertation for someone to grab! Treasure hunt!

However, CF infected sawdust will also oxidize in dry weather which is just good composting. The whole point is that fear of walking through bug poo is not a good reason not to cut wood. I would continue arguing that letting AB proliferate in dead trees allows for larger numbers of the vector than cutting and burning infested wood even with a little human tracking of the CF.

I may be under the gun by a few bloggers currently but arguments help solidify theories. I know residents are experimenting with this idea and I feel pretty sure my field notes and theories are already being poached by researchers and as well they should. This is a paradigm shift. If I were to share more about that I'd be doing all your work for you (Lisa.) But now my #1 goal is to save as many Ohia as possible.

My second goal is to bring home the notion that the old ways in respect to food rituals are not to be minimized. There is a lot of innate wisdom in shared history of local culture and ritual. Aunty Paula at Maku'u is already bringing consciousness to her community about what had been habitual practice amongst the Hawaiian people who fed themselves just fine before Europeans arrived. In our current status, 150,000 of us wait for foods to arrive on boats for sustenance and that has us all living at the whims of fortune, seperated from the aina and not entirely free. Food culture and forestry maintenance are intertwined more than a lot of folks realize, (I know there are just as many who do know). Ash was made daily in the process of feeding a population of 800,000 before colonization and that's a lot of Potassium hydroxide, liming agent and available minerals for plant life. (Thanks Kane! Good Statistic!) Efforts should be made to combat fire suppression regulations. Aunty can't do an educational Imu without being threatened with fines because smoke might cross Hwy 130. What about all those Huli Huli chicken stands that grill daily at key intersections all over the island? What about decades of Cane burning? What about constant volcanic output? Seems selective where smoke can and cannot cross a road. Blinking "SLOW" sign might be a good alternative to preventing an ecological hero from being active.

What I gather from other blogs is that small farm production is thwarted at every opportunity by local regulations. This also plays into the generalized disease of this land. Change must be systemic in order to alter systemic diseases.