avian malaria grows as Hawai`i warms
A living laboratory on Hawai`i island is the modest headquarters for an ambitious global warming research project (via PBS).
Small changes in the climate here can immediately affect plants and animals, even wipe them out entirely.
Because of that sensitivity, one goal of the so-called bio-complexity project is to see whether the Hawaiian ecosystem can serve as an early warning system for climate change elsewhere and how it may impact plants and animals.
The Biocomplexity Project is attempting to unravel the complexities and impacts of introduced pox virus and avian malaria in native forest bird populations with the hope of developing long-term strategies for preventing further extinctions of threatened and endangered native birds and restoring them to habitats where they were formerly common.
Scientists from numerous disciplines and agencies, including the U.S. Geological Survey, are working together, trying to understand the complete dynamics of Hawaii’s multiple ecosystems, from lava fields to rainforests.
They’re studying native birds, which are highly vulnerable to an avian strain of malaria. The mosquitoes that are spreading it came from 19th century sailing ships.
Microbiologists are investigating the ecology of avian diseases here in Hawaiian forest birds across a large landscape, looking at why it’s transmitted at different rates, at different elevations, and what are some of the factors contributing to enhanced transmission.
The malaria protozoa carried in the mosquitoes can’t survive in cool temperatures. And at this elevation in the rainforest it’s cool enough to be disease-free. But that zone may shrink, even disappear, because of global warming.
Temperatures have already risen in Hawaii’s forests, shrinking the safe zone and leading to a decrease in population.
Just a couple of degrees can make a big difference. If the mosquitoes are able to come up the mountain just another 1,000 feet than they do now, they could be transmitting a lot more disease and could wipe out a whole community of Hawaiian birds.
Published by Ken on October 31st, 2006 tagged HI-specific, Island Ecosystems
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November 27th, 2006 at 7:44 am
Are there some case of avian malaria by P. gallinaceum in Hawaii?