Rapid ohia death spreads to Oahu

Rapid ohia death was detected for the first time on Oahu, said the state Department of Land and Natural Resources on Wednesday.

A team of natural resource managers from the Oahu Invasive Species Committee and the Ko‘olau Mountain Watershed Partnership recently sampled a dead ohia tree on private land in a remote area in the Ko‘olau Mountains above Pearl City.

The sample was analyzed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agriculture Research Service lab in Hilo, which confirmed the presence of Ceratocystis huliohia.

Although this is the less aggressive of the two Ceratocystis species associated with ROD, it still has the ability to kill ohia trees, DLNR said.

According to DLNR, 150 dead or unhealthy ohia trees on Oahu were sampled for the disease in the past three years, and all tested negative until now.

The location of the infected tree is extremely remote, and it is considered highly unlikely to have been spread by people.

Researchers are still trying to understand the source of the two Ceratocystis pathogens and looking at any possible patterns of dispersal, DLNR said.