Current Research
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Rapid ʻŌhiʻa Death (ROD)
SDAV is currently monitoring the spread of Ceratocystis lukuohia, also known as Rapid ʻŌhiʻa Death (ROD), an identified fungus that is killing native ʻŌhiʻa trees (Metrosideros polymorpha). We are collecting repeat high-resolution videos/imagery from sUAS and helicopter platforms to assess progression rates and spatial patterns of tree mortality associated with ROD.
We have also begun using high-resolution satellite imagery to analyze mortality progression over the years and across the landscape on Hawaiʻi Island. Ongoing forest monitoring continues to inform management practices and is necessary to understand this disease's imapct on our ecosystems.
Shoreline Change
Hawaiʻi Island’s coastal resources are vulnerable to the combined impacts of erosion, subsidence, and sea level rise. Using remote sensing techniques, we quantify historic and contemporary shoreline change rates at Kapoho (a subsiding lava field), Hāpuna (A white sandy beach), and Honoliʻi (a sea cliff). In addition, in partnership with the County of Hawaiʻi, we created an updated shoreline inventory of the entire Hawaiʻi Island coastline. Using photogrammetry and structure from motion, we are able to idenitfy shoreline typologies, cliff delineation and identify coastal change rates and innundation under different sea-level rise models. Results from this study will be used to support the County of Hawaiʻi’s efforts to produce a scientifically relevant shoreline setback policy.
Coconut Rhinoceros Beetle
Coconut Rhinoceros Beetle or CRB (Oryctes rhinoceros) was first found in Waikoloa on Hawaiʻi Island in October 2023. This beetle bores into the crown of coconut trees and feeds on the sap. This behavior drastically decreases the production of coconuts and can kill the tree entirely. The damage from the beetle looks like v-shaped notched within the fronds. CRB target palm species, but have also attacked hala, sugarcane, banana, and taro.
Graphic from Hawaiʻi CRB Response Team
The SDAV Lab is currently using machine learning techniques to identify the damage of the Coconut Rhinoceros Beetle within coconut tree crowns throughout the islands. We utilize high resolution imagery captured from sUAS and helicopters to track the progression and movement of these beetles throughout Hawaiʻi. These efforts are ultimately used to help combat itʻs spread.
Strawberry Guava
Strawberry guava (Psidium cattleyanum) has invaded thousands of acres of lowland wet forests on Hawai'i Island. Our lab lab is interested in mapping strawberry guava populations and is exploring methods using RGB aerial imagery taken via sUAS and helicopter, LiDAR data, and ground based GPS points of the trees in ʻŌlaʻa Forest Reserve.
The Brazilian Scale (Tectococcus ovatus) is currently used as a biological control for strawberry guava to limit the spread of this tree. The SDAV lab, the U.S. Forest Service, and Big Island Invasive Species Committee are working together to explore methods for and test the efficacy of deploying the biocontrol via sUAS and from the ground to get it in the tree canopy. We have revisited the deployment site every few months to monitor the spread of the biocontrol in the canopy.
Mapping Puna Ahupuaʻa
Ahupuaʻa are traditional Hawaiʻi land divisions that typically trend mauka-makai (from the uplands into the sea) and are a foundational element of Hawaiʻi geography, culture and society. University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo Geography major Kaylyn Ells-Hoʻokano and Hawaiʻi Community College Geography instructor Drew Kapp, assisted by the SDAV lab, produced a map of ahupuaʻa in the moku (district) of Puna as a first step of the Puna Ahupuaʻa Awareness Project, an initiative to heighten the consciousness of Puna residents of the roughly sixty ahupuaʻa of which their moku is comprised. This map is for the community!
Miconia
We are researching the effectiveness of using sUAS platforms in the fight against non-native weeds, including miconia (Miconia calvescens). Miconia is an invasive noxious weed found throughout the main Hawaiian Islands that shades out native plant species and quickly takes over a forest to create an invasive monotypic forest.