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OISC field crew rappelling to remove miconia.

OISC Report for May, June and July 2018 

Outreach: Outreach has been very busy these past three months. OISC outreach staff attended seven events and conducted the little fire ant activity at five schools with 89 students turning in ant samples, all of which were negative for little fire ant. We also had four presentations, one of which was with the Polynesian Voyaging Society, along with a school visit, updates to the Mānoa Neighborhood Board, and presentations to children enrolled in the Honolulu City & County Parks and Recreation Summer Fun Program at Kāneʻohe District Park.

The biggest events were the Pet Expo in May and the Hawaiʻi State Farm Fair in July, reaching an estimated 600 and 540 people respectively. Outreach at these events were geared towards impacts of little fire ants on pets and the impacts of invasive species on agriculture; specifically water recharge from healthy forests, Coconut Rhinoceros Beetle and Little Fire Ant impacts on agribusiness, and devil weed (Chromolaena odorata) infestation impacts on livestock and farmland.

A total of 2,415 people were reached with another 4,956 engagements with the public through the website and social media. As always we’d like to mahalo our volunteers that help us remove Ardisia virens and Stromanthe tonckat from Lyon Arboretum.

Field: OISC continued operations surveying for and treating miconia (Miconia calvescens), devil weed (Chromolaena odorata), cane ti (Tibouchina herbacea), and sampling to determine whether Rapid ʻŌhiʻa Death (ROD) is present on Oʻahu (all results are negative so far).

Miconia:
1,464 acres surveyed by air, 997 acres surveyed by ground for miconia. 4 mature trees found in Kalihi and 1 mature found in Nuʻuanu. Mahalo to the communities of Kaʻalaea and Nuʻuanu which is where the crew spent most of its time over the past three months. 983 immature plants were removed from Kaʻalaea alone!
Watershed Aerial Acres Ground Acres Mature Plants Immature Plants Total Plants
ʻĀhuimanu 23        
Kaʻalaea 316 373   983 983
Kahaluʻu 405 24      
Kalihi   128 4 86 90
Kāneʻohe   1      
Kawainui (Maunawili) 279 310   40 40
Mānoa 441 467   52 52
Nuʻuanu   362 1   1
Waimānalo   53      
Total 1,464 1,718 5 1161 1166
 
Rapid ʻŌhiʻa Death (ROD):
  • Eight samples for ROD taken in six different watersheds, all negative.
  • 40,194 acres surveyed by air for ROD. Individual dead trees were noted, which is not unusual. Surveyors did not see mortality indicative of ROD.
 
Devil Weed (Chromolaena odorata)
  • 144 acres surveyed for devil weed at Kahuku Training Area. 401 plants controlled but some areas were flagged for later follow up.
  • Partnered with US Fish and Wildlife Service to conduct early detection survey at James Campbell National Wildlife Refuge since they are within dispersal distance of historical points. Happily nothing was found.
Staffing:
We welcomed two new field crew members on board in May, Steven Pillman and Phillip Kapu. We said aloha to Aaron Works, our Pest Response Specialist who has helped keep Oʻahu coqui free for many years. Mahalo Aaron for all your hard work, we will miss you. OISC will be replacing the position, keep an eye on the RCUH jobs page if you or someone you know would be interested in catching coqui frogs, doing little fire ant surveys and ROD surveys. You can also e-mail Rachel Neville at oiscmgr@hawaii.edu for more information.

Finances:
Submitted proposals to the Hawaiʻi Invasive Species Council (HISC), Hawaiʻi Tourism Authority (HTA) and the US Forest Service (USFS). We are still waiting to hear back on some proposals, but thanks to our funders, we have enough money to get us through 2019. Mahalo to all our funders including the Board of Water Supply, HISC, HTA, the Army Natural Resources Program and USFS! We couldn’t do any of this without you.
 
Above left: OISC Crewmember Ryan Chang holding devil weed (Chromolaena odorata). Devil weed is currently only known from O'ahu. It is toxic to cattle and a serious pasture pest. Above right: the OISC crew moving through a patch of 'uluhe.
OISC volunteers visiting the new Plant Propagation Lab at the Lyon Arboretum. Mahalo to Dr. Marian Chau for the amazing tour!
Above: OISC volunteers spelling out our acronym
The Oʿahu Invasive Species Committee (OISC) protects Oʿahu from invasive species by targeting those species that are known to be damaging, but have not yet established. In this way we can efficiently protect large natural areas from the  most damaging invasive species. 
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