Rapid ʻŌhiʻa Death

Summary

Rapid ʻŌhiʻa Death (ROD) is a fungal disease that is rapidly killing forests of ʻōhiʻa —an ecologically important native tree species within the Hawaiian Islands that has provided a plethora of habitats for endangered birds and other species. Initially reported in 2010 by landowners in Puna, one of nine districts on the Island of Hawaiʻi, ROD spread quickly across tens of thousands of acres of ʻŌhiʻa trees on the Hawaiian Islands. To date, hundreds of thousands of these trees have died from this fungal disease alone. Previously healthy Ōhiʻa trees have been observed to die within a few days to weeks, which is why the disease is known as "Rapid Ōhiʻa Death."