ʻAmakihi kaulana i ka hoʻōla maʻi: Assessing the long-term impacts of chronic infection with avian malaria in Hawai‘i ‘amakihi
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2024-05
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The introduction of avian malaria (Plasmodium relictum) to Hawai‘i has decimated native forest bird populations, driving many species to extinction, and threatening those that remain. However, one native honeycreeper, the Hawaiʻi ‘amakihi (Chlorodrepanis virens, hereafter referred to as ‘amakihi), has shown resilience against acute infection with avian malaria. ‘Amakihi who survive the acute stage remain chronically infected with low parasitemia levels. Although immediate costs of acute malarial infection have been closely studied, the long-term costs of chronic infection are poorly understood in this species. I assessed the impact of chronic infection on the physiological condition of ‘amakihi near ‘Ᾱinahou Ranch in Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park. During biweekly banding sessions from May 2022 to August 2023, ‘amakihi were banded, measured for tarsus and wing chord, and weighed, and a blood sample was collected for each bird. Using the blood samples, I measured hematocrit, triglycerides, and reactive oxygen metabolites (ROMs) to assess physiological condition, and I determined disease status (undetermined or positive) using qPCR. There were no detectable differences in hematocrit, triglycerides, nor ROMs based on disease status. Body condition was slightly higher in birds that could be confirmed chronically infected than those that were undetermined, but this difference did not persist when accounting for all infected birds. Although acute infection with avian malaria has been shown to have significant costs, this study suggests that ‘amakihi surviving acute infection may not have negative long-term fitness impacts. These results further demonstrate the resilience ‘amakihi have against avian malaria and set the foundation for future research to determine factors facilitating this resilience and how that knowledge might be applied to protect more threatened honeycreeper populations.
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Conservation biology, Wildlife conservation, Avian Malaria, Chronic Infection, Ecological Physiology, Hawaiʻi ʻAmakihi
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40 pages
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