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Decline of the Akepa, a Native Hawaiian Honeycreeper
![An adult male Hawaii akepa [Photograph by the Hakalau Forest Biological Field Station Interns]](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/eot2008/20090508032643im_/http://es.epa.gov/ncer/images/akepa.jpg)
An adult male Hawaii akepa [Photograph by the Hakalau Forest Biological Field Station Interns]
The subspecies of Akepa on the Island of Hawaii is a tiny bird, about the size of a small finch. While the males are brilliant orange, the females feature more muted colors that blend into mountain forests. However, a number of factors in the past few years seemed to have hit critical mass for the endangered Akepa.
In 2008, STAR grantees Leonard Freed and Rebecca Cann of the University of Hawaii at Manoa explored the reasons behind the decline of the Akepa. Their research was designed to determine how the problems of changing habitat quality and increasing introduced diseases were affecting the bird in different study sites. Results from the study indicate that even though the Akepa lives in a wildlife refuge, it has been exposed to novel parasites and increased numbers of an introduced avian competitor that have synergistically led to a sharp decline in its population. They and their students have documented life history adaptations of the bird that are now problematical in the rapidly changing environment. Several other native bird species are also in trouble from the same parasites and competitor.
The case of the declining Akepa is complex, but to Hawaiian researchers, it fits a familiar pattern. Though native birds, plants, and sea animals evolved and thrived in an isolated paradise for millions of years, the arrival of humans—and the resulting loss of habitat and introduction of new predators, competitors, and diseases—has put them in danger. At this point there are no management strategies in place to protect the Akepa from extinction.
The Akepa is not suffering alone, but to Freed, Cann, and their colleagues, its demise is of historic importance. If it succumbs to extinction, that's yet another sign that Hawaii's diverse ecosystems are approaching a tipping point that could, in time, point to dangers for a variety of other species, and perhaps even humans.
Learn more about this research project:
http://cfpub.epa.gov/ncer_abstracts/index.cfm/fuseaction/display.abstractDetail/abstract/2173/report/0
Learn more about the Akepa and other Hawaiian bird species at risk: http://www.aaas.org/news/releases/2008/0718hawaii_birds.shtml 