Dennis LaPointe, Ph.D.
Biography
Education:
Ph.D. 2000 Entomology, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu, HI
M.S. 1982 Entomology, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA
1991 Education, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA
B.S. 1978 Entomology, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA
Specialty: Wildlife Disease, vector-borne avian disease, mosquito ecology, avian ectoparasites, Hawaiian passerines, aquatic invertebrates, field investigations, diagnostics, identification
Research Interests: Wildlife disease and conservation biology; ecology of arthropod vectors of disease and ectoparasites; evolution of host-vector-pathogen interactions; parasite mediated sexual selection in birds; climate change and vectored disease; West Nile virus; invasive biology of mosquitoes;Wolbachia pipientis in vector and disease control; aquatic invertebrate ecology; native insect conservation; zoonotic disease; control/management of vector borne disease
Personal Interests: House maintenance, grocery shopping, yard and pet care, child rearing and personal financing
Science and Products
Predicting and Mitigating the Threat of Avian Disease to Forest Birds at Hakalau Forest National Wildlife Refuge
Hawaiʻi’s native forest birds are known worldwide for their diversity and beauty. Unfortunately, many species are heading towards extinction because of bird malaria spread by mosquitoes introduced over a century ago. Remaining populations of these highly threatened forest birds tend to be at high elevations near the tree line on mountains, where cooler temperatures limit mosquitoes and malaria...
New Technologies and Groundwork for Mosquito Control in the Alakai Plateau
Introduced mosquito-borne avian diseases, avian pox and avian malaria, are key limiting factors for endemic Hawaiian forest birds and are, in part, likely responsible for past extinctions and the continued decline of extant species populations. In the last 40 years on the island of Kaua‘i a number of species have become increasingly rare and several are now presumed extinct. Coinciding with...
Avian Pathogens and Vectors - Kahuku Unit of Hawaii Volcanoes National Park
While the Hawaiian avian disease system has been well-studied in the forests of the older section of Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park (HAVO), and in many other locations throughout the state, nothing was known about avian disease in the new Kahuku Unit of Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park and the adjacent Kau Forest Reserve. The high elevation forests of Kahuku are the only habitat located on...
Mosquito Vectors of Dengue and Zika Viruses in Hawaii National Parks
Six species of biting mosquitoes have been introduced to the Hawaiian Islands since Western contact, two of which are vectors of dengue, chikungunya, and Zika viruses. Environmental conditions favorable for the transmission of dengue and Zika occur year-long across Hawai‘i’s coastline. To better understand the ecology of vector mosquitoes and support public health efforts, mosquito monitoring...
Disease Ecology In the Pacific Basin: Wildlife and Public Health Concerns
Both wildlife and human health in Hawai‘i and other island ecosystems in the Pacific Basin face continued threats from introductions of diseases and vectors. Accidental introduction of mosquito-borne avian malaria and pox virus to Hawai‘i is an outstanding example of how biological invasions can have a profound effect on endemic wildlife. The geographic distribution, density, and community...
Hawaii Island, modelled density of malaria-resistant and -susceptible Iiwi following release of malaria-resistant birds under three climate change projections, 2030-2100
This data set provides the simulated results of releasing malaria-resistant Iiwi into existing populations of wild birds on the Island of Hawaii. Resistant birds are released into mid- and high-elevation forests at different densities at 10-year intervals from 2030 to 2070. Populations of both malaria-resistant and susceptible Iiwi are then predicted at 10-year intervals from release until...
Hawai‘i forest review: Synthesizing the ecology, evolution, and conservation of a model system
As the most remote archipelago in the world, the Hawaiian Islands are home to a highly endemic and disharmonic biota that has fascinated biologists for centuries. Forests are the dominant terrestrial biome in Hawai‘i, spanning complex, heterogeneous climates across substrates that vary tremendously in age, soil structure, and nutrient availability...
Barton, Kasey; Westerband, Andrea; Ostertag, Rebecca; Stacy, Elizabeth; Winter, Kawika; Drake, Don; Fortini, Lucas; Litton, Creighton M; Cordell, Susan; Krushelnycky, Paul; Kawelo, Kapua; Feliciano, Kealoha; Bennett, Gordon; Knight, Tiffany Field trials to test new trap technologies for monitoring Culex populations and the efficacy of the biopesticide formulation VectoMax® FG for control of larval Culex quinquefasciatus in the Alaka'i Plateau, Kaua'i, Hawaii
Mosquito-borne avian malaria Plasmodium relictum is a key limiting factor for endemic Hawaiian forest birds. In the past decade, populations of Kaua‘i’s endemic forest birds have been in a steep decline due to an increase in malaria transmission. To evaluate the use of available biopesticides for short-term mosquito control we tested the efficacy...
Lapointe, Dennis; Black, Theodore V.; Riney, Michael; Tredinnick, Grace; Crampton, Lisa H.; Hite, Justin Fostering real-time climate adaptation: Analyzing past, current, and forecast temperature to understand the dynamic risk to Hawaiian honeycreepers from avian malaria
Various vector control options are increasingly being considered to safeguard forest birds in their natural habitats from avian malaria transmission. However, vector control options require localized deployment that is not logistically, ethically, ecologically, nor economically viable everywhere and all the time. Based on thermal tolerances of the...
Fortini, Lucas B.; Kaiser, Lauren R.; Lapointe, Dennis Facilitated adaptation for conservation – Can gene editing save Hawaii's endangered birds from climate driven avian malaria?
Avian malaria has played a significant role in causing extinctions, population declines, and limiting the elevational distribution of Hawaiian honeycreepers. Most threatened and endangered honeycreepers only exist in high-elevation forests where the risk of malaria infection is limited. Because Culex mosquito vectors and avian malaria dynamics are...
Samuel, Michael D.; Liao, Wei; Atkinson, Carter T.; Lapointe, Dennis Relationships between soil macroinvertebrates and nonnative feral pigs (Sus scrofa) in Hawaiian tropical montane wet forests
Nonnative feral pigs (Sus scrofa) are recognized throughout the New World as a highly significant introduced species in terms of ecosystem alteration. Similarly, nonnative soil macroinvertebrates (e.g. earthworms, ground beetles) invade and alter the structure and function of native habitats globally. However, the relationship between feral pigs...
Wehr, Nathaniel H. ; Litton, Creighton M; Lincoln, Noa K; Hess, Steve C. Large-scale tree mortality from Rapid Ohia Death negatively influences avifauna in lower Puna, Hawai‘i Island, USA
‘Ōhi’a lehua (Metrosideros polymorpha) is the principle tree species in forests across the Hawaiian Islands and provides critical foraging and nesting habitat for native passerines. Rapid Ohia Death (ROD), caused by the vascular wilt fungus Ceratocystis lukuohia and the canker pathogen C. huliohia, was first detected in the Puna...
Camp, Richard J.; Lapointe, Dennis; Hart, Patrick J.; Sedgwick, Daniel E; Canale, Lisa K The epidemiology of avian pox and interaction with avian malaria in Hawaiian forest birds
Despite the purported role of avian pox (Avipoxvirus spp.) in the decline of endemic Hawaiian birds, few studies have been conducted on the dynamics of this disease, its impact on free‐living avian populations, or its interactions with avian malaria (Plasmodium relictum). We conducted four longitudinal studies of 3–7 yr in length and...
Samuel, Michael; Woodworth, Bethany L.; Atkinson, Carter T.; Hart, Patrick J.; Lapointe, Dennis Seasonal surveillance confirms the range expansion of Aedes japonicus japonicas (Theobald) (Diptera: Culicidae) to the Hawaiian Islands of Oahu and Kauai
The Asian bush mosquito, Aedes japonicus japonicus (Theobald) was not known to occur in the Hawaii archipelago until it was identified on the island of Hawaii in 2003. This mosquito species remained undetected on the neighboring islands for 8 years before it was discovered at the Honolulu International Airport on Oahu in 2012. By 2015, four Ae. j...
Harwood, James; Fiorenzanoa, Jodi; Gerardoa, Elizabeth; Black, Theodore; Hasty, Jeomhee; Lapointe, Dennis Biogeographical variation of plumage coloration in the sexually dichromatic Hawai‘i ‘Amakihi (Chlorodrepanis virens)
Plumage coloration in birds can be of major importance to mate selection, social signaling, or predator avoidance. Variations in plumage coloration related to sex, age class, or seasons have been widely studied, but the effect of other factors such as climate is less known. In this study, we examine how carotenoid-based plumage coloration and...
Gaudioso-Levita, Jacqueline M.; Hart, Patrick J.; Lapointe, Dennis; Veillet, Anne; Sebastian-Gonzalez, Esther Mitigating future avian malaria threats to Hawaiian forest birds from climate change
Avian malaria, transmitted by Culex quinquefasciatus mosquitoes in the Hawaiian Islands, has been a primary contributor to population range limitations, declines, and extinctions for many endemic Hawaiian honeycreepers. Avian malaria is strongly influenced by climate; therefore, predicted future changes are expected to expand transmission into...
Liao, Wei; Atkinson, Carter T.; LaPointe, Dennis; Samuel, Michael D. Changes in the prevalence of avian disease and mosquito vectors at Hakalau Forest National Wildlife Refuge: a 14-year perspective and assessment of future risk
Throughout the main Hawaiian Islands, introduced mosquito-borne disease has had, and continues to have, a profound impact on the distributions and abundance of native Hawaiian forest birds. Populations of remaining native forest birds are largely restricted to high elevation forests where mean temperatures are marginal for vector and parasite...
LaPointe, Dennis; Gaudioso-Levita, Jacqueline M.; Atkinson, Carter T.; Egan, Ariel N.; Hayes, Kathleen Genetic diversity of Wolbachia endosymbionts in Culex quinquefasciatus from Hawai`i, Midway Atoll, and Samoa
Incompatible insect techniques are potential methods for controlling Culex quinquefasciatus and avian disease transmission in Hawai‘i without the use of pesticides or genetically modified organisms. The approach is based on naturally occurring sperm-egg incompatibilities within the Culex pipiens complex that are controlled by different...
Atkinson, Carter T.; Watcher-Weatherwax, William; Lapointe, Dennis
As Climate Warms Hawaiian Forest Birds Lose More Ground to Mosquitoes
ISLAND OF HAWAI‘I, Hawaii — Hawai‘i, the name alone elicits images of rhythmic traditional dancing, breathtaking azure sea coasts and scenes of vibrant birds flitting through lush jungle canopy. Unfortunately, the future of many native Hawaiian birds looks grim as diseases carried by mosquitoes are due to expand into higher elevation safe zones.
Some Good News Amid Bad News, for Hawai`i’s Endangered Honeycreepers
Warming temperatures due to climate change are exposing endangered Hawaiian forest birds to greater risk of avian malaria. But new research led by the U.S. Geological Survey holds out some hope that the birds may be able to adapt.
Volcano Watch — Mosquito and pig: cautionary tale of two alien species
Mosquitoes are not native to the Hawaiian Islands. Anyone driven away from an outdoor activity or rudely awakened by a biting mosquito would agree that the islands of old were indeed a paradise.