Native and introduced forest birds were captured and then released across the Hawaiian Islands to acquire a blood sample for obtaining DNA and test for exposure to avian malaria (Plasmodium relictum). A total of 2,945 samples were collected and analyzed for avian malaria prevalence from 39 species captured at 66 sites from Kauai, Oahu, Molokai, Maui, and Hawaii islands.

This data publication contains information collected as part of a field, laboratory, and modeling effort aimed at uncovering ecological drivers of avian malaria transmission and impacts on Hawaiian honeycreepers across an altitudinal gradient on the eastern flank of Mauna Loa and Kilauea volcanoes. Forest bird banding data and blood samples for diagnosis of Plasmodium relictum, the agent responsible for avian malaria in Hawaii, were collected from 2001 - 2005 at nine sites ranging 25 to 1,800 m above sea level. This data file reports morphometric data, age, sex, molt status and diagnostic results for avian malaria from native and non-native forest birds that were captured with mist nets at the nine study sites. Related data describing site and sampling coordinate data, mosquito capture data, mosquito avian malaria infection data, and point-transect distance sampling data is available at https://doi.org/10.5066/P95LVJIC. This XML describes one tabular CSV file: Banding Diagnostics Merge Final.CSV.

This data publication contains information collected as part of a field, laboratory, and modeling effort aimed at uncovering ecological drivers of avian malaria transmission and impacts on Hawaiian honeycreepers across an altitudinal gradient on the eastern flank of Mauna Loa and Kilauea volcanoes. Forest bird banding data and blood samples for diagnosis of Plasmodium relictum, the agent responsible for avian malaria in Hawaii, were collected from 2001 - 2005 at nine sites ranging 25 to 1,800 m above sea level. This data file reports morphometric data, age, sex, molt status and diagnostic results for avian malaria from native and non-native forest birds that were captured with mist nets at the nine study sites. Related data describing site and sampling coordinate data, mosquito capture data, mosquito avian malaria infection data, and point-transect distance sampling data is available at https://doi.org/10.5066/P95LVJIC. This XML describes one tabular CSV file: Banding Diagnostics Merge Final.CSV.

It is unclear whether DNA lysis buffers used for preservation of whole blood samples from Hawaiian forest birds cause denaturation and loss of antigen binding capability of antibody molecules. If their antigen binding capability is not affected, then the samples can be used in serological assays to provide an independent assessment of the accuracy of PCR (polymerase chain reaction) diagnostic tests for avian malaria. This data set provides derived Percent ELISA (Enzyme linked Immunosorbant Assay) Values calculated from adjusted absorbance measurements that were collected with a BioRad Model 3550 ELISA plate reader at a wavelength setting of 405 nm.

It is unclear whether DNA (Deoxyribonucleic Acid) lysis buffers used for preservation of whole blood samples from Hawaiian forest birds cause denaturation and loss of antigen binding capability of antibody molecules. If their antigen binding capability is not affected, then the samples can be used in serological assays to provide an independent assessment of the accuracy of PCR (polymerase chain reaction) diagnostic tests for avian malaria. This data release consists of three tabular datasets of raw absorbance measurements that were collected with a BioRad Model 3550 ELISA (Enzyme linked Immunosorbant Assay) plate reader at a wavelength setting of 405 nm from serial dilutions of whole blood that were preserved with either PBS (phosphate buffered saline) or two different DNA lysis buffers and a single tabular dataset of Percent ELISA Values that were derived from the raw absorbance measurements. The whole blood was collected from uninfected Hawaii Amakihi and Hawaii Amakihi experimentally infected with Plasmodium relictum that were collected from Upper Waikea Forest Reserve on Hawaii Island.

This data publication contains data files collected as part of a field, laboratory, and modeling effort aimed at uncovering ecological drivers of avian malaria transmission and impacts on Hawaiian honeycreepers across an elevational gradient on the eastern flank of Mauna Loa and Kilauea volcanoes on Hawaii Island. From 2001-2004, mosquito and bird data were collected at nine sites ranging 25 to 1,800 m above sea level. This data publication includes site and sampling coordinate data, mosquito capture data, mosquito avian malaria infection data, and point-transect distance sampling data. Site coordinate data consists of GPS spatial location data of sampling points where mosquitoes were captured and birds were surveyed to estimate abundance, comprising 45 points per site at 100 m intervals along five transects spaced 200 m apart. Mosquito capture data consists of counts of mosquitoes captured per trap night during 4-9 trapping nights per site per month over the study period. Mosquito infection data comprises avian malaria diagnostic data for a subset of captured mosquitoes that were dissected and malaria infection determined by microscopic examination of mosquito midguts and salivary glands. Point-transect distance sampling data consists of quarterly bird survey data in which observers recorded the horizontal distance of each sampling point to birds detected by sight and sound during 8-minute counts.

This data publication contains data files collected as part of a field, laboratory, and modeling effort aimed at uncovering ecological drivers of avian malaria transmission and impacts on Hawaiian honeycreepers across an elevational gradient on the eastern flank of Mauna Loa and Kilauea volcanoes on Hawaii Island. From 2001-2004, mosquito and bird data were collected at nine sites ranging 25 to 1,800 m above sea level. This data publication includes site and sampling coordinate data, mosquito capture data, mosquito avian malaria infection data, and point-transect distance sampling data. Site coordinate data consists of GPS spatial location data of sampling points where mosquitoes were captured and birds were surveyed to estimate abundance, comprising 45 points per site at 100 m intervals along five transects spaced 200 m apart. Mosquito capture data consists of counts of mosquitoes captured per trap night during 4-9 trapping nights per site per month over the study period. Mosquito infection data comprises avian malaria diagnostic data for a subset of captured mosquitoes that were dissected and malaria infection determined by microscopic examination of mosquito midguts and salivary glands. Point-transect distance sampling data consists of quarterly bird survey data in which observers recorded the horizontal distance of each sampling point to birds detected by sight and sound during 8-minute counts.

Non-native passerines, common canary (Serinus canaria; n=24) and the common myna (Acridotheres tristis; n=19), were captured by US Fish and Wildlife Service Biologists on Sand Island, Midway Atoll, and had a blood sample taken to test for avian malaria (Plasmodium relictum) infection. Blood samples were analyzed for the presence of avian malaria DNA using a Realtime PCR (qPCR) assay. No evidence of avian malaria was found in any of the bird samples.

This data release includes metadata and tabular data from a field study of avian diseases (malaria and pox virus) that threatened recovery of the last extant population of ‘Alalā (Corvus hawaiiensis) before it went extinct in the wild in the early part of the 21st century. The study focused on habitat occupied by the last remaining wild ‘Alalā and determined prevalence of avian malaria (Plasmodium relictum) in native and non-native forest bird reservoir hosts (Atkinson et al. 2005), oviposition trap captures of Culex quinquefasciatus (the primary vector of avian malaria and pox virus) and Aedes albopictus across an altitudinal gradient, prevalence of malaria within the vector population, wing lengths of Culex quinquefasciatus and Aedes albopictus at different elevations, primary larval habitats and abundance of those habitats across an altitudinal gradient, environmental factors (temperature, humidity and rainfall) that might affect vector distribution and longevity, details about reduction in larval habitat after management actions to drain feral pig damaged tree ferns (Cibotium spp), and pre- and post-treatment oviposition trap catches before and after habitat management.

Mosquito-borne avian malaria is a key limiting factor on Hawaiian forest bird populations. Preservation of endemic forest birds and restoration of Hawaiian forest bird communities will rely on mosquito control. While landscape level control is being developed, managers need short term and reliable tools for monitoring and controlling mosquito populations to protect remaining breeding bird populations. As part of a larger study looking at the efficacy of the biopesticide VectoMax FG for control of larval Culex quinquefasciatus, USGS and DOFAW personnel monitored adult mosquitoes (Culex quinquefasciatus and Aedes japonicus) along the Kawaikoi Stream during late summer, September through November 2016 and 2017. Ten trap sites were selected across a 1-kilometer grid centered on the intersection of the Alakai Swamp Trail and Kawaikoi Stream, Alakai Wilderness Preserve, Kauai. Traps were located at least 200 meters apart at accessible sites along the stream, valley floor, and adjacent plateau. Both Biogents Sentinel Traps (BGS) and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Gravid Traps (GR) were operated nightly at each site from 1600 to 0700 hr the following morning. Collected mosquitoes were maintained on a 3% sucrose solution and later dissected for malarial diagnostic. Midguts and salivary glands were examined under compound microscopy (450X) for evidence of infection. Oocyst presence and intensity and sporozoite presence and relative intensity were recorded. While the data does not directly support the project objectives it provides is useful measure of transmission risk at this time and place.