Modeling the population impacts of avian malaria on Hawaiian honeycreepers: Bifurcation analysis and implications for conservation

Avian malaria is a mosquito-borne parasitic disease of birds caused by protists of the genera Plasmodium, most notably Plasmodium relictum. This disease has been identified as a primary cause of the drastic decline and extinctions of birds, in particular Hawaiian honeycreepers (Drepanidinae), where rates of mortality may exceed 90%. We formulate an epizootiological model of the transmission dynamics of avian malaria between populations of bird...