The emerald ash borer (EAB) is rapidly spreading throughout Eastern North America and devastating ecosystems where ash is a component tree. This rapid and sustained loss of ash trees has already ...resulted in ecological impacts on both terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems and is projected to be even more severe as EAB invades ash dominated wetlands of the western Great Lakes region. We propose a Special Issue that will address current research documenting ecological impacts of EAB in forest ecosystems, as well as management approaches to mitigate those impacts. Prospective authors are invited to contribute original researches to this Special Issue of Forests. Topics may include, but are not limited to: Managements of ash forests and potential replacements, nutrient and vegetation dynamics, greenhouse gas emissions and carbon sequestration and cycling, hydrologic impacts, and pre or post-infestation silvicultural approaches or management strategies.
Ash trees are an important component of both forests and the countryside. Emerging new diseases like ash dieback poses new challenges to Fraxinus spp., which not only have to adapt to global warming ...but also defend themselves against new threats from pathogenic fungi and insect pests. A new species of fungus, Hymenoscyphus fraxineus, has arrived in Europe from Asia and has severely damaged shoots which alters the structure of ash tree crowns. While some older trees have survived, younger trees are dying en masse, so the only hope is that the surviving trees will produce a younger generation that may be more resistant to the new diseases. The fine roots of ash trees are also attacked by pathogenic oomycetes, and others by Armillaria spp. The current stressed condition of ash trees in Europe is exacerbated by a new threat from insects. Agrillus planipennis, emerald ash borer, migrating from the east (from near Moscow airport) towards the borders of the European Union, killing thousands of ash trees on its way. This raises the question of future prospects for ash cultivation in Europe. This article takes a closer look at the information described in the literature.
Recently, an invasive Asian beetle known as the Emerald Ash Borer (EAB) (
Agrilus planipennis Coleoptera: Buprestidae) has emerged as a threat to ash trees in the Midwestern United States and Canada ...McCullough, D.G., Katovich, S.A., 2004. Pest Alert: Emerald Ash Borer. United States Forest Service, Northeastern Area. NA-PR-02-04. Significant infestations in Michigan and nearby areas have all but doomed nearly 1 billion native ash trees. However, surrounding regions may still be able to prevent tree damage from occurring at the scale once inflicted by Dutch elm disease in the 1970s. This paper presents an argument for the establishment of a widely accessible knowledgebase of information on the EABs spread capabilities. We argue that spatial dynamic modeling stands as a flexible and powerful decision support system platform. We present initial simulations of EAB spread scenarios constructed using tree information and land use data collected for DuPage County, IL, an uninfected suburban county in the Chicago metropolitan area. These simulations test policies focused on impeding the costly spread of the beetle. This analysis also presents a framework for further studies assessing the economic impacts on municipalities and counties due to tree removal costs and aesthetic damage. Our work points to human driven movement as the major vector for EAB spread throughout our study area. Here, the focus falls on the ability of state and county implemented firewood quarantines to act as effective policies for slowing EAB spread.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK
Emerald ash borer (EAB) is an invasive beetle that kills native North American ash species, threatening their persistence. A classical biological control program for EAB was initiated in 2007 with ...the release of three specialized EAB parasitoids. Monitoring changes in the health and regeneration of ash where EAB biocontrol agents have been released is critical for assessing the success of EAB biocontrol and predicting future changes to the ash component of North American forests. We sampled release and control plots across southern Michigan over a three-year period to measure ash health and recruitment to begin assessing the long-term impact of EAB biological control on ash populations. We noted a reduced mortality of larger trees between 2012 and 2015 in release plots compared to control plots and increases in ash diameter, but our results were otherwise inconsistent. Ash regeneration was generally higher in release plots compared to control plots but highly variable among sites, suggesting some protection of ash saplings from EAB by parasitoids. We conclude that EAB biocontrol is likely to have a positive effect on ash populations, but that the study duration was not long enough to definitively deduce the long-term success of the biocontrol program in this region.
Abstract
Invasion by emerald ash borer (EAB; Agrilus planipennis Fairmaire), an exotic pest, is disrupting natural processes and hindering our ability to conserve genetic diversity and perpetuate ash ...ecosystem services and functions. The goal of this project was to identify forest communities most at risk in terms of having altered ecosystems following EAB invasion. Using recent data available from the USDA, Forest Service, Forest Inventory and Analysis program, we calculated Shannon–Wiener species diversity index values for forests containing each of the six native ash species found in the eastern United States. These forest communities differed in their species diversity index values, and diversity indices varied across ecosystem provinces and states. In addition, communities containing ashes that are restricted by a narrow range of suitable environmental conditions consistently had lower diversity index values than communities of ash species with greater geographical ranges. Finally, forest stand cohorts (i.e., seedlings, saplings, and canopy trees) had similar species diversity indices across forest communities containing a single ash species. The tree species diversity index values quantified for communities with a single ash species will provide managers with additional information for prioritizing EAB control measures and restoration efforts following EAB invasions.
Thermal modification of wood is a promising alternative to chemical and biocidal modification processes, increasing the biological durability and dimensional stability of wood. However, the ...wood-decay resistance properties of heat-treated wood are still not well known. The main objective of this study was to determine the biological resistance of heat-treated ash wood, and assess the antifungal and anti-termite activity of extractive compounds from heat-treated ash woods, depending on the intensity of the modification process (2 hours at 170, 200, 215, 228 (°C) - steam pressure). Untreated and heat-treated wood samples were extracted with water or acetone. The extracts were then used to determine inhibition effectiveness against white-rot (Trametes versicolor) and brown-rot (Rhodonia placenta) fungi. Whatman papers impregnated with extractives were used to evaluate the inhibition of termite feeding. Lastly, the extractives were analyzed by Gas Chromatography - Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS) and compared for their level of anti‑termite and antifungal activity. The results showed that the degree of antifungal activity of these extracts depended on the solvent used during the extraction process and varied depending on heat treatment intensity. The extracts were more effective against brown-rot than white-rot fungi. However, the anti-termite activity of heat-treated ash wood extracts was not really significant. A GC-MS analysis showed that the main share of the extractives in untreated wood was removed. In addition, new chemical elements were generated by the thermal degradation of wood polymers (lignin and hemicelluloses), including aliphatic acids, monosaccharides and other products resulting from their dehydration reaction. The most abundant element was syringaldehyde, from lignin derived compounds, which might explain the antifungal activities of thermally treated ash wood extracts.
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The invasive emerald ash borer (EAB) beetle is a significant threat to the survival of North American ash. In previous work, we identified putative biochemical and molecular markers of constitutive ...EAB resistance in Manchurian ash, an Asian species co‐evolved with EAB. Here, we employed high‐throughput high‐performance liquid chromatography with photodiode array detection and mass spectrometry (HPLC‐PDA‐MS) to characterize the induced response of soluble phloem phenolics to EAB attack in resistant Manchurian and susceptible black ash under conditions of either normal or low water availability, and the effects of water availability on larval performance. Total larval mass per tree was lower in Manchurian than in black ash. Low water increased larval numbers and mean larval mass overall, but more so in Manchurian ash. Low water did not affect levels of phenolics in either host species, but six phenolics decreased in response to EAB. In both ashes, pinoresinol A was induced by EAB, especially in Manchurian ash. Pinoresinol A and pinoresinol B were negatively correlated with each other in both species. The higher accumulation of pinoresinol A in Manchurian ash after attack may help explain the resistance of this species to EAB, but none of the responses measured here could explain increased larval performance in trees subjected to low water availability.
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BFBNIB, FZAB, GIS, IJS, KILJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, SAZU, SBCE, SBMB, UL, UM, UPUK
Emerald Ash Borer (EAB), Agrilus planipennis, is a beetle that originates from East Asia. Upon invasion to North America in the early 2000s, it killed untold millions of ash trees. In European ...Russia, EAB was first detected in Moscow in 2003 and proved to have the potential to also kill native European ash (Fraxinus excelsior). The beetle has since spread in all geographic directions, establishing itself in eastern Ukraine by 2019 and possessing potential for further westward spread towards the EU. Apart from the approaching EAB, F. excelsior is currently threatened by the dieback disease (ADB) caused by the invasive ascomycete fungus Hymenoscyphus fraxineus. The infestation by EAB combined with ADB infection is expected to be more lethal than either of them alone, yet the potential consequences are unknown. To date, eastern Ukraine represents the geographic area in which both invasions overlap, thus providing the opportunity for related investigations. The aims of the study were to investigate: (i) the EAB expansion range in Ukraine, (ii) the relative susceptibility of F. excelsior and American ash (Fraxinus pennsylvanica) to EAB and ADB, and (iii) the combined effect/impact on ash condition imposed by both the pest and disease in the area subjected to the invasion. The results have demonstrated that (i) the invasion of EAB is currently expanding both in terms of newly infested trees and invaded geographic area; (ii) F. excelsior is more resistant to EAB than F. pennsylvanica, while F. excelsior is more susceptible to ADB than F. pennsylvanica; and (iii) the infection by ADB is likely to predispose F. excelsior to the infestation by EAB. It was concluded that inventory and mapping of surviving F. excelsior, affected by both ADB and EAB, is necessary to acquire genetic resources for the work on strategic, long-term restoration of F. excelsior in devastated areas, thereby tackling a possible invasion of EAB to the EU.
This is the first report of the ash sawfly,
, in the Republic of Ireland. We observed defoliated leaves of
L. and
larvae at a forestry plantation in Co. Kildare. Morphological observation of the ...larvae and DNA analysis using mitochondrial COI barcoding confirmed the identification of this pest of ash.
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DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
The emerald ash borer (EAB),
, is an invasive beetle of East Asian origin that has killed millions of ash trees (
spp.) in North America and Russia. In September 2020, EAB was detected in Saint ...Petersburg, a notable event for the metropolitan city. The aim of the present study was to investigate the occurrence and ecology of EAB in Saint Petersburg. The presence of two distinct enclave populations of EAB was revealed, each of which has, most likely, been established through separate events of "hitchhiking" via transport vehicles. Following the invasion, the further spread of EAB in Saint Petersburg was slow and locally restricted, most likely due to climatic factors. This spread by "hitchhiking" suggests that the possibility of the further long-distance geographic spread of EAB in the Baltic Sea region (the EU) is high, both by ground transport (120-130 km distance from EU borders) and ferries that transport cars across the Baltic Sea. In certain cases, the development of EAB on
based on the stem portion colonized, larval densities, number of galleries, exit holes, viable larvae, and emerged adult beetles, was more successful than in
trees. The observed relatively high sensitivity of
to EAB, therefore, casts doubt on the efficacy and benefits of the currently ongoing selection and breeding projects against ash dieback (ADB) disease, which is caused by the fungus
. Inventory, mapping, and monitoring of surviving
trees infested by both ADB and EAB are necessary to acquire genetic resources for work on the strategic long-term restoration of
, tackling the probable invasion of EAB to the EU.
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