Emerald Ash Borer beetle putting all US Ash trees in jeopardy

[StageLeft]

Not politics, but is news. It would seem that thanks to introduction of this beetle in the 1990s, the 7.5billion Ash trees in the US are at risk from this beetle, which infests and kills an ash tree within 2-3 years. It is a fast-spreading infestation and many states are now reporting seeing these things. These beetles threaten some portions of the lumber industry not to mention obviously the environment (that is a crap load of trees to die).

I culled most of this from wiki, but a local article was talking about a confirmed infestation in a hundred trees near me, plus earlier this year I saw the purple traps and wondered what they are.

 

[Throckmorton]

Invasive species are an ongoing ecological catastrophe in almost every ecosystem.

 

[Vette73]

Yea it piss's me off many are cutting and buring Ash trees because of it.

I am a wood worker and Ash is one of the most underrated woods. Because of that its a good to work with and dye but also cheap and easy to come by.

 

[nobodyknows]

It's spreading in firewood being hauled all over the place when people go camping, etc.

 

[Schadenfroh]

Any predatory organism that is specific to this beetle that we can use to wipe it out and stop the invasion?

 

[spidey07]

Yep. Got one of my beautiful ash trees. It's a shame really because ash is some really great wood. Burns really well, hot and long.

 

[shira]

Yep. Got one of my beautiful ash trees. It's a shame really because ash is some really great wood. Burns really well, hot and long.

There's nothing like a great piece of ash.

 

[Doc Savage Fan]

Hope it won't be as bad as Dutch Elm disease was.

 

[StageLeft]

Any predatory organism that is specific to this beetle that we can use to wipe it out and stop the invasion?

Wiki says michigan is looking into a few variants of wasp that can kill these but prospects don't appear overly optimistic, at least based on the blurb in wiki.

 

[spidey07]

Hope it won't be as bad as Dutch Elm disease was.

It's actually REALLY bad. Most I've read on it don't seem to think Ash will make it in North America. If you see some blue box looking things hanging in trees, those are traps to see if the beetle has made it to that area yet. Once it's there, there is little that can be done other than to try to contain the wood.

 

[dfuze]

If you look to introduce a predatory organism you just have to hope it doesn't come with its own side effects

 

[Genx87]

MN has been cutting down lots of tree's to prevent the spread and billboards are being put up discouraging the transportation of firewood.

 

[dainthomas]

Invasive species are an ongoing ecological catastrophe in almost every ecosystem.

We should introduce an even larger predator species that eats emerald ash borer beetles. What could possibly go wrong?

 

[spidey07]

We should introduce an even larger predator species that eats emerald ash borer beetles. What could possibly go wrong?

There was a kick ass movie about that. Didn't turn out so well. 8 foot tall bugs with a taste for human flesh. Mimic was the title I believe.

 

[dainthomas]

There was a kick ass movie about that. Didn't turn out so well. 8 foot tall bugs with a taste for human flesh. Mimic was the title I believe.

Hey that looks pretty good! I've liked all the Guillermo del Toro movies I've seen so far.

 

[Throckmorton]

There was a kick ass movie about that. Didn't turn out so well. 8 foot tall bugs with a taste for human flesh. Mimic was the title I believe.

Yet it is man who is the true monster.

 

[bobsmith1492]

Yet it is man who is the true monster.

Speak for yourself!

 

[Schadenfroh]

Yet it is man who is the true monster.

Yes, we should return to pre-industrialized society to save the planet. We also need to sterilize most of the population to mitigate the invasive species called man.

 

[StageLeft]

It's actually REALLY bad. Most I've read on it don't seem to think Ash will make it in North America. If you see some blue box looking things hanging in trees, those are traps to see if the beetle has made it to that area yet. Once it's there, there is little that can be done other than to try to contain the wood.

Contain the wood deep in the ash!

OK but really yes the potential on this seems bad. Apparently on a tree by tree basis you can protect it so maybe if you own one on your property but that obviously won't work for a forest.

MN has been cutting down lots of tree's to prevent the spread and billboards are being put up discouraging the transportation of firewood.

Sounds futile to me. But I don't know much about this kind of thing. Although reading about the quarantine efforts, come on that won't do anything it's too late. It's like a zombie scourge, right? Everyone knows that once you hit critical infestation point quite early on you're done for and it cannot be contained.

 

[Lemon law]

It always somewhat begs the question, since when it comes to invasive species and trees, why is it always tree species specific? I am no tree species genocide expert, but America has lost the American Chestnut, the Dutch elm, and now the Ash is seemingly next on the list. If anything and hands down, the Chestnut blight is the greatest loss in MHO. With the vector of the Chestnut blight being a fungus and not an insect.

But at what point in time will we experience the greatest threat, a non tree specific killer that attacks all trees perhaps worldwide?

 

[JohnOfSheffield]

Invasive species are an ongoing ecological catastrophe in almost every ecosystem.

Aye, it's not like it's the first time or even the hundred.

 

[JohnOfSheffield]

It always somewhat begs the question, since when it comes to invasive species and trees, why is it always tree species specific? I am no tree species genocide expert, but America has lost the American Chestnut, the Dutch elm, and now the Ash is seemingly next on the list. If anything and hands down, the Chestnut blight is the greatest loss in MHO. With the vector of the Chestnut blight being a fungus and not an insect.

But at what point in time will we experience the greatest threat, a non tree specific killer that attacks all trees perhaps worldwide?

Evolution, learn it, it becomes specific to what is is evolved to become specific to, in time (as evolution races on in these species) it will turn to other treese, those that do better will via natural selection become specific to their new homestead, the rest will die out facing the new competition.

In England this isn't a problem because we didn't eradicate the natural fauna and didn't introduce strange species.

 

[Throckmorton]

It always somewhat begs the question, since when it comes to invasive species and trees, why is it always tree species specific? I am no tree species genocide expert, but America has lost the American Chestnut, the Dutch elm, and now the Ash is seemingly next on the list. If anything and hands down, the Chestnut blight is the greatest loss in MHO. With the vector of the Chestnut blight being a fungus and not an insect.

But at what point in time will we experience the greatest threat, a non tree specific killer that attacks all trees perhaps worldwide?

It's probably tree specific because that's the one species or genus in this ecosystem that the beetle can feed on.

 

[FuzzyBee]

In England this isn't a problem because we didn't eradicate the natural fauna and didn't introduce strange species.

Eh? http://findarticles.com/p/news-arti...gust_2/alert-deadly-tree-beetle/ai_n54644797/

 

[Pulsar]

Evolution, learn it, it becomes specific to what is is evolved to become specific to, in time (as evolution races on in these species) it will turn to other treese, those that do better will via natural selection become specific to their new homestead, the rest will die out facing the new competition.

In England this isn't a problem because we didn't eradicate the natural fauna and didn't introduce strange species.

Right. Through the goodness of your heart.

Remind my what you dropped off in Australia again, just for fun.