The emerald ash borer, hemlock wooly adelgid, and now this beetle...I fear for the future of Ohio's trees. Will the state become a barren wasteland? http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2012/01/30/at-war-over-trees.html
You'll end up with a forest of resistant trees . . . Ailanthus altissima, Pyrus calleryana, Quercus acutissima, . . . .
Otta fit in perfectly with the Asian Carp and Asian Snakeheads . Any native birds we need to get rid of ? Kidding! I don't think there is anything that can be done. Many of the solutions are just as bad or even worse than the problem. ------
I don't think their solution of cutting down more trees is going to accomplish anything. I remember back in the late 1970s and early 1980s when the Nantucket Pine Tip Moth Rhyacionia frustrana was doing a major number on California's native Monterey Pine, Pinus radiata . I honestly thought at the time that Montery pine would go extinct or close to it. Definitely thought it would go out as a popular landscape tree for So-Cal gardeners. But things turned around, well sorta. As usual, spraying with chemicals was the options and solution of choice for many like the US Government and other so-called experts[still is in many areas], but later a preditory wasp was brought as a means of irradication. The tip moth is still there, but not as noticable as it was before. It's overwhelming numbers appear to be kept in check, even though they still may be around. Maybe they'll find something similiar for your referenced Asian beetle. As with anything, the good health of any ecosystem is the first line of defense. Even if this system just happens to be your own personal garden landscape or one you are in charge of maintaining. Just coming back from Tenerife in the Canary Islands of Spain , I notice that alot of the landscape was infested with whitefly. Whitefly was a huge problem in So-Cal for me in landscape maintenance. It's cherished flavourite plants were Hibiscus, Citrus, Bird of Paradise, etc. The same plants in Tenerife were infected. They love the underside of plant leaves, which of course makes it difficult for spraying. Especially for Agriculture. However it was found that Worm Castings which of course are excellent for plants, also make them a bit distasteful for the whitefly. I used a combination of first innoculating with an assortment of micorrhizal mix and worm castings. My problem went away. The whitefly would still appear once in a blue moon, but ONLY the appearance of a couple of individuals. If Ohio finds the right balanced solution, then prehaps they'll be able to live with this Asian Emerald Ash Borer. But I highly doubt they'll completely eliminate it.
Such destruction is unfortunate as was the massive removal of citrus trees to control the spread of their pests and diseases.
Good morning, all. I am in the "kill zone" for the eradication efforts of the Asian longhorned beetle by the USDA and the ODA in SW Ohio, about 30 miles east of Cincinnati. I'd invite you to get more facts on the ALB from a website created by a group of citizens in this small community of Bethel ( www.bethelalb.com ) to address the government's actions in the past few months to destroy over 50,000 non-infested host trees in just Phase 1. There are too many confounding aspects to address here such as the overwhelming tendency of the ALB to infest maple trees (almost 99%) while they infest 12 other species just over 1%. Yet this 1% infestation makes up over 50,000 trees!? And this is just Phase 1!
Update on hemlock wooly adelgid infestation: http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2012/02/04/infested-hemlocks-to-be-cut.html And more information on the Asian longhorned beetle: http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/home_and_garden/2012/01/29/tree-killing-bug-not-picky.html Quote from final paragraph of second article: "At the moment, there is no effective chemical treatment for infested trees..." Chilling words! To Ohio's Governor Kasich---how about scraping up some money out of the state budget to formulate a treatment that IS effective? And do it soon. To E. Gordon Gee, president of The Ohio State University: how about finding a few thousand dollars to finance some chemistry/entomology/botany students' work on this??? With all the profligate spending on sports and hospitals and SPORTS and new buildings under continual construction, I can see no reason why a fraction of all this money should not be spent to save the trees. Contemplate the alternative.
Analysis of Emerald Ash Borer Management Options New Update on the Emerald Ash Borer. http://entsoc.org/press-releases/economic-analysis-emerald-ash-borer-management-options
Update: http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2012/05/10/homeowners-might-be-able-to-save-trees.html
We live a short drive from Bethal, OH. Yet another bug to worry about. This past winter in Ohio was the warmest on record, and as a result we had a absolute explosion of scale insects that killed almost every Tulip Poplar (Liriodendron) sapling on our property - perhaps thousands of them (I will never really know). Now we have barren fields of dead trees and the once-shaded Ailanthus trees are starting to pop up everywhere. It is like a losing game of whack-a-mole. If we lose all of our maple trees there really won't be too many trees left.
The recent storm, drought conditions, and 100-degree temps are undoubtedly adding more stress to the surviving trees.
Presently Steve Wilson of the blog "Blue Jay Barrens" has been documenting this drought over in Ohio. http://bluejaybarrens.blogspot.com -
We are actually in the southwestern corner of the state. It is not very dry here, it has been a typical summer except for the heat which is adding stress to an already bad situation.
A drop in the bucket, but something. http://www.dispatch.com/content/sto...ee-trees-to-replace-some-lost-to-beetles.html
We had such a warm winter and hot and cold summer every thing is confused. OurMary Potter crabapple tree almost sucumbed Anita Vairo
In an update to a post regarding the Asian Longhorned Beetle from 1/31/12: the USDA had published a second environmental assessment outlining 4 potential directions for dealing with ALB. In short the are: A - take no action, B - remove all infested trees AND all potential host trees, C - remove all infested trees and chemically treat the potential host trees, and D - remove all infested trees and a combination of full-host removal and chemically treatment of host trees. This last (D) would be at the sole discretion of the USDA and the homeowner would have no say in which of their trees would be subject to a chainsaw and which to be subject to treatment. This treatment by use of a pressurized injection of Imidacloprid has been found to be almost 100% effective by the USDA's own addmission, costs an average of $50 per tree per year, can be quickly administered to nearly 100 trees a day (2 man team), has been widely used in other ALB eradication efforts, and in the end there is still a standing tree. By comparison, the removal of an average tree costs about $450, and a team of cutters, loaders, trucks, grinders, and landscapers can only remove 12-15 trees a day. Did I mention that by full host removal 69% of the areas trees would come down? These high-risk trees would include all (maple and box elder), Aesculus spp. (horse chestnut and buckeye), Salix spp. (willow), Ulmus spp. (elm), Betula spp. (birch), Albizia spp. (mimosa), Cercidiphyllum spp. (katsura tree), Fraxinus spp. (ash), Koelreuteria spp. (golden rain tree), Platanus spp. (sycamore and London planetree), Sorbus spp. (mountain ash), and Populus spp. (poplar) within a minimum of 1/2 mile of an infested tree. I invite you to view the environmental assessment in it's entirety at www.bethelalb.com/ALB-OH-ClermontCounty-2012-EA.pdf as well as the citizen's views at http://www.bethelalb.com.
I want to draw your attention to the USDA quoted fact that the proposed actions from my previous post to remove the currently healthy potential host trees would mean the destruction of 1.3 million trees.
Why would anyone expect the USDA to be responsible for anything. I'm sure even now they have contracted their spoiled brat who can do no wrong Monsanto to genetically engineer trees to replace the ones lost. And no doubt funded with taxpayer monie$$$
Sad news. Extinction impends. http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/sports/2012/10/21/ashes-continue-road-to-extinction.html
Yet more...as if the situation wasn't dire enough---now this: http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2012/nov/05/ash-dieback-government-legal-action
Over the weekend we went to a public meeting regarding the Asian Longhorned beetle in our county. The meeting was meant primarily as an education forum, how to recognize the beetle, damage, what they are doing to control it, what areas are under quarantine, etc. There are now several areas within 30 miles south of us under quarantine. In the last few years the beetles have been discovered in PA, NY, MA and now Ohio - where we are. I left the meeting more discouraged than encouraged. The worst part (I.M.O.) is that just the simplest things to help control the outbreak are not being done. For instance I asked why at state and local parks there are not signs posted at the entrance that no external firewood is permitted to be brought into the park. People should be asked specifically whether they are bringing in firewood, and if so the firewood should be confiscated. Instead there are just signs posted "don't move firewood, it bugs me!". This does little to nothing, people would rather bring their own free firewood than pay $5 for 4 pieces of green wood. One thing I did not realize is that a way they are being introduced is via counterfeit pallets - wooden pallets must be treated before they are accepted into this country, but people are making counterfeit pallet stamps. I asked why not just outlaw wooden pallets - only accept plastic or metal ones. I did not really get a good answer to that question. Apparantly maple trees are a favorite host tree, as well as other trees in the soapberry family including buckeyes. Other trees are impacted, but they really prefer maples. This is bad, our entire backyard is red maples.
