User:EnvironmentFriend/sandbox

Article for ENR 3200 Wikipedia Assignment- Management of Emerald Ash Borer invasions in Ohio forests

Background and History
Agrilus planipennis, or more commonly, the Emerald Ash Borer, is an exotic beetle native to Asia. The beetle came to the United States through the importation of lumber and raw wood products and was first found in Michigan forests in 2002. Since then, the invasive beetle has made its way into 35 states and even stretching into the Canadian provinces of Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Manitoba. Adult Emerald Ash Borers feed on foliage of ash trees and lay their eggs in the tree’s inner layers of bark. Mature beetles feeding on leaves does little overall damage to the ash trees, but the tree’s health is critically compromised when the larvae tunnel throughout the inner bark. These channels negatively impact the ashes by cutting off the cycling of nutrients and water, eventually killing the tree. Nearly two decades have passed since the Emerald Ash Borers arrival in North America and in that time, the invasive pest has been responsible for the deaths of hundreds of millions of ash trees across the continent and have caused catastrophic environmental and economic damage.

Managing EAB Presence in Ohio and Impacts on Forest Ecosystems
Since arriving in Ohio in 2003, the EAB continues to threaten the ecologically important and economically valuable ash tree, although the EAB populations have lessened in size from the depleting ash food source. EABs present a major threat to all species of ash trees and the plant and wildlife species that depend on the presence of the ash for survival. Managing against the nonnative pest is extremely costly for impacted regions, with expenses often distributed between federal regulatory agencies, state and local government agencies and municipalities, and private landowners. According to projections made by the USDA Forest Service, “the response to EAB infestation between 2009 and 2019 could cost up to $10.7 billion. This estimate includes treatment, removal, and replacement of more than 17 million ash trees.” After the confirmation of an Emerald Ash Borer identification, resource managers might try to contain the invested region if it is feasible to do so, meaning if the population was detected very early on and still local enough to quarantine the movements of firewood or other vegetation from the area. The Ohio Department of Agriculture (ODA) details, “in July 2011 ODA lifted the quarantine regulations in place for emerald ash borer within the state. Ohio is still inside the Federal quarantine boundary, and the movement of EAB regulated articles cannot exit the quarantine boundaries without Federal permits.” Ideally, the initial objective of any EAB management is to contain the population at a local level because the expenses and efforts grow exponentially as the population has the ability to rapidly expand in its range as long as ash are present in the landscape.

Similar to implementing quarantines on the movement of material forest goods, another small-scale management tactic often implemented is the use of chemical control methods like insecticides to try to kill off the invading pests before the population grows and spreads. If isolation and/or the use of insecticides on the population is not successful and EAB identifications are confirmed in neighboring counties where they had not been detected before, land managers might then consider biological control methods (biocontrols) of controlling populations The research of biocontrols in managing US EAB populations followed soon after the pest’s arrival in North America to explore the native habitat of the species in Northeastern China and attempt to locate natural predators. Three wasp species were identified to naturally prey on EAB and/or their eggs. The USDA's AgResearch Magazine documents, "Classical biological control of EAB began in the United States in 2007, after APHIS approved release of these three species of parasitic wasps. These wasps have since been released in 22 U.S. states where EAB infestations are confirmed. Scientists have documented the successful establishment and spread of T. planipennisi and O. agrili in many of the release areas, including Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Wisconsin." Research is still very new on effectiveness of biological controls in EAB infested ecosystems but is showing promising results, as explained by the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, “We observed a 90-percent decline in live EAB larvae in infested ash trees at both parasitoid-release plots and non-parasitoid release (control) plots from 2009 to 2014.”