Urgent Action Needed to Combat Emerald Ash Borer

The emerald ash borer (EAB) has killed at least 8 million trees, since it was first discovered in Michigan in 2002. Authorities in the affected areas have set up quarantines and pesticide programs for uninfected trees, but fear that the destruction of all ash trees in the region will be necessary. If the pest cannot be contained it could wipe out all Fraxinus species in N. America.

Frank W. Telewski of the W. J. Beal Botanical Garden and Campus Arboretum at Michigan State University has initiated a conservation effort for native Fraxinus spp. with Dave Ellis of the Plant Genetic Resources Preservation Program to collect and store seeds as a precaution in case efforts to exterminate the pest are not successful. To read the letter posted to the American Association of Botanical Gardens and Arboreta Listserv by Dr. Telewski see Call to action re: Emerald Ash Borer.

Links:

• Emerald Ash Borer a website created by the states of Indiana, Michigan and Ohio to provide information on EAB


• NW Ohio’s ash trees doomed, entomologist from OSU predicts from the Toledo Blade


• MSU expert advises insecticide use against ash borer from the Detroit Free Press

Posted by Eric La Fountaine at 12:08 PM on October 6, 2005