Emerald Ash Borer Found in Stevens Point
The Emerald Ash Borer has the ability to affect millions of trees. Photo by Genevieve Adamski

Emerald Ash Borer Found in Stevens Point

The City of Stevens Point has some new residents; emerald ash borer beetles have moved in.

The beetle’s presence was confirmed by the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture on Apr. 6 after a homeowner called in heavy woodpecker activity on a tree. The tree showed scarring beneath the bark caused by the beetle larvae.

Ash borers are a little smaller than a penny, and are a metallic, green color. It is likely that they arrived in the United States from Asian shipment cargo.  The beetles were first confirmed in the U.S. near Detroit, Michigan back in 2002.

Ash trees that display D-shaped holes in the bark have been burrowed into by the ash beetles. A tree infected with ash borers will lose leaves from the top of the canopy down. The trees will die within 3-5 years of being attacked by ash borers.

Jasmine Medukas, freshman hydrology major said, “This will have a big impact on my future career. Trees play an important role in our environment, the water, and the soil.”

Emerald ash borers have caused the deaths of millions of ash trees in the Great Lakes Region.

While in the larval stage of its lifecycle, the beetle burrows under ash tree bark, and eats the tree’s connective tissue. This hinders the tree’s ability to transport water and nutrients thought the body of the tree, essentially choking the tree.

Woodpeckers also may be indicative of an ash borer infection. The birds feed on the larva and will be attracted to decaying tress infested with the beetle’s larva.

There are about 300 ash trees on campus that are now at risk of becoming infested with ash borers.

Beka Norton, second year psychology student said, “We need to do everything we can to prevent too spread of this beetle. Because now that it is in Stevens Point, it’s more personal.”

Possible plans for the UW-Stevens Point include treating the trees, or cutting down about 30 trees a year and replanting those areas with fruit trees instead.

City foresters are learning the hard way, that having many of the same species of trees puts the entire population at risk of disease. Municipalities across the Midwest replaced the elms dying of Dutch elm disease with ash trees.

Dr. Holly Petrillo, associate professor of forestry said “A lot of the elms that were killed, were replaced by ash trees.”

Petrillo mentioned that many cities have large concentrations of ash, some as much as 90 percent.

Diversifying the replacement tree species in the city and on campus may help prevent future mass die-offs.

Homeowners do not have to give into to the war on beetles by cutting down their ash trees and planting new species. There are pesticides available that prevent the beetles from burrowing into a tree, but treatment is expensive. Each ash tree must be treated on a yearly basis to prevent an infestation, which may cost $400 a year.

Now that Portage County has been designated as an Emerald Ashe Borer Zone, the U.S. Department of Agriculture has issued an ordinance stating that firewood cannot be transported out of the county, as means to prevent other locations from becoming infected.

Genevieve Adamski

Reporter

gadam590@uwsp.edu

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