scholarly journals Fungi from Galleries of the Emerald Ash Borer Produce Cankers in Ash Trees

Forests ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (11) ◽  
pp. 1509
Author(s):  
Nickolas N. Rajtar ◽  
Benjamin W. Held ◽  
Robert A. Blanchette

The emerald ash borer (EAB, Agrilus planipennis) is a devastating invasive pest that has killed millions of ash trees in the United States and Canada. EAB was discovered in the US in 2002 and first reported in Minnesota in 2009. It attacks ash trees that are native to the United States, including Fraxinus americana (white ash), F. nigra (black ash) and F. pennsylvanica (green ash). It also attacks Chionanthus virginicus (white fringe tree). Seven species of fungi isolated and identified only from EAB-infested trees in a previous study as having the potential to cause cankers were used to test their pathogenicity in F. americana (white ash). The fungi used were Cytospora pruinosa, Diplodia mutila, Diplodia seriata, Paraconiothyrium brasiliense, Phaeoacremonium minimum, Phaeoacremonium scolyti, and Thyronectria aurigera. Two field experiments that used F. americana used two inoculation methods: woodchip and agar plug inoculations. Results indicated that all of the fungi tested caused cankers in varying amounts, as compared to the controls. The largest cankers were caused by D. mutila (270 mm2), C. pruinosa (169 mm2), and D. seriata (69 mm2). All fungi except for T. aurigera were re-isolated and sequenced to confirm Kochs’ postulates. Canker-causing fungi found in association with EAB galleries have the potential to contribute to tree dieback and mortality.

2007 ◽  
Vol 33 (5) ◽  
pp. 338-349
Author(s):  
Andrea Anulewicz ◽  
Deborah McCullough ◽  
David Cappaert

Emerald ash borer (Agrilus planipennis Fairmaire) (Coleoptera: Buprestidae), a phloem-feeding insect native to Asia, was identified in 2002 as the cause of widespread ash (Fraxinus) mortality in southeast Michigan, U.S. and Windsor, Ontario, Canada. Little information about A. planipennis is available from its native range and it was not known whether this invasive pest would exhibit a preference for a particular North American ash species. We monitored A. planipennis density and canopy condition on green ash (F. pennsylvanica) and white ash (F. americana) street trees in four neighborhoods and on white and blue ash (F. quadrangulata) trees in two woodlots in southeast Michigan. Green ash street trees had significantly more canopy dieback and higher A. planipennis densities than white ash trees growing in the same neighborhood. Density increased by two- to fourfold in both species over a 3-year period. Canopy dieback increased linearly from 2002 to 2005 as A. planipennis density increased (R 2= 0.70). In each of the woodlots, A. planipennis densities were significantly higher on white ash trees than blue ash trees. Woodpecker predation occurred in all sites and accounted for 35% of the A. planipennis that developed on trees we surveyed. Results indicate that surveys for A. planipennis detection in areas with multiple ash species should focus on the relatively preferred species.


2016 ◽  
Vol 42 (6) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sara Tanis ◽  
Deborah McCullough

Emerald ash borer (EAB) (Agrilus planipennis), first identified near Detroit, Michigan, U.S., in 2002, has killed millions of ash trees (Fraxinus spp.) in 28 states and two Canadian provinces to date. Trunk injections of insecticide products containing emamectin benzoate (EB) (e.g., TREE-ageR) are often used to protect ash trees in landscapes from EAB, but wounds and potential injury resulting from injections are a concern. Researchers examined 507 injection sites on 61 trees and recorded evidence of secondary wounding (e.g., external bark cracks, internal xylem necrosis and pathogen infection). Researchers assessed 233 injection sites on 22 green ash and 24 white ash trees macro-injected with a low or a medium-high rate of EB in 2008 only, or in both 2008 and 2009. Only 12 of 233 injection sites (5%) were associated with external bark cracks and there was no evidence of pathogen infection. On 39 of the 46 trees (85%), new xylem was growing over injection sites. Researchers assessed 274 injection sites on 15 green ash trees injected annually with EB from 2008 to 2013 or injected in 2008 and again in 2011. Bark cracks were associated with four injection sites on three trees, but no evidence of injury was found on the other 12 trees. All 15 trees had new xylem laid over injection sites. Confocal laser scanning and polarizing digital microscopy were used to assess the integrity of discolored xylem tissue removed from the immediate area surrounding 140 injection sites on 61 trees. Researchers found no evidence of decay associated with discoloration.


2011 ◽  
Vol 28 (2) ◽  
pp. 79-83 ◽  
Author(s):  
Toby R. Petrice ◽  
Robert A. Haack

Abstract Efforts to eradicate or slow the spread of emerald ash borer (EAB) (Agrilus planipennis Fairmaire [Coleoptera: Buprestidae]) include cutting infested and nearby uninfested ash (Fraxinus spp.) trees. However, ash trees readily sprout after they have been cut, providing potential host material for EAB. In 2004–2005, we conducted studies to determine how different cutting times (midspring, late spring, and late summer), different cutting heights (0–5, 10–15, and 20–25 cm above the ground), and triclopyr (44% active ingredient) stump treatment of green ash (Fraxinus pennsylvanica Marsh.) trees affected subsequent stump sprouting and colonization by EAB. We also cut white ash (Fraxinus americana L.) and black ash (Fraxinus nigra Marsh.) trees 20–25 cm above the ground in late spring. Some stumps of each ash species tested sprouted and were colonized by EAB. All green ash stumps treated with triclopyr died and were not colonized by EAB. Stump sprouting was significantly lower for stumps cut in late spring compared with stumps cut in midspring or late summer. Stump sprouting did not vary significantly among cutting heights. None of the green ash stumps cut in midspring or cut 0–5 cm above the ground were colonized by EAB; however, the frequency of stump colonization by EAB did not vary significantly among cutting times or cutting heights.


Forests ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (6) ◽  
pp. 691
Author(s):  
Mark G. Volkovitsh ◽  
Andrzej O. Bieńkowski ◽  
Marina J. Orlova-Bienkowskaja

Emerald ash borer (EAB), Agrilus planipennis, native to East Asia, is an invasive pest of ash in North America and European Russia. This quarantine species is a threat to ash trees all over Europe. Survey in ten provinces of European Russia in 2019–2020 showed that EAB had spread faster and farther than was previously thought. The new infested sites were first detected in St. Petersburg (110–120 km from the EU border: Estonia, Finland) and Astrakhan Province (50 km from the Kazakhstan border). The current range of EAB in Europe includes Luhansk Province of Ukraine and 18 provinces of Russia: Astrakhan, Belgorod, Bryansk, Kaluga, Kursk, Lipetsk, Moscow, Orel, Ryazan, Smolensk, St. Petersburg, Tambov, Tula, Tver, Vladimir, Volgograd, Voronezh, and Yaroslavl. Within these, only seven quarantine phytosanitary zones in five provinces are declared by the National Plant Protection Organization of Russia. EAB was not found in the regions along the Middle Volga: Mari El, Chuvash and Tatarstan republics, Nizhny Novgorod, Samara and Saratov provinces. The infested sites in St. Petersburg and in the Lower Volga basin are range enclaves separated from the core invasion range by 470 and 370 km, correspondingly. It is possible that new enclaves can appear in the cities of Eastern Europe and Kazakhstan far from the current known range. All previously known infestations in European Russia were in green ash (Fraxinus pennsylvanica), which was introduced from North America, and individual trees of European ash (F. excelsior). A first confirmed case of mass decline of several thousand of EAB-infested European ash trees in Moscow province is provided. Therefore, there is no more doubt that under certain conditions EAB can seriously damage native ash trees in European forests.


2014 ◽  
Vol 147 (3) ◽  
pp. 277-289 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Silk ◽  
Krista Ryall

AbstractThe emerald ash borer (EAB),Agrilus planipennisFairmaire (Coleoptera: Buprestidae) is a very serious invasive pest in North America, causing extremely high levels of mortality to ash trees (FraxinusLinnaeus, Oleaceae) in the United States of America and Canada. Knowledge of buprestid chemical ecology is sparse, but the appearance of EAB in North America and its devastating ecological and economic impacts, particularly in the urban environment, have provided an opportunity to study the semiochemistry, natural history, and ecology of this buprestid in detail. This review will summarise the chemical ecology of EAB to date, discussing studies on semiochemistry, natural history, and behaviour with respect to host and mate finding that have identified several female-produced pheromone components (contact and sex pheromones), and attractive host kairomones. Earlier reviews focused on studies of attractive host volatiles with respect to development of a trapping system and visual and contact phenomena in EAB mate finding. This has led to the development of an efficient trapping system for EAB, with attempts to optimise the range of variables in trap protocols, combining pheromone components, release rates, and combinations with host kairomones, as well as trap type, placement, height, and colour being taken into account.


Molecules ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 23 (11) ◽  
pp. 2734 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sohail Qazi ◽  
Domenic Lombardo ◽  
Mamdouh Abou-Zaid

The Emerald Ash Borer (EAB), Agrilus planipennis, Fairmaire, an Asian invasive alien buprestid has devastated tens of millions of ash trees (Fraxinus spp.) in North America. Foliar phytochemicals of the genus Fraxinus (Oleaceae): Fraxinus pennsylvanica (Green ash), F. americana (White ash), F. profunda (Bush) Bush. (Pumpkin ash), F. quadrangulata Michx. (Blue ash), F. nigra Marsh. (Black ash) and F. mandshurica (Manchurian ash) were investigated using HPLC-MS/MS and untargeted metabolomics. HPLC-MS/MS help identified 26 compounds, including phenolics, flavonoids and coumarins in varying amounts. Hydroxycoumarins, esculetin, esculin, fraxetin, fraxin, fraxidin and scopoletin were isolated from blue, black and Manchurian ashes. High-throughput metabolomics revealed 35 metabolites, including terpenes, secoiridoids and lignans. Metabolomic profiling indicated several upregulated putative compounds from Manchurian ash, especially fraxinol, ligstroside, oleuropin, matairesinol, pinoresinol glucoside, 8-hydroxypinoresinol-4-glucoside, verbenalin, hydroxytyrosol-1-O-glucoside, totarol and ar-artemisene. Further, dicyclomine, aphidicolin, parthenolide, famciclovir, ar-turmerone and myriocin were identified upregulated in blue ash. Principal component analysis demonstrated a clear separation between Manchurian and blue ashes from black, green, white and pumpkin ashes. The presence of defensive compounds upregulated in Manchurian ash, suggests their potential role in providing constitutive resistance to EAB, and reflects its co-evolutionary history with A. planipennis, where they appear to coexist in their native habitats.


2019 ◽  
Vol 49 (5) ◽  
pp. 510-520 ◽  
Author(s):  
Molly A. Robinett ◽  
Deborah G. McCullough

Despite catastrophic ash (Fraxinus spp.) mortality observed by the mid-2000s in the epicenter of the emerald ash borer (EAB) (Agrilus planipennis Fairmaire) invasion in southeast Michigan, we noticed numerous live white ash (Fraxinus americana L.) in some forests in this region. In 2015, we inventoried overstory trees and regeneration in 28 white ash sites spanning 11 counties. White ash survival ranged from 0% to 100% of stems. Overall, 75% of 821 white ash trees, ranging from 10.0 to 44.0 cm diameter at breast height, and 66% of the white ash basal area, ranging from 0.3 to 3.5 m2·ha–1, were alive. Nearly all live white ash had signs of previous EAB colonization, but 83% had healthy canopies (≤10% canopy dieback). Green ash trees were recorded in 27 sites, but 92% were killed by EAB. Model selection indicated that variation in white ash survival was related to white ash abundance and distance of sites from the original EAB epicenter but not to green ash related variables or to the distance of sites from the Asian parasitoid release or recovery locations. Regeneration strata were dominated by white ash, suggesting that some white ash populations may persist in post-invasion areas.


Insects ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (10) ◽  
pp. 338 ◽  
Author(s):  
Drogvalenko ◽  
Orlova-Bienkowskaja ◽  
Bieńkowski

Agrilus planipennis (Coleoptera: Buprestidae) is a devastating invasive pest of ash trees. This wood-boring insect is native to Asia and established in European Russia about 20 years ago. It severely damages Fraxinus pennsylvanica plantations and quickly spreads. In 2019 we first detected A. planipennis in Ukraine. More than 20 larvae were collected from under the bark of F. pennsylvanica trees on 5 September 2019 in the Markivka District of the Luhansk Region. The coordinates of the localities of collection were 49.614991 N, 39.559743 E; 49.614160 N, 39.572402 E; and 49.597043 N, 39.561811 E. The photos of the damaged trees with larval galleries, exit holes and larvae are presented. It indicates that A. planipennis is established in the east of Ukraine. This fact is important for development of quarantine protocols to prevent or at least slow the further spread of this invasive pest in Europe.


2015 ◽  
Vol 147 (3) ◽  
pp. 252-262 ◽  
Author(s):  
Therese M. Poland ◽  
Yigen Chen ◽  
Jennifer Koch ◽  
Deepa Pureswaran

AbstractAs of summer 2014, the invasive emerald ash borer (EAB), Agrilus planipennis Fairmaire (Coleoptera: Buprestidae), has become established in 24 states in the United States of America and has killed tens of millions of ash trees since its introduction into Michigan in the 1990s. Considerable research has been conducted on many aspects of EAB life history, natural history, ecology, and management strategies in an attempt to contain this devastating pest. In this article, we review the life history, mating behaviours, and host plant selection by EAB in North America as well as host resistance to EAB attack.


2012 ◽  
Vol 38 (4) ◽  
pp. 121-129
Author(s):  
Daniel McKenney ◽  
John Pedlar

A model is presented to assist in deciding the fate of ash trees (Fraxinus spp.) threatened by the arrival of emerald ash borer (Agrilus planipennis Fairmaire) in North America. The model tracks ongoing treatment costs versus one-time costs associated with removal and replacement. All future values are discounted following standard economic practice. For each year over a period of interest, the net treatment gain/loss is calculated, indicating the period of time over which a homeowner would be financially ahead/behind by treating the existing ash tree. The model was populated, with values that may be expected in Canadian conditions, where treatment options are more limited than in the United States. Optional model features include property value premiums, energy savings, runoff and pollution benefits, and ongoing maintenance costs. When these extended benefits and costs are included, positive treatment gains for a medium-sized ash persist for about 17 years. Negative values can be interpreted as a “break-even existence value,” an amount a homeowner would be required to pay in order to protect their ash if various other benefit flows fail to compensate the costs. An interactive version of the model is available online (http://gmaps.nrcan.gc.ca/apm/index.php).


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