Are New England's Iconic Maples at Risk?

[OKIsItJustMe]

Moderators: Please note, this is a press release from a US Federal Government http://www.nsf.gov/about/">agency (Copyright concerns are nil.)

http://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=121464&org=NSF&from=news

Press Release 11-174

Are New England's Iconic Maples at Risk?

Invasive Asian longhorned beetle has potential for wide reach in region's forests

August 29, 2011

Are new England's iconic maple trees at risk? If a beetle has its way, the answer may be yes.

Results from the first study of the Asian longhorned beetle (ALB) in forests show that the invasive insect can easily spread from tree-lined city streets to neighboring forests.

A paper reporting the results appears today in the Canadian Journal of Forest Research.

Successful ALB eradication efforts in Chicago, and ongoing eradication efforts in Boston, New York, and other U.S. cities have focused exclusively on urban street trees.

The ongoing ALB infestation in Worcester, Mass., is the only outbreak so far that has allowed the beetle to invade nearby closed-canopy forests.

The beetle was first detected in Worcester in 2008 by a private citizen.

…

http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/full/10.1139/x11-097

[MineralMan]

1. This is a very destructive pest, which has been in the country

since the mid 1980's, brought in with wooden packing materials from China. Very dangerous, and it has reached as far as Ohio.

Here's a good article:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asian_long-horned_beetle