Invasive beetle targets Guelph
Forestry staff at the City of Guelph are scrambling to contain a new infestation of Emerald Ash Borer (EAB) beetles found in 15 ash tress in the Hayward Crescent, Bouldar Crescent, and Clair Road green spaces.
These beetles have few natural enemies, and native ashes have limited resistance to attack. Surveys have shown that the beetle damages and kills trees within one to four years of infestation.
Rodney Kent, general manager of the City’s Public works, stated that a thorough infestation is, “just a matter of time given the close proximity of the beetle in surrounding municipalities.”
Ash trees canopy many cities – their death will lead to massive expenditures in tree removal, possible property damage and loss of value, the dangerous possibility of collapse or falling branches from those dead trees left standing, and of course the loss in ecosystem diversity.
There is some hope for a few lucky ash trees – an insecticide called TreeAzin can be used to protect ash trees of high value. Unfortunately this treatment is still too expensive to save most ash trees, and it only lasts for a certain period of time.
The University of Guelph’s Arboretum is home to many ash trees, and Manager Ric Jordan notes that, “you usually do not realize [a] tree is populated with the beetle until it is too late to do anything [regarding] the infestation.”
Some pre-emptive actions have been taken to save ash trees in the University’s green spaces. Jordan said that, “in 2012 both the core campus and the Arboretum treated trees with a product in an attempt to save [the Ash trees] we felt were valuable to the institution for landscaping and teaching purposes.”
However, the majority of trees will have to be removed as they succumb to the beetle infestation. Jordan warns that this will be a very extensive onslaught as the beetle has already killed essentially 100 per cent of ash trees in the Detroit/Windsor area.