Arboriculture & Urban Forestry 43(1): January 2017 Arboriculture & Urban Forestry 2017. 43(1):15–26 15 Tools for Staging and Managing Emerald Ash Borer in the Urban Forest Clifford S. Sadof, Gabriel P. Hughes, Adam R. Witte, Donnie J. Peterson, and Matthew D. Ginzel Abstract. Advances in control can help municipal foresters save ash trees from emerald ash borer (EAB) [Agrilus planipennis (Fair- maire)] in urban forests. Although ash trees of any size can be protected from this pest, cities oſten do not implement programs because they fail to recognize and act on incipient populations of EAB. In this study, researchers develop a model for predicting ash mortality over an eight-year period, and validated with data from the removal of >14,000 ash trees killed by EAB in Fort Wayne, Indiana, U.S. researchers then developed a sampling scheme to help foresters map their ash trees along the expected progression of ash decline. This model was then used to modify a web-based EAB cost calculator that compares discounted annual and cumulative costs of implementing a variety of management strategies. It was determined that strategies that most heavily relied on saving ash trees were less expensive and produced a larger forest than those strategies that mostly removed and replaced ash trees. Ratios of total dis- counted costs to discounted cumulative benefits of strategies that saved most ash trees were over two-thirds lower than strategies of proactive tree removal and replacement. Delaying implementation of an ash management program until damage would be visible and more obvious to the community (Year 5 of the model) decreased the cost–benefit ratio by <5%. Thus, delays that rely on the abun- dance of locally damaged trees to bolster community support do not necessarily diminish the utility of implementing a control strategy. Key Words. Agrilus planipennis; Ash; Ash Tree Decline Model; EAB Cost Calculator; Emerald Ash Borer; Indiana; Pest Management; Projection. Since its detection in Detroit, Michigan, U.S., in 2002, emerald ash borer (EAB), [Agrilus planipennis (Fairmaire)] has spread to 25 states and two Cana- dian provinces, killing hundreds of millions of ash trees in its wake (Emeraldashborer.info 2015). EAB attacks and kills most North American ash species. Adult beetles lay eggs on the tree bark. Neonate larvae bore into the phloem tissue, and as they de- velop, consume greater amounts of active xylem tissue of this ring-porous tree species. Beetles take one to two years to complete their life cycle, and with repeated attack, they can functionally girdle and kill their host trees (Cappaert et al. 2005; Wei et al. 2007; Tluczek et al. 2011). With the excep- tion of blue ash, Fraxinus quadrangulata (Tanis and McCullough 2012; Tanis and McCullough 2015), all healthy North American species of Fraxinus can experience high rates of mortality from this pest. With over eight billion ash trees in North America, the potential for continued devastation will likely make EAB the most destructive pest to invade the forests of this continent (Herms and McCullough 2014). Ash trees contribute significantly to the canopy of urban forests, with 38 million trees estimated to be present in eastern North America (Kovacs et al. 2010). While ash species account for between 20% and 30% of the urban forest in many cities, it is not uncommon for cities in some regions of the United States (e.g., Colorado and Iowa) to have an ash component of >50% (Raupp et al. 2006; Ball et al. 2007; Sydnor et al. 2007; Sydnor et al. 2011). Thus, the spread of EAB threatens a substantial portion of the urban forest and will cost North American cities well over USD $10 billion to manage (Kovacs et al. 2010; McKenny et al. 2012). The availability of highly effective insecticides has now made it pos- sible to protect trees from EAB with applications of a variety of active ingredients even aſter damage has reduced canopy density by 50% (Herms et al. 2014). In practice, however, few trees with >30% ©2017 International Society of Arboriculture
January 2017
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