(Newswire.net — March 27, 2014) Toronto, Ontario — Our forests are under attack from non-native insects that have resulted in widespread ash tree mortality. Once an ash tree is infested with boring beetles, the mortality rate is close to 100%. Forest pests are generally associated with the import and unregulated movement of firewood, shipping containers and packaging materials.
Emerald Ash Borer is a forest pest native to Asia and its devastation has killed millions of Ash trees in the Great Lakes United States and southwestern Ontario. Due to the economic and major environmental threat, the (CFIA) Canadian Food Inspection Agency has now prohibited the movement of materials and firewood made from Ash tree outside the designated regions. An updated map of the infected regions is available on the CFIA website.
Adults are metallic blue-green, and they emerge from a D-shaped hole in the bark between the months of May and June.
“The Ash Borer will attack healthy and stressed trees, burrowing deep into the bark and tree tissues” mentions Nathan Beckham from Tree Care Toronto. “We have been extremely cautious when transporting chips and stumps from zone to zone. From tree trimming company to local resident, it is all of our responsibility to be cautious.”
When the larvae is able to tunnel into the tree’s vascular system that delivers water, sugars and nutrients within the tree. On its On its own the Ash Borer will travel a few kilometers per year, however, it can infect a new area quickly with the transport of just one of them.
Emerald Ash Borer was first discovered in North America in 2002. It is thought to have been shipped to Canada in untreated wooden packaging materials. The range of Emerald Ash Borer in Ontario is rapidly expanding through the movement of infested materials.
To identify a potentially infected trees, it will appear to be thin at the crown, and yellowing leaves and dying branches.
Report sightings to the toll-free Invading Species Hotline at 1-800-563-7711
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Nathan Beckham’s Google+