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The emerald ash borer is currently having the same effect on the billions of ash trees in North America. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emerald_ash_borer#Invasi

The emerald ash borer is currently having the same effect on the billions of ash trees in North America. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emerald_ash_borer#Invasiveness_and_spread https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emerald_ash_borer#Invasiveness... It's a similar story. The species was accidentally introduced from Asia in the 1990s, and it's spreading dramatically across the continent. No effective strategy has been discovered to stop the destruction as of yet.

_nalply 10y ago
Same in Switzerland. The local newspaper (Berner Zeitung) has an article today about how the ash trees needed to be felled in a Bernese park and removed by helicopter because of difficult topography.
ommunist 10y ago
These bugs can be defeated by aerial spray of species-specific viral infection. But that weapon has to be designed first. In 70-ies, the USSR by such means successfully combated Lymantria dispar invasion in Siberia, which devastated pine forests on unimaginable scale. Though it took about 7 years and if memory serves, 3 research institutions to make insights into immune system of this species and make effective species-specific virus. The strain is still available.
- kodfodrasz 10y ago
  Do you have any literature on this story?
  - ommunist 10y ago
    Since this was long before the Internet, I doubt it is available on www. However quick search gives this, you can feed it to Google Translate. http://www.libussr.ru/doc_ussr/usr_9772.htm http://www.libussr.ru/doc_ussr/usr_9772.htm. Name of strain is "вирин-ЭНШ" This is final document with instruction of strain usage http://www.libussr.ru/doc_ussr/usr_10557.htm http://www.libussr.ru/doc_ussr/usr_10557.htm
rotten 10y ago
They have effectively wiped out all Ash trees around central Ohio. Once these beautiful trees were 20 - 25% of our forest, tree lines, and even shade for parking lots. Now they are all gone. You can really notice it in areas where they haven't been removed by tree services. We have an abundance of woodpeckers now because of all of the dead standing trees around us. I wonder what they'll make baseball bats out of when the lumber supply runs out?
- npongratz 10y ago
  Maple: http://woodbat.org/ http://woodbat.org/
- nickbauman 10y ago
  Hickory
- panglott 10y ago
  Louisville Slugger has started shifting to yellow birch and maple. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/baseball-bats-made-from-ash-may-fall-victim-of-climate-change/ https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/baseball-bats-mad...
mholmes680 10y ago
alas, i have one at my driveway in NJ and cross my fingers everyday. and pour gallons of pesticide on it...
coldpie 10y ago
Almost all of the avenue trees in my neighborhood were Ash, most around 50 years old, and they were all taken down last spring due to the borer. Limbs had been falling for years during storms, we were pretty worried about seeing significant damage due to the trees literally falling apart over our house. When they were taken down, most of the stumps were soft enough to crumble with your fingertips and the sapwood was completely webbed with borer holes. About a month after they took the trees down, we had the worst thunderstorm in years. Lost power for three days due to dozens of uprooted (non-Ash!) trees. I can't imagine the carnage had those trees still been up.
macintux 10y ago
At the very center of my acre stands a huge green ash. I've never measured it, but I'd guesstimate 40' tall. Circumference of the trunk is, oh, maybe 15'. One of the reasons I never wanted to sell my property was the fear it would be chopped down. It died two years ago. I loathe invasive species.
pc2g4d 10y ago
The Columbian Exchange continues! One question about the article: why do they say "technically extinct" and not just "extinct"? I also wonder---if we get chestnuts back up to their 19th-century numbers, what species will suffer as a result? Similarly to how coyotes are suffering from the reintroduction of gray wolves. I'm fine with attempting to restore the previous equilibrium, but it's good to be aware of all the consequences.
- panglott 10y ago
  Well, American chestnut grew on upland sites with thin soil in oak-hickory forest. Many of the surviving trees are on inaccessible mountain slopes and other places unsuitable for agriculture. After they died, the canopy space was overtaken by oak, hickory, tuliptree, and other native trees. The chestnut was so populous because it simply overwhelmed the other trees with seed production. In terms of wildlife, there is no downside: the chestnut produces a larger mast than oak/hickory, and it produces every year instead of biennially. Its nut is starchy rather than oily. Chestnuts simply produce more food for humans and wildlife than the forest can otherwise. Its loss was simply a huge loss for the ecosystem.
Obi_Juan_Kenobi 10y ago
Beechbark disease is another major one. IIRC about 2-5% of trees can survive it, but it's taking out stands all over the northeast through the midwest.

_nalply 10y ago

Same in Switzerland. The local newspaper (Berner Zeitung) has an article today about how the ash trees needed to be felled in a Bernese park and removed by helicopter because of difficult topography.

ommunist 10y ago

These bugs can be defeated by aerial spray of species-specific viral infection. But that weapon has to be designed first. In 70-ies, the USSR by such means successfully combated Lymantria dispar invasion in Siberia, which devastated pine forests on unimaginable scale. Though it took about 7 years and if memory serves, 3 research institutions to make insights into immune system of this species and make effective species-specific virus. The strain is still available.

kodfodrasz 10y ago
Do you have any literature on this story?
- ommunist 10y ago
  Since this was long before the Internet, I doubt it is available on www. However quick search gives this, you can feed it to Google Translate. http://www.libussr.ru/doc_ussr/usr_9772.htm http://www.libussr.ru/doc_ussr/usr_9772.htm. Name of strain is "вирин-ЭНШ" This is final document with instruction of strain usage http://www.libussr.ru/doc_ussr/usr_10557.htm http://www.libussr.ru/doc_ussr/usr_10557.htm

rotten 10y ago

They have effectively wiped out all Ash trees around central Ohio. Once these beautiful trees were 20 - 25% of our forest, tree lines, and even shade for parking lots. Now they are all gone. You can really notice it in areas where they haven't been removed by tree services. We have an abundance of woodpeckers now because of all of the dead standing trees around us. I wonder what they'll make baseball bats out of when the lumber supply runs out?

npongratz 10y ago
Maple: http://woodbat.org/ http://woodbat.org/
nickbauman 10y ago
Hickory
panglott 10y ago
Louisville Slugger has started shifting to yellow birch and maple. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/baseball-bats-made-from-ash-may-fall-victim-of-climate-change/ https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/baseball-bats-mad...

mholmes680 10y ago

alas, i have one at my driveway in NJ and cross my fingers everyday. and pour gallons of pesticide on it...

coldpie 10y ago

Almost all of the avenue trees in my neighborhood were Ash, most around 50 years old, and they were all taken down last spring due to the borer. Limbs had been falling for years during storms, we were pretty worried about seeing significant damage due to the trees literally falling apart over our house. When they were taken down, most of the stumps were soft enough to crumble with your fingertips and the sapwood was completely webbed with borer holes. About a month after they took the trees down, we had the worst thunderstorm in years. Lost power for three days due to dozens of uprooted (non-Ash!) trees. I can't imagine the carnage had those trees still been up.

macintux 10y ago

At the very center of my acre stands a huge green ash. I've never measured it, but I'd guesstimate 40' tall. Circumference of the trunk is, oh, maybe 15'. One of the reasons I never wanted to sell my property was the fear it would be chopped down. It died two years ago. I loathe invasive species.

pc2g4d 10y ago

The Columbian Exchange continues! One question about the article: why do they say "technically extinct" and not just "extinct"? I also wonder---if we get chestnuts back up to their 19th-century numbers, what species will suffer as a result? Similarly to how coyotes are suffering from the reintroduction of gray wolves. I'm fine with attempting to restore the previous equilibrium, but it's good to be aware of all the consequences.

panglott 10y ago
Well, American chestnut grew on upland sites with thin soil in oak-hickory forest. Many of the surviving trees are on inaccessible mountain slopes and other places unsuitable for agriculture. After they died, the canopy space was overtaken by oak, hickory, tuliptree, and other native trees. The chestnut was so populous because it simply overwhelmed the other trees with seed production. In terms of wildlife, there is no downside: the chestnut produces a larger mast than oak/hickory, and it produces every year instead of biennially. Its nut is starchy rather than oily. Chestnuts simply produce more food for humans and wildlife than the forest can otherwise. Its loss was simply a huge loss for the ecosystem.

Obi_Juan_Kenobi 10y ago

Beechbark disease is another major one. IIRC about 2-5% of trees can survive it, but it's taking out stands all over the northeast through the midwest.