This Nov. 18, 2022, talk was presented by Ryan Rastok, Forest Health Coordinator for the Kansas Forest Service. The presentation, delivered at the Kansas Biological Survey & Center for Ecological Research, is followed by a question-and-answer session. Please note that the first minute of the presentation was edited out because the sound had been muted. All slides are included.
Rastok provided this overview of the presentation: “Emerald Ash Borer (Agrilus planipennis) is an invasive wood boring beetle that was introduced into southeastern Michigan from Asia in the early to mid-1990s and subsequently discovered in 2002. Shortly after the beetle was first discovered, a federal quarantine of ash wood (dead and alive), ash nursery stock, and all hardwood firewood regardless of species was implemented.
"After nearly 20 years, the federal quarantine was rescinded in 2021 in order to prioritize other strategies, such as biological control. To date, the beetle has been confirmed in 36 states and five Canadian provinces. The subsequent spread of Emerald Ash Borer (EAB) throughout the continent and tree mortality caused by larval feeding threatens to functionally extirpate all ash (Fraxninus spp.) species endemic to North America. This presentation will discuss the lifecycle, phenology, biology, and ecology of EAB; its history in the U.S. and Kansas; its ecological and economic impacts; and why this still matters today, tomorrow, and for the foreseeable future.”
