By Gerry Donaldson
November 2, 2019
Discover the resource in detecting and managing common pests in conifers.
Imagine your landscape with seventy percent, or more, of the plants dead! Imagine all of your community similarly affected! Imagine all of your state, all of your USDA growing zone, possibly all of your country affected!
No, this is not an introduction to an episode of Twilight Zone, and granted, this may sound alarmist, but such loses are a very real possibility if invasive insects and/or diseases have their way with our natural and built landscapes.
The Effects of Conifer Invasive Pests
Each loss in our landscapes results in changes in the ecosystem. All of the components of an ecosystem work together to clean water and to re-charge aquifers. They clean air and provide oxygen, moderate atmospheric temperatures and provide habitat
for the complex web of life. All of this facilitates human survival.
Invasive pests wreak havoc on those ecosystems at a cost greater than 25 billion dollars in damaged or lost crops and forest products annually. Reduced property values
and increased maintenance costs are direct costs to homeowners and all taxpayers, adding billions more.
The U.S. Government, through the USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), works to keep invasive pests out of our country. We all know of examples where that effort has fallen short. Think about chestnut blight, which devastated the American chestnut in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s. In some areas, the American chestnut was up to 20% of the trees in forests and provided a significant food source for Native Americans, early settlers, and the animals of the forest.
In the 1920’s, Dutch elm disease was identified in the United States. By the 1960’s, it had virtually wiped out the American elm throughout North America, dramatically changing our forests and city streets.
More recently, in 2002, emerald ash borer was discovered in the US. Since that time, it has devastated the ash trees of the Great Lakes region and has spread to 30 states, killing millions of trees and costing billions of dollars in loss and damage.
Early Detection of Conifer Pests
The importance of early detection is exemplified by the emerald ash borer experience. Initial homeowner questions about what was happening with their ash trees were met with confusion on the part of arborists and in extension, university personnel,
due to lack of knowledge of the insect. Little, if any prescriptive information was available. By the time the insect was identified and researchers had identified controls, the area infested had become so large that elimination was ruled out as a
possibility.
Early detection of invasive species is critical if we intend to prevent future disasters. The longer an invasive goes undetected, the more difficult, and more expensive it is to control (see Invasive Introduction Curve). Fortunately, a
plan to combat invasive species is in place and is beginning to have a positive effect.
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