The Emerald Ash Borer is extending its reign in the US, as 5 more Tennessee counties have just been added to its quarantine list, only three weeks after several New Jersey counties have been included. Due to the accelerated spread of the tree parasite, more effective methods for preventing the contamination and for exterminating the pest are extremely necessary as soon as possible, so that the borer does not conquer the US in its entirety.
The recent additions to the Emerald Ash Borer Quarantine List are Williamson, Rutherford, Franklin, Trousdale and Marshall counties from Tennessee, thus widening the spread of the parasite a little bit more.
The reason behind the aggressive nature of the emerald ash borer contamination is the fact that the American ash trees were naive hosts, which means that they were completely unprepared genetically to cope with the wrath of this vicious killer. The tree parasite originates from Asia, where the ash trees have been fighting this green foe for millions of years.
Therefore, they have developed highly effective defense mechanisms that enable them to survive the contamination. It remains to be seen if these specialized Asian ash trees might be of some help in the fight with the emerald ash borer on American land.
The emerald ash borer is a a very interesting arthropod that uses the ash tree a source of nutrients and a highly effective shelter for its larvae and that feeds on the leaves of the tree. The small parasite can live off an ash tree for several generations, but it drains it of nutrients and causes it to die after only three years of inhabiting it.
The quarantine zone was created precisely to limit the spread of the emerald ash borer, because it has spread tremendously in all the years it has been going rampant in America, since it was imported along with some contaminated wood from an Asian county in the 90’s.
The green arthropod is very small in size and therefore it is extremely easy to overlook it, especially since not enough people are aware of the dangers it might pose to the environment it contaminates. People need to be more informed in regards to this small critter, so that they know that it is extremely dangerous if they carry it along with wood from a contaminated region to an uncontaminated one.
Hopefully, a more elaborate plan will be developed to fight off this vicious parasite in the near future, as a multidisciplinary approach to the matter seems to be the best way to reduce its numbers and the harm it brings to America’s ash trees.
Image Source: media.padil.gov.au