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Asian beetles may threaten Oxford ash trees

Kathryn Comella

With the destruction of trees left behind by the emerald ash borer throughout the Midwest, Oxford is preparing for the believed imminent arrival of the exotic beetle species.

According to city of Oxford Environmental Specialist Dave Treleaven, the tiny green beetle, introduced to North America in the early 1990s, has caused millions of dollars in damages for municipalities and property owners, in addition to killing thousands of ash trees in Michigan and Ohio.

Treleaven believes the exotic beetle is a serious threat to the ash tree population.

"The beetle is a death sentence to a tree and has the potential to wipe out the ash tree species," Treleaven said.

Casey Munchel, service forester for the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR), said the relatively new species ravaged trees in Michigan in 2002. By 2006, the invasion spread to northern Ohio.

According to Munchel, researchers think the emerald ash borer came to America on shipments from Asia.

Treleaven echoed Munchel's statements regarding the origin and migration of the beetles, and said the bug may soon appear in the Oxford area.

"It's expected that human transports have caused the insect to spread as of now and my feeling is that it will hit the Houston Woods area before the city of Oxford," Treleaven said.

Since the beetles' entrance into the United States, Munchel said there has been an unexpected cost of tree removal and a change in heating and cooling costs caused by tree removal. Munchel said because trees offer shade for houses, when the trees are removed due to beetle infestation, the houses uses more energy to keep the house cool. It's a challenge to maintain trees in the front yard because of the effect the beetle has on the ash trees.

Munchel said Ohio has 3.8 billion ash trees, primarily valued for hard wood products such as baseball bats, hardwood floors and cabinets.

To protect the approximately 450 ash trees in Oxford, the city will be taking tree inventory, removing the old, damaged ash trees and leaving the healthy viable trees, according to Treleaven. Treleaven also said the city would continue the testing process.

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In 2006, the city of Oxford joined forces with ODNR to detect possible outbreaks of the beetle in the city. The city of Oxford tested ash trees behind Millett using a stressing process. Munchel said the testing process stresses ash trees by removing bark, making it vulnerable to the beetle. If the emerald ash borer is near, it will move on the vulnerable tree and destroying it. According to Munchel, the stressed trees sit during the spring and summer and testing for the bug begins in the fall.

In the last testing, Oxford's ash trees passed the city and state inspections, according to Treleaven.

Treleaven said the onset of the emerald ash borer is costly to municipalities.

"With tree removal costing seven to eight hundred dollars, the emerald ash borer has potential to cost Oxford thousands of dollars in damages," Treleaven said.

Neal Sullivan, forest ecologist and environmental science professor at Miami University, said he also predicts the beetles may travel to Oxford soon.

"In my opinion and that of most ecologists, it is going to be here and soon," Sullivan said. "It would not surprise me if it is detected in the next year or two."

Sullivan elaborated on the beetles' destruction. While the adult emerald ash borer does minor damage by eating away at the ash tree's leaves, the beetle's larvae borrows into the xylem and phloem or the veins and arteries of the tree, disrupting the flow of nutrients, water and minerals, ultimately starving the tree.

Sullivan explained how the beetle destroys the ash trees.

"Imagine a ribbon tied around a tree trunk," Sullivan said. "If you were to slice through that ribbon and through the bark all the way around the trunk, you would cut all the pipes phloem and some xylem and kill the tree."

Treleaven said the onset of the emerald ash borer in Oxford is not a one-time phenomenon, but rather it is a continuation of its spread in the Midwest. He also said an outbreak would most likely occur in the spring when the natural life cycle of the emerald ash borer begins.

A recent outbreak of the emerald ash borer was detected in October 2006, in Springboro, Ohio, near Middletown. The statewide detection process revealed a large infestation of the beetle species, according to Munchel.

To increase awareness of the emerald ash borer, Middletown ran informational workshops explaining the effects of the bug as well as the state's detection process.

Doris Baben, ground tech for the city of Middletown, hopes to spread awareness about the emerald ash borer.

"Nothing is 100 percent effective in preventing the emerald ash borer's spread, but we want people to be able to recognize it and know their options," Baben said.

Along with spreading awareness the ODNR and local communities ask Ohioans to stop planting, burning or buying ash trees from quarantined counties.

When individuals purchase wood, beetles may reside within the wood causing human transport of the beetles.

"We want people to know not to move wood from county to county," Baben said. "It's now illegal to move firewood out of quarantined counties and across state lines."