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The genus Agrilus is one of the most diverse insect genera worldwide. The larval feeding activity causes extensive damage in both forests and orchards. In addition, more than 30 species have been introduced outside their native range so far, including the emerald ash borer Agrilus planipennis Fairmaire. Thus, the availability of efficient trapping protocols for early detection of Agrilus species at entry points is of utmost importance. In this study we tested whether trapping protocols developed for surveillance of A. planipennis in North America were also effective for other Agrilus species. In particular, through a multi-country assessment we compared the efficacy of detecting Agrilus species on: (i) green glue-coated prism traps vs. green Fluon-coated multi-funnel traps when baited with the green leaf volatile (Z)-3-hexenol or left unbaited; and (ii) green multi-panel traps vs. green multi-panel traps baited with dead adult Agrilus beetles (decoys). A total of 23,481 individuals from 45 Agrilus species were caught. Trap design significantly affected both species richness and abundance of Agrilus species in several of the countries where the trapping experiments were carried out, and green prism traps outperformed green multi-funnel traps in most cases. On the contrary, the addition of a (Z)-3-hexenol lure or dead adult beetle decoys on to traps did not improve trap catches. Our study highlights that reliable trap models to survey Agrilus species are already available, but also that there is the clear need to further investigate chemical ecology of Agrilus species to develop semiochemical lures that can improve detection efficacy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Emerald ash borer (EAB) (Agrilus planipennis Fairmaire) (Coleoptera: Buprestidae) is the most destructive insect to invade North American forests. Identifying habitat features that support EAB natural enemies is necessary to enhance EAB biological control. In many forest ecosystems, tree species diversity has been linked with reduced pest abundance and increases in natural enemy abundance. We assessed the influence of tree species richness, ash density, and proportion of total ash basal area on ash canopy condition, EAB larval densities, and biocontrol by woodpeckers and parasitoids in pairs of healthy and declining overstory (DBH > 10 cm) and recruit-sized ash (DBH 2–10 cm) in 4 post-invasion forests in Michigan, USA. Tree species richness and ash density were not significantly associated with EAB larval densities, ash canopy dieback and transparency, and woodpecker predation of EAB larvae. In declining and healthy overstory ash, woodpeckers killed 38.5 ± 3.9% and 13.2 ± 3.7% of larvae, respectively, while the native parasitoid Phasgonophora sulcata Westwood killed 15.8 ± 3.8% and 8.3 ± 3.0% and the introduced parasitoid Spathius galinae Belokobylskij & Strazanac killed 10.8 ± 2.5% and 5.0 ± 2.6% of EAB larvae. Parasitism by P. sulcata was inversely related to ash density while parasitism by S. galinae was positively associated with ash density. Ash density, but not tree diversity, appears to differentially influence biological control of EAB by parasitoids, but this effect is not associated with reduced EAB densities or improved canopy condition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Emerald ash borer (EAB), Agrilus planipennis Fairmaire (Coleoptera: Buprestidae), has caused extensive mortality of ash across North America. Biological control offers a potential long-term management option, allowing for long-term survival of ash. Careful monitoring of populations of biocontrol agents is necessary to understand their relative impacts. Understanding the emergence and flight phenology of these species allows for the optimization of monitoring schemes and improves our understanding of host–parasitoid interactions. We used yellow pan trapping data to assess the adult phenology of both EAB and its associated native and introduced parasitoids in 3 New York counties. We monitored 2 introduced larval biocontrol agents, Tetrastichus planipennisi Yang (Hymenoptera: Eulophidae) and Spathius galinae Belokobylskij & Strazanac (Braconidae), for 3–4 years post-release, as well as the native parasitoid Phasgonophora sulcata Westword (Chalcididae). Results indicate a single discrete emergence event for both EAB and P. sulcata in all monitored counties, which is consistent with previously reported results. Our results also suggest there are 4 generations per year of T. planipennisi and 3 generations of S. galinae in the monitored counties. We recorded an additional generation of T. planipennisi that had not previously been reported in New York, and both T. planipennisi and S. galinae appeared to emerge earlier than previously documented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article addresses the challenge posed by the Emerald Ash Borer (EAB), a wood–boring insect that threatens to kill ash trees, one of the North America's most vital tree genera. Current strategies include monitoring, treatment, and removal. However, the absence of a private-public partnership hinders progress on private ash trees. We propose two cost-sharing programs where local governments reimburse landowners for their management costs. This approach considers the EAB's dynamic growth over two periods based on different treatment decisions. Two mathematical models are developed for designing reimbursements: one based on the number of infested trees and another on the number of treated trees. We derive analytical solutions for the optimal treatment decisions and reimbursements in the first period. Our study reveals that treatment effectiveness and the likelihood of new infestations in the second period influence the optimal decisions. Comparing the reimbursement models, the treatment-based program proves more effective, encouraging landowners to treat more trees with higher reimbursements and overall benefits. Further, we show that continuing EAB treatment beyond the 2-year cost-sharing program is expected to yield superior long-term benefits. The approach seeks to foster private-public partnerships in addressing environmental challenges through resource sharing, such as managing water, land, and wildfires. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: The emerald ash borer (EAB, Agrilus planipennis Fairmaire) is currently a highly destructive forest pest, causing substantial economic losses. Ash species (Fraxinus spp.) are economically invaluable components of natural forests and urban environments. However, these trees have been severely damaged by EAB. Endophytes, which are prevalent in plants, are hypothesized to contribute to the complex relationships between insects and plants. However, research on the effect of EAB infestation on the community changes in endophytic fungi and bacteria in phloem of Fraxinus is scarce. To bridge this gap, we compare changes in fungi and bacteria diversity, community makeup, and the potential roles of various endophytic fungi and bacteria in both EAB-infested and uninfected Fraxinus bungeana trees. We observed an elevation in bacterial richness, without notable changes in diversity, whereas fungal richness and diversity remained unaffected. Furthermore, we identified four key microbial genera undergoing substantial shifts post-infestation. The functional roles of endophytic fungi and bacteria also exhibited changes, with a decline in beneficial activities and an emergence of potentially detrimental functions. Network analyses have shown elevated negative correlations and core genera shift in EAB-infected phloem. The findings of our study contribute to a better understanding of the complex interactions between plants, insects, and endophytic microorganisms. Endophytes, prevalent in plants, mediate plant–insect interactions. Nevertheless, our understanding of the key members of endophyte communities involved in inhibiting or assisting EAB infestation remains limited. Employing ITS and 16S rRNA high-throughput sequencing, along with network analysis techniques, we conducted a comprehensive investigation into the reaction of endophytic fungi and bacteria within F. bungeana phloem by comparing EAB-infested and uninfected samples. Our findings reveal that EAB infestation significantly impacts the endophytic communities, altering both their diversity and overall structure. Interestingly, both endophytic fungi and bacteria exhibited distinct patterns in response to the infestation. For instance, in the EAB-infested phloem, the fungi abundance remained unchanged, but diversity decreased significantly. Conversely, bacterial abundance increased, without significant diversity changes. The fungi community structure altered significantly, which was not observed in bacteria. The bacterial composition in the infested phloem underwent significant changes, characterized by a substantial decrease in beneficial species abundance, whereas the fungal composition remained largely unaffected. In network analysis, the endophytes in infested phloem exhibited a modular topology, demonstrating greater complexity due to an augmented number of network nodes, elevated negative correlations, and a core genera shift compared to those observed in healthy phloem. Our findings increase understanding of plant–insect–microorganism relationships, crucial for pest control, considering endophytic roles in plant defense. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Emerald ash borer (EAB, Agrilus planipennis) is an invasive killer of ash trees (Fraxinus spp.) in North America and Europe. Ash species co‐evolved with EAB in their native range in Asia are mostly resistant, although the precise mechanism(s) remain unclear. Very little is also known about EAB or ash tree microbiomes. We performed the first joint comparison of phloem mycobiome and metabolites between a native and a nonnative ash species, infested and uninfested with EAB, in conjunction with investigation of larval mycobiome. Phloem mycobiome communities differed between the tree species, but both were unaffected by EAB infestation. Several indicator taxa in the larval gut shared a similarly high relative abundance only with the native host trees. Widely targeted metabolomics revealed 24 distinct metabolites in native trees and 53 metabolites in nonnative trees, respectively, that differed in relative content between infested and uninfested trees only in one species. Interestingly, four metabolites shared a strong relationship with the phloem mycobiomes, majority of which affected only the native trees. Collectively, our results demonstrate a complex interplay between host tree chemistry and mycobiome, and suggest the shared relationships between the mycobiomes of the native host tree and EAB may reflect their shared co‐evolution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The emerald ash borer (EAB), Agrilus planipennis Fairmaire (Coleoptera: Buprestidae), is one of the most destructive invasive forest pests in North America, where it has killed hundreds of millions of ash (Fraxinus spp.) trees since its first detection in 2002. Native to Asia, female EAB adults lay their eggs between bark crevices or under loose bark of their host trees. Because of this cryptic egg-laying behavior, field detection of EAB eggs has been extremely difficult, resulting in knowledge gaps of EAB egg-laying behavior. In the present study, I tested the potential use of strips of burlap fabric (0.03 m × 1 m) or polypropylene curling ribbon (0.005 m × 2 m) to induce female EAB adults to lay eggs on the trunks or branches of ash covered with these materials in the field. The burlap trap tested in this study detected more than twice as many EAB eggs (4.9 ± 1.1 eggs per burlap trap) as did the polypropylene ribbon trap (1.9 ± 0.5 eggs per ribbon trap). When the surface area of each trap is standardized to one square meter, however, both burlap fabric and polypropylene ribbon traps are equally effective in inducing female EAB adults to lay eggs onto the covered surface of ash trunks or branches. Potential applications of the oviposition traps for effective detection and control of EAB and other jewel beetles are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In North America, a comparatively small number of Fraxinus (ash) cultivars were planted in large numbers in both urban and rural environments across the entire range of Fraxinus pennsylvanica Marsh (green ash) over the last 80 years. Undetected cultivar gene flow, if extensive, could significantly lower genetic diversity within populations, suppress differentiation between populations, generate interspecific admixture not driven by long-standing natural processes, and affect the impact of abiotic and biotic threats. In this investigation we generated the first range-wide genetic assessment of F. pennsylvanica to detect the extent of cultivar gene flow into natural stands. We used 16 EST-SSR markers to genotype 48 naturally regenerated populations of F. pennsylvanica distributed across the native range (1291 trees), 19 F. pennsylvanica cultivars, and one F. americana L. (white ash) cultivar to detect cultivar propagule dispersal into these populations. We detected first generation cultivar parentage with high confidence in 171 individuals in 34 of the 48 populations and extensive cultivar parentage (23–50%) in eight populations. The incidence of cultivar parentage was negatively associated with allele richness (R2 = 0.151, p = 0.006). The evidence for a locally high frequency of cultivar propagule dispersal and the interspecific admixture in eastern populations will inform Fraxinus gene pool conservation strategies and guide the selection of individuals for breeding programs focused on increasing resistance to the emerald ash borer (Agrilus planipennis Fairmaire), an existential threat to the Fraxinus species of North America. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Invasive Emerald Ash Borer (EAB) damage pose significant challenges for sustainable forest management, necessitating accurate mapping of damaged ash trees. Traditional change detection methods, using time-series imagery, are essential for monitoring forest disturbances but complicated by abnormal fluctuations in original time-series features. Tree phenology also complicates this process by masking the reflectance characteristics indicative of EAB infestation. To address these challenges, we propose an improved change detection method integrating patterns from host tree phenology and EAB life history. This improved method includes: (1) select the indices with time stability to enhance detection reliability by partial least squares method (PLS); (2) correction on negative change values before and positive change values after the phenological peak based on known patterns of tree phenology and EAB life history. Result confirms that this method effectively reflects the seasonal growth and decline dynamics of ash trees, revealing the impacts of phenology and EAB infestation. EAB-damaged trees exhibited slower growth in May and premature decline in July compared with healthy tree, with the damage severity influencing the rate of leaf decline. This proposed method achieved an overall accuracy of 53.4%-76.7% across different months for ash trees with health, light and severe damage. This study highlights the capabilities of integrating pest life history and phenology in change detection method and provide a new method to monitor individual tree health across large areas by high-resolution satellite imagery.

The polyphagous shot hole borer (PSHB), Euwallacea fornicatus Eichhoff (Coleoptera: Curculionidae, Scolytinae), is a significant tree‐killing pest recently introduced into South Africa. Many native trees in urban settings are susceptible to infestation, but the presence of PSHB in natural ecosystems is unstudied. The presence and drivers of PSHB colonization in 1682 trees of 68 species were evaluated in 51 plots across a native Afrotemperate forest complex in South Africa. Breeding colonies of PSHB were found in six native species (breeding hosts). An additional 11 species did not contain PSHB colonies but hosted its mutualistic fungus Fusarium euwallaceae Freeman et al. (Hypocreales: Nectriaceae). Invasibility increased when plots were closer to the urban infestation border, further away from surface water, and when containing a larger number of breeding hosts. Invasibility decreased with an increase in tree species richness. Polyphagous shot hole borers were found in climax forest distant to urban areas at sites frequented by tourists. The severity of infestation of trees increased with an increase in host diameter, breeding host abundance, and infested tree abundance. Probability of infestation increased with an increase in the number of infested trees. Infested trees were not spatially clumped. Instead, PSHB preferentially selected eight of the 17 native host species. And the data suggest that larger trees of these species may be more susceptible to PSHB. Eight species were infested at random and two were infested seemingly accidentally. Infestations increased more rapidly on larger trees and on those surrounded by a high abundance of breeding hosts. This study confirms that Afrotemperate forests are highly susceptible to invasion by PSHB. Direct anthropogenic impact had no discernible effect on infestations, but humans aided spread of PSHB to distant sites. Halting movement of contaminated wood is important. Management of PSHB should focus on highly infested areas and trees as these increase the likelihood of further and more severe infestations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: To achieve targeted control of different wood-boring pests and targeted prevention of exotic invasions, it is necessary to classify the species of wood-boring pests. This paper collects feeding vibration signals of wood-boring pests using piezoelectric ceramic sensors and constructs a dataset. By applying attention mechanisms in both the time domain and the frequency domain, we design a novel CNN architecture named Residual Mixed Domain Attention Module Network (RMAMNet). RMAMNet significantly improves the accuracy of wood-boring pest classification, indicating its potential for effective pest monitoring and classification tasks. This study provides a new perspective and technical support for the automatic detection, classification, and early warning of wood-boring pests in forestry. Wood borers, such as the emerald ash borer and holcocerus insularis staudinger, pose a significant threat to forest ecosystems, causing damage to trees and impacting biodiversity. This paper proposes a neural network for detecting and classifying wood borers based on their feeding vibration signals. We utilize piezoelectric ceramic sensors to collect drilling vibration signals and introduce a novel convolutional neural network (CNN) architecture named Residual Mixed Domain Attention Module Network (RMAMNet).The RMAMNet employs both channel-domain attention and time-domain attention mechanisms to enhance the network's capability to learn meaningful features. The proposed system outperforms established networks, such as ResNet and VGG, achieving a recognition accuracy of 95.34% and an F1 score of 0.95. Our findings demonstrate that RMAMNet significantly improves the accuracy of wood borer classification, indicating its potential for effective pest monitoring and classification tasks. This study provides a new perspective and technical support for the automatic detection, classification, and early warning of wood-boring pests in forestry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research presents a classification methodology for the detection of new or emerging stress in trees using indices derived from hyperspectral data and tests whether existing hyperspectral indices are effective when used as the classification features for this problem. We tested six existing indices—Water Band Index (WBI), Gitelson–Merzlyak B Index (GMb), Normalized Phaeophytization Index (NPQI), Combined Carotenoid/Chlorophyll Ratio Index (CCRI), Photochemical Reflectance Index (PRI), and Red-Edge Chlorophyll Index (CIre)—along with a seventh Test Index—generated as a composite of PRI and Cire—as classification features. Analysis was conducted using data collected from trees with and without emerald ash borer (EAB) infestation to develop a methodology that could be adapted to measure emerging stress from other pathogens or invasive pests in other tree species. Previous work has focused specifically on the identification of damage or stress symptoms caused by a specific pathogen. In this study, we adapted that work to develop a system of classification that can be applied to the identification of stress symptoms from a range of sources, measurable in trees based on spectral response and, in some cases, detectable prior to the onset of visible symptoms that can be measured through human observation. Our data indicate that existing indices derived from hyperspectral data are effective as classification features when measuring spectral responses indicative of emerging stress in trees. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Emerald ash borer (EAB) (Agrilus planipennis Fairmaire), an invasive, phloem-feeding beetle native to Asia, has killed millions of ash (Fraxinus spp.) trees in North America since it was detected in southeast Michigan in 2002. Consistently high mortality of black ash (Fraxinus nigra) and green ash (F. pennsylvanica) which often occur in riparian forests is a concern given their role in regulating soil moisture and shallow groundwater levels. We monitored and compared hydrologic processes in a riparian forest impacted by EAB invasion and an adjacent unimpacted riparian forest site in southwest Michigan. From 2018 to 2022, we recorded soil moisture, depth to groundwater and meteorological variables at 15-min intervals throughout the growing season in a canopy gap following EAB-caused ash mortality and in adjacent, unaffected forest in the Augusta Creek riparian zone. Groundwater contributions to evapotranspiration (ETG) were estimated using a groundwater level fluctuation (WLF) method. Significant differences in volumetric soil moisture content (16%--26% higher in the gap than forest), average depth to water (10 cm in the gap vs. 70 cm below land surface in the forest) and mean daily ETG (0.6 in the gap vs. 3.0 mm per day in the forest) persisted across four growing seasons. Within the gap, prolonged saturation of the near surface may be contributing to a shift from a forested riparian ecosystem to herb and sedge-dominated wetland. These differences have implications for an array of riparian zone ecosystem services, a concern given the extent of ash mortality already sustained in much of eastern North America. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As tornados become increasingly common with global climate change, recovery of the woody vegetation in temperate forests is imperative to maintain an intact ecosystem. In many urbanized landscapes, invasive species are also increasing and could interfere with natural recovery from environmental disturbance. We quantified the impact and 17‐year recovery from a major tornado in a temperate deciduous forest. We used vegetational surveys in southwestern Ohio at the Harris M. Benedict Nature Preserve, where approximately a third of this site was damaged by a tornado in 1999. Plots were established in the tornado‐damaged area and the nearby undisturbed forest to examine forest recovery of trees/saplings, shrubs and vines, and tree seedlings during 2003, 2006, 2010, and 2016/2017. The number of tree saplings, shrubs, and vines increased immediately after the tornado, but then declined by 2010, relative to the undisturbed forest. Forest tree recruitment was lower in tornado‐damaged sites with fewer tree seedlings, but more saplings. Tree diversity was also affected by Agrilus planipennis (Emerald Ash borer) which targeted native ash trees within this time period. Despite an initial increase in shrubs and vines in the damaged area, the diversity and density of shrubs approached equality in both sites by 2016. Most shrubs in both sites were the invasive Lonicera maackii (Amur honeysuckle). In tornado sites, honeysuckle thinned out over time, leaving larger shrubs with greater mean basal diameter compared to the undisturbed forest. Other woody invasive species were also more prevalent in the damaged area, but increased in number in both locations by 2017. The forest has the capability to begin to recover from the initial tornado, but its future composition may differ from its initial trajectory due to invasive species, loss of ash trees, and anthropogenic impacts within the urban landscape. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The invasive emerald ash borer (Agrilus planipennis) causes damage to street trees which is estimated to reach US$ 900 million over the next 30 years. Although millions of dollars are spent annually to control this species, spatiotemporal management plans are often based on rules of thumb that ignore future pest dispersal. Here, we reveal an optimal management strategy to protect urban trees in North America from A. planipennis. To achieve this, we embedded a pest dispersal model within a mixed integer programming framework. We discovered that optimized strategies consistently outperformed those based on rules of thumb, potentially resulting in the protection of an additional nearly 1 million street trees and savings of $ 629 million. Critically, the best management strategies always relied on quarantines and biological control (constituting 98–99% and 1–2% of the project budget, respectively), in contrast with current practices, where federal spending has been diverted to biological control. Our findings serve to inform future pest control efforts and can help protect many more trees from this invasive species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the impact of climate change on the Earth and introduces the concept of Earth Hospice as a response. It highlights the devastation caused by the emerald ash borer, an insect that has killed numerous ash trees in North America. The article acknowledges the challenges of addressing climate change and the likelihood of surpassing the temperature goal set at the 2015 climate summit. Earth Hospice is compared to human hospice, emphasizing the importance of acknowledging and engaging with the changes happening in the natural world. The article suggests various practices, such as vigils and ceremonies, to connect with endangered places and beings. It emphasizes the long-term responsibility of Earth Hospice and the need to pass it on to future generations. The author shares a personal experience of conducting an Earth Hospice ceremony for ash logs, expressing gratitude and sorrow for the trees that have died. The text underscores the significance of developing a deep connection with nature and finding beauty amidst decline. [Extracted from the article]

The emerald ash borer, Agrilus planipennis, is a bark beetle native to Asia that has caused significant forest resource losses in North America since its introduction in the early 21st century. In this study, we used the niche assessment R package "ecospat" and the integrated model "biomod2" to compare 19 bioclimatic variables for A. planipennis in its native range (China) and part of its invasive range (the United States). Future data predicted for the 2050s and 2070s were utilized to forecast potential habitat regions for A. planipennis in China and the United States under two representative climate scenarios (SSP126 and SSP585). We revealed low niche overlap between A. planipennis populations in these ranges, with significant differences in bioclimatic variables. This indicates that A. planipennis has adapted to a range of climatic conditions in the United States. In upcoming times, the suitable habitat region for A. planipennis is expected to significantly decrease in the United States but considerably increase in China. Our study provides insights that can be used to prevent further A. planipennis spread, for economic loss assessment of and developing management strategies against A. planipennis, and as a methodological reference for niche analysis of other invasive species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urban trees are at risk of stress due to heat island effects and the increased proportion of impervious areas surrounding them. Among pests of trees, insect borers such as bark beetles (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) and flatheaded borers (Coleoptera: Buprestidae) are some of the most devastating, frequently colonizing stressed trees. The objective of this study was to explore the effects of biotic and abiotic risk factors on borer attacks on trees in urban areas. In the summer of 2021 and 2022, this study was conducted in 50 urban sites in Atlanta and Augusta, Georgia (USA). Specific factors explored include overall tree health, differentially warmer maximum and minimum temperatures of sites compared to surrounding areas, tree species, and the percentage of impervious surface surrounding trees. Generalized linear models and zero-inflated models explored how these factors were related to damage from these borers. The number of borer attacks on trees increased with higher percentage impervious area. As the two most commonly encountered trees, Acer rubrum was found to be significantly more susceptible to attack from borers than Ulmus parvifolia. Unhealthy trees were more likely to experience more frequent and more severe borer attack. Trees with increased impervious cover around them as well as those with differentially warmer daily maximum and minimum temperatures relative to surrounding were more likely to be attacked. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We test the hypothesis of Marshall et al. (2013) that in the United States there is a converse Bergmann's cline in body size of Agrilus planipennis (emerald ash borer, EAB), with the largest females (x¯ = 12.6 mm length) collected at the most southern latitudes tested (37° N).In 2020, we employed three techniques to collect EAB at a North Carolina (NC) site located at 35.64° N (purple prism traps [PPTs], log emergence, Cerceris fumipennis biosurveillance). The study was repeated in 2021, but with green funnel traps replacing log emergence. EAB collected by C. fumipennis in three altitudinally disparate regions of NC were also measured.Overall, EAB collected in 2020 averaged 12.02 mm, with those emerged from logs significantly smaller than those from PPTs. Length of females collected from C. fumipennis at three elevations was not significantly different and averaged 12.01 mm. In 2021, females collected from funnel traps, PPTs and C. fumipennis were not significantly different and larger (x¯ = 12.41 mm) than in 2020; eliminating the smaller log‐emerged EAB from the 2020 data set did not change the outcome.Mean EAB size in NC never reached the reported 12.6 mm at 37° N, regardless of the technique or altitude tested. Our expansion of the latitudinal range in which EAB body size has been studied may shift the proposed converse Bergmann's cline to that of a sawtooth or other non‐linear model, likely associated with a transition in EAB voltinism at or near NC latitudes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The lethal heat treatment dose (time and temperature) for the prepupal life stage of Agrilus planipennis Fairmaire (Coleoptera: Buprestidae), emerald ash borer (EAB), was determined through an in vitro application using a carefully calibrated heat treatment apparatus.The lethal and sublethal effects of heat on A. planipennis prepupae were assessed through a ramped heat delivery application, simulating industrial kilns and conventional heat chamber operations, for treatments combining target temperatures of 54 °C, 55 °C, and 56 °C, and exposure durations of 0 min (i.e., kiln temperature ramp only), 15 min, or 30 min. Prepupal EAB larvae did not survive exposure to 56 °C for 15 min or longer, or to 55 °C for 30 min. Sublethal effects were observed for all other treatments. Sublethal effects included delayed development and failure to complete the pupal and adult life stages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Green ash (Fraxinus pennsylvanica) and white ash (F. americana) populations are currently experiencing major declines across their native ranges in North America due to infestation by the exotic insect pest emerald ash borer (Agrilus planipennis). The development of a reliable method for the long-term storage of green and white ash germplasm in the form of embryogenic cultures using cryopreservation would be a considerable aid to ash conservation efforts. We compared recovery percentages of cryopreserved green and white ash embryogenic cultures using vitrification versus slow cooling methods. Three Plant Vitrification Solution 2 (PVS2) exposure durations (40, 60, and 80 min) for vitrification and three DMSO concentrations (5%, 10%, and 15%) for slow cooling were tested for their effects on the percentage of cultures that regrew following cryostorage. Vitrification resulted in a higher overall culture recovery percentage (91%) compared to cultures that were cryostored using the slow cooling approach (39%), and a more rapid initiation of regrowth (5 days versus 2–3 weeks) resulted. Recovery from cryostorage by cultures using the slow cooling approach varied significantly (p < 0.05) between experiments and with genotype (p < 0.05). The recovery of vitrified tissue from cryostorage did not vary with genotype, species, or PVS2 exposure duration (p > 0.05). The vitrification cryopreservation protocol provides a reliable and versatile alternative to the traditional slow cooling method, strengthening our ability to preserve valuable ash germplasm for conservation and restoration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Effective management of forest insects and diseases requires detection of abnormal mortality, particularly among a single species, sufficiently early to enable effective management. Remote detection of individual trees crowns requires a spatial resolution not available from satellites such as Landsat or Sentinel-2. In the United States, there are currently few operational systems capable of effectively and affordably detecting and mapping tree mortality over broad landscapes using high-resolution imagery. Here, we introduce the Tree Condition and Analysis Program (TreeCAP), an open-source system that uses freely available imagery from the National Agriculture Imagery Program (NAIP) to create maps of tree condition (healthy or damaged). We demonstrate the potential applications of TreeCAP in four study sites: (1) beetle-killed pines in California, (2) emerald ash borer progression in Wisconsin, (3) hemlock wooly adelgid mortality in Pennsylvania, and (4) drought damage in Texas. We achieved an average overall accuracy of 87% across all study sites. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Homemade diets integrated with functional ingredients may help to ensure that companion animals have a good life quality given the rise in their average lifespan. This study investigates the effects of a complete and well-balanced homemade diet supplemented with hulled hemp seeds. Twelve adult dogs divided into two groups: CTRL, fed the basal diet and HEMP, fed the diet integrated hulled Cannabis sativa L. seeds (4 g/100g of ration) were enrolled in the trial. The following samples were collected: (a) individual faecal samples to assess the diet digestibility through an indirect method of acid-insoluble ash; b) blood samples to evaluate the oxidative state through an OXI adsorbent test; and c) rectal swabs for intestinal microbiota analysis (alpha- and beta-diversity and taxonomy). The results reveal that with respect to the commercial diet used in this study, our homemade diet increased the total and protein digestibility (total: 53.97 ± 2.54% and 58.20 ± 2.58%; p <.030; protein: 70.54 ± 2.01% and 82.78 ± 5.35%; p <.001). The change in diet positively altered the microbiota structure and increased beta-diversity index significantly (p <.010). The hemp seeds significantly (p <.001) reduced the oxidative stress in the serum. This study highlights how hemp increases the body's defences and that a homemade diet promotes diversity in the gut microbial population. The homemade diet increased digestibility and microbiota diversity. Hulled hemp seeds in dog diets increase the body's defences [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Invasive forest pests can affect the composition and physical structure of forest canopies that may facilitate invasion by non‐native plants. However, it remains unclear whether this process is generalizable across invasive plant species at broad spatial scales, and how other landscape characteristics may simultaneously facilitate non‐native plant invasion. Here, we assembled a dataset of over 3000 repeatedly measured forest plots and quantified the impact of emerald ash borer (EAB, Agrilus planipennis) residence time, land cover, and forest structure on the accumulation and coverage of invasive plants. We show plots in counties with longer EAB residences tended to accumulate more invasive plants than plots with shorter EAB residences. On average, nearly half of the plots with ash (Fraxinus spp.) in counties with EAB accumulated an additional 0.48 invasive plant species over the 5‐ to 6‐year resample interval compared to plots with ash in counties without EAB at the time of sampling. Increases in invasive species coverage were also evident in counties with EAB—although residence time did not have a strong effect, while forest gap fraction and vertical complexity were each negatively associated with increased coverage. This work has implications for understanding how invasive forest pests can facilitate the spread of non‐native plants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Plants rely on cross‐resistance traits to defend against multiple, phylogenetically distinct enemies. These traits are often the result of long co‐evolutionary histories. Biological invasions can force naïve plants to cope with novel, coincident pests, and pathogens. For example, European ash (Fraxinus excelsior) is substantially threatened by the emerald ash borer (EAB), Agrilus planipennis, a wood‐boring beetle, and the ash dieback (ADB) pathogen, Hymenoscyphus fraxineus. Yet, plant cross‐resistance traits against novel enemies are poorly explored and it is unknown whether naïve ash trees can defend against novel enemy complexes via cross‐resistance mechanisms.To gain mechanistic insights, we quantified EAB performance on grafted replicates of ash genotypes varying in ADB resistance and characterized ash phloem chemistry with targeted and untargeted metabolomics.Emerald ash borer performed better on ADB‐susceptible than on ADB‐resistant genotypes. Moreover, changes in EAB performance aligned with differences in phloem chemical profiles between ADB‐susceptible and ADB‐resistant genotypes.We show that intraspecific variation in phloem chemistry in European ash can confer increased cross‐resistance to invasive antagonists from different taxonomic kingdoms. Our study suggests that promotion of ADB‐resistant ash genotypes may simultaneously help to control the ADB disease and reduce EAB‐caused ash losses, which may be critical for the long‐term stability of this keystone tree species. See also the Commentary on this article by Johnson & Whitehill, 240: 912–914. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We examined the health of mature blue ash, Fraxinus quadrangulata, in two forests in southwestern Ohio in relation to that of mature white ash, F. americana, and examined the potential importance of oviposition preferences and larval resistance in the persistence of blue ash.Both blue ash and white ash were largely unaffected by emerald ash borer in 2012. By 2018, nearly 90% of the blue ash trees observed in these forests had full or nearly full canopies, as opposed to less than 20% of the white ash encountered in our studies. In 2021, blue ash maintained a similar degree of canopy health as in 2018, but no standing live mature white ashes remained.Bark removals revealed no current or past larval feeding attempts in blue ash in 2018 or 2021, except for one attacked and killed tree in 2018. All white ash trees examined were attacked. In a laboratory bioassay with cut stems, emerald ash borer larvae fed less and grew significantly more slowly on blue ash than on white ash.Both reduced larval performance and reduced adult oviposition likely contribute to the persistence of blue ash in forests devastated by emerald ash borer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ash trees are an important component of both forests and the countryside. Emerging new diseases like ash dieback poses new challenges to Fraxinus spp., which not only have to adapt to global warming but also defend themselves against new threats from pathogenic fungi and insect pests. A new species of fungus, Hymenoscyphus fraxineus, has arrived in Europe from Asia and has severely damaged shoots which alters the structure of ash tree crowns. While some older trees have survived, younger trees are dying en masse, so the only hope is that the surviving trees will produce a younger generation that may be more resistant to the new diseases. The fine roots of ash trees are also attacked by pathogenic oomycetes, and others by Armillaria spp. The current stressed condition of ash trees in Europe is exacerbated by a new threat from insects. Agrillus planipennis, emerald ash borer, migrating from the east (from near Moscow airport) towards the borders of the European Union, killing thousands of ash trees on its way. This raises the question of future prospects for ash cultivation in Europe. This article takes a closer look at the information described in the literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

IntroductionThis study aims to achieve early and reliable monitoring of wood-boring pests, which are often highly concealed, have long lag times, and cause significant damage to forests. Specifically, the research focuses on the larval feeding vibration signal of the emerald ash borer as a representative pest. Given the crucial importance of such pest monitoring for the protection of forestry resources, developing a method that can accurately identify and interpret their vibration signals is paramount.MethodsWe introduce MelSPPNET, a self-explaining model designed to extract prototypes from input vibration signals and obtain the most representative audio segments as the basis for model recognition. The study collected feeding vibration signals of emerald ash borer larvae using detectors, along with typical outdoor noises. The design of MelSPPNET considers both model accuracy and interpretability.ResultsExperimental results demonstrate that MelSPPNET compares favorably in accuracy with its similar non-interpretable counterparts, while providing interpretability that these networks lack. To evaluate the interpretability of the case-based self-explaining model, we designed an interpretability evaluation metric and proved that MelSPPNET exhibits good interpretability. This provides accurate and reliable technical support for the identification of emerald ash borer larvae.DiscussionWhile the work in this study is limited to one pest type, future experiments will focus on the applicability of this network in identifying other vibration signals. With further research and optimization, MelSPPNET has the potential to provide broader and deeper pest monitoring solutions for forestry resource protection. Additionally, this study demonstrates the potential of self-explaining models in the field of signal processing, offering new ideas and methods for addressing similar problems.

This article discusses the challenges posed by non-native forest insects and the importance of risk mapping approaches to address this threat. It highlights the impacts of invasive forest insects on forest health, ecosystem services, and the economy. The article emphasizes the importance of pest risk models and maps in assessing the risk posed by invasive pests and guiding management and surveillance strategies. It also presents various modeling methods and tools that have been developed to predict the phenology, climate suitability, and spread of invasive insects. The article concludes by emphasizing the need for engagement with end users and improving outreach and training to ensure the broader uptake of pest forecasting tools and map products. The given text consists of a list of references and citations related to the topic of invasive forest insects and their impact on ecosystems. The references cover various aspects of the issue, including the ecological and economic impacts of invasive insects, the role of climate change in facilitating their spread, and the development of decision support systems for risk assessment and management. The text emphasizes the need for surveillance and early detection of high-consequence pests and pathogens to prevent their establishment and spread. It also highlights the importance of accurate species distribution modeling and phenology forecasting in managing invasive forest pests. [Extracted from the article]

Abstract Invasive forest pests can affect the composition and physical structure of forest canopies that may facilitate invasion by non‐native plants. However, it remains unclear whether this process is generalizable across invasive plant species at broad spatial scales, and how other landscape characteristics may simultaneously facilitate non‐native plant invasion. Here, we assembled a dataset of over 3000 repeatedly measured forest plots and quantified the impact of emerald ash borer (EAB, Agrilus planipennis) residence time, land cover, and forest structure on the accumulation and coverage of invasive plants. We show plots in counties with longer EAB residences tended to accumulate more invasive plants than plots with shorter EAB residences. On average, nearly half of the plots with ash (Fraxinus spp.) in counties with EAB accumulated an additional 0.48 invasive plant species over the 5‐ to 6‐year resample interval compared to plots with ash in counties without EAB at the time of sampling. Increases in invasive species coverage were also evident in counties with EAB—although residence time did not have a strong effect, while forest gap fraction and vertical complexity were each negatively associated with increased coverage. This work has implications for understanding how invasive forest pests can facilitate the spread of non‐native plants.

European ash, Fraxinus excelsior is facing the double threat of ongoing devastation by the invasive fungal pathogen, Hymenoscyphus fraxineus and the imminent arrival of the non-native emerald ash borer (EAB), Agrilus planipennis. The spread of EAB which is currently moving westwards from European Russia and Ukraine into central Europe, poses an additional substantial threat to European ash, F. excelsior. While the molecular basis for resistance or variation in resistance among European ash genotypes is heavily investigated, comparatively little is known about the molecular ash traits involved in resistance against EAB. In this study we have gathered transcriptomic data from EAB inoculated genotypes of F. excelsior that have previously shown different levels of susceptibility to EAB. Resultant datasets show differential gene expression in susceptible and resistant genotypes in response to EAB infestation. This data will provide important information on the molecular basis of resistance to the EAB and allow the development of management plans to combat a pending threat of a culturally and ecologically important European tree species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Spathius galinae is a larval parasitoid native to the Russian Far East that was approved for release in the United States in 2015 for biological control of the emerald ash borer (EAB), Agrilus planipennis , an invasive beetle from Asia responsible for widespread mortality of ash trees (Fraxinus spp.) in North America. From 2015 to 2017, 1,340–1,445 females of S. galinae along with males were released into each release plot, paired with a nonrelease control plot (1–12.5 km apart), at 6 postinvasion forested sites containing abundant pole-sized ash trees in Michigan. By 2018, S. galinae had spread to all but one control plot. Based on the first year that S. galinae was found in trees in each control plot and the distances of those trees to the parasitoid release point within each site, we estimated that S. galinae spread at 3.7 (±1.9) km per year after its initial releases in 2015. The proportion of sampled trees with S. galinae broods, brood densities within sampled trees, and parasitism of EAB larvae increased sharply in both control and release plots after the last field releases in 2017, with the highest parasitism rates (42.8–60.3%) in 2020. Life table analysis showed that S. galinae alone reduced EAB's net population growth rate by 35–55% across sites from 2018 to 2020. These results demonstrate that S. galinae has established an increasing population in Michigan and now plays a significant role in reducing EAB populations in the area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Trunk borers are among the most destructive forest pests. The larvae of some species living and feeding in the trunk, relying solely on the tree's appearance to judge infestation is challenging. Currently, one of the most effective methods to detect the larvae of some trunk-boring beetles is by analyzing the vibration signals generated by the larvae while they feed inside the tree trunk. However, this method faces a problem: the field environment is filled with various noises that get collected alongside the vibration signals, thus affecting the accuracy of pest detection. To address this issue, vibration signal enhancement is necessary. Moreover, deploying sophisticated technology in the wild is restricted due to limited hardware resources. In this study, a lightweight vibration signal enhancement was developed using EAB (Emerald Ash Borer) and SCM (Small Carpenter Moth) as insect example. Our model combines CRN (Convolutional Recurrent Network) and Transformer. We use a multi-head mechanism instead of RNN (Recurrent Neural Network) for intra-block processing and retain inter-block RNN. Furthermore, we utilize a dynamic pruning algorithm based on sparsity to further compress the model. As a result, our model achieves excellent enhancement with just 0.34M parameters. We significantly improve the accuracy rate by utilizing the vibration signals enhanced by our model for pest detection. Our results demonstrate that our method achieves superior enhancement performance using fewer computing and storage resources, facilitating more effective use of vibration signals for pest detection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Moderate severity disturbances, those that do not result in stand replacement, play an essential role in ecosystem dynamics. Despite the prevalence of moderate severity disturbances and the significant impacts they impose on forest functioning, little is known about their effects on forest canopy structure and how these effects differ over time across a range of disturbance severities and disturbance types.Using longitudinal data from the National Ecological Observatory Network project, we assessed the effects of three moderate severity press disturbances (beech bark disease, hemlock woolly adelgid and emerald ash borer, which are characterized by continuous disturbance and sustained mortality) and three moderate severity pulse disturbances (spring cankerworm moth, spongy moth and ground fire, which are associated with discrete and relatively short mortalities) on temperate forest canopy structure in eastern US. We studied (1) how light detection and ranging (LiDAR)‐derived metrics of canopy structure change in response to disturbance and (2) whether initial canopy complexity offsets impact of disturbances on canopy structure over time. We used a mixed‐effects modelling framework which included a non‐linear term for time to represent changes in canopy structure caused by disturbance, and interactions between time and both disturbance intensity and initial canopy complexity.We discovered that high intensity of both press and pulse disturbances inhibited canopy height growth while low intensity pulse disturbances facilitated it. In addition, high intensity pulse disturbances facilitated increases in the complexity of the canopy over time. Concerning the impact of initial canopy complexity, we found that the initial canopy complexity of disturbed plots altered the effects of moderate disturbances, indicating potential resilience effects.Synthesis. This study used repeated measurements of LiDAR data to examine the effects of moderate disturbances on various dimensions of forest canopy structure, including height, openness, density and complexity. Our study indicates that both press and pulse disturbances can inhibit canopy height growth over time. However, while the impact of press disturbances on other dimensions of canopy structure could not be clearly detected, likely because of compensatory growth, the impact of pulse disturbances over time was more readily apparent using multi‐temporal LiDAR data. Furthermore, our findings suggest that canopy complexity might help to mitigate the impact of moderate disturbances on canopy structures over time. Overall, our research highlights the usefulness of multi‐temporal LiDAR data for assessing the structural changes in forest canopies caused by moderate severity disturbances. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Black ash (Fraxinus nigra), the most highly preferred and vulnerable host of the invasive emerald ash borer (EAB; Agrilus planipennis) in North America, is of cultural and spiritual importance to many Tribal Nations in the US and First Nations in Canada. To date, EAB has invaded nearly 60% of the native range of black ash, with annual spread averaging approximately 50 km per year. On the basis of the predicted expansion of EAB distribution, we estimate that more than 75% of black ash basal area will be lost across 87% of the species' North American range by 2035. Census data indicate that 98% of Indigenous people currently residing within the geographic range of black ash in the US will be within the area experiencing more than 75% basal area loss by 2035, suggesting broad and multidimensional impacts of EAB invasion for those who value black ash as a cultural keystone species. Collaborative efforts among scientists, resource managers, and Indigenous experts are needed to mitigate EAB impacts and preserve or protect black ash resources, given the species' vulnerability to EAB and its associated cultural and ecological value. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The introduced emerald ash borer (EAB) represents the costliest invasive forest insect in US history, causing significant mortality of ash species across much of eastern North America as well as in Colorado and Oregon. Few surviving overstory ash trees exist in areas first invaded by EAB, such as the Lake States region; however, forests with healthy, mature ash remain in recently invaded regions, such as the northeastern United States. Given the importance of ash to cultural lifeways of Indigenous peoples and the ecology and economies of working forest lands, there is growing interest in applying protection measures to maintain ash in forested settings. We further develop our call for species preservation by presenting Indigenous and Western science case studies of ongoing efforts to mitigate the impacts of EAB, illustrating specific applications of these strategies for meeting different preservation goals in lowland and northern hardwood forests in northeastern North America. Study Implications: The introduced emerald ash borer (EAB) threatens to functionally eliminate ash species from large portions of the United States. Although the impacts of EAB are now widespread in many areas, portions of the United States, such as the Northeast, still contain forests with healthy, mature ash. This presents a unique opportunity to apply the integrated pest management strategies and knowledge gained from other invaded regions to preserve the cultural and ecological values provided by ash in the forest. Multistakeholder partnerships built around preserving the cultural and ecological values of ash have provided a powerful approach for sustaining ash into the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

RNA interference (RNAi) is a cellular mechanism triggered by double-stranded RNA (dsRNA), in which gene expression is reduced in a sequence-specific manner, allowing development of pest-specific control strategies. Effective delivery of the dsRNA is a hurdle, particularly in systems with endophagous insects such as the emerald ash borer (EAB) Agrilus planipennis, an invasive phloem-feeding beetle that develops beneath the bark of ash trees, Fraxinus spp., causing rapid tree death. We evaluated uptake and bioactivity of dsRNA in green ash (F. pennsylvanica) growing in a greenhouse to investigate the feasibility of delivery through the host plant. To assess dsRNA persistence and distribution, seedlings were exposed to EAB-specific dsRNA using foliar spray and sectioned into different tissue types at selected time-points; RT-PCR and Sanger sequencing were used to detect the exogenous dsRNA. We found dsRNA persistence in plant tissues 21 days after treatment. To evaluate bioactivity, neonate EAB were exposed to treated seedlings and assessed for gene expression and feeding behavior. Results demonstrate gene silencing and a 24% (p = 0.03) reduction in cambial consumption. Our findings provide proof-of-concept for delivery of RNAi to the target insect through the host plant, suggesting the feasibility of RNAi functioning as a sustainable approach for tree protection against EAB. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Exclusivity evaluation on specimens: 100% Primer specificity was evaluated using the LAMP test and PCR against non-target I A. anxius i , I A. bilineatus i , I A. sulcicollis i , I A. subcinctus i , I D. ponderosae i , and I D. rufipennis i (adults). The only species which are similarly large are: I Agrilus ater i , I A. biguttatus i , I A. guerini i , I A. mendax i , I A. sinuatus i , I A. subauratus i , I A. suvorovi i and I A. viridis i . Among the species which may attack I Fraxinus i trees, I A. convexicollis i , I A. graminis i , I A. cyanescens i , and I A. roscidus i are much smaller than I A. planipennis i and have a different abdominal segment shape (Volkovitsh et al., [30]). Five other species may also occur in I Fraxinus i spp.: I A. convexicollis i , I A. beauprei i , I A. graminis i , I A. cyanescens i , and I A. roscidus i (Jendek & Poláková, [18]). [Extracted from the article]

The emerald ash borer (EAB), Agrilus planipennis Fairmaire (Coleoptera: Buprestidae), is an invasive woodboring pest of ash trees (Fraxinus sp.) in North America. Among the Asiatic parasitoids being released for the management of EAB in North America, Oobius agrili Zhang and Huang (Hymenoptera: Encyrtidae) is the only EAB egg parasitoid. To date, more than 2.5 million O. agrili have been released in North America; however, few studies have examined its success as a biological control agent of EAB. We conducted studies to assess O. agrili establishment, persistence, spread, and EAB egg parasitism rates in Michigan at the earliest release sites (2007–2010), as well as at more recent release sites (2015–2016) in 3 Northeastern United States (Connecticut, Massachusetts, New York). In both regions, we documented successful O. agrili establishment at all but one release site. In Michigan, O. agrili has persisted at release sites for over a decade and spread to all control sites located 0.6–3.8 km from release sites. Overall, EAB egg parasitism ranged from 1.5% to 51.2% (mean of 21.4%) during 2016–2020 in Michigan and from 2.6% to 29.2% (mean of 16.1%) during 2018–2020 in the Northeastern states. Future research efforts should focus on factors affecting the spatiotemporal variation in EAB egg parasitism rates by O. agrili, as well as its potential range in North America. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Forest stands infested by emerald ash borer (EAB), Agrilus planipennis Fairmaire, experience extensive mortality of mature ash trees. Post-invasion woodlands commonly have a small contingent of mature lingering ash, an orphaned cohort of seedlings/saplings, and low EAB densities. To protect regenerating ash against rebounding EAB populations, a suite of biocontrol agents are being reared and released. USDA APHIS guidelines currently recommend the release of parasitoids into forests prior to overstory ash mortality at sites containing a variety of ash size classes and low to moderate but building EAB densities. To understand if biocontrol establishment and control of EAB is feasible in post-invasion sites, we assessed the establishment of parasitoids in 6 post-invasion forest stands in 2 regions of NY and compared EAB mortality in these stands to 2 regions where releases were conducted during the early-invasion phase. Results of parasitoid trapping indicates Tetrastichus planipennisi Yang established under both release strategies. Spathius galinae Belokobylskij & Strazanac was only released in post-invasion stands, where it was established successfully. Artificial EAB cohorts were established and life tables were constructed at 3 sites per region. EAB mortality due to T. planipennisi parasitism was similar under both release strategies 2 yr after release in post-invasion stands versus 8 yr after release in early-invasion stands. Combined mortality from T. planipennisi and woodpecker predation resulted in consistently low EAB reproductive rates. Future biocontrol releases could target forests identified as economically or ecologically important, regardless of whether EAB populations are increasing or have collapsed following initial invasion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Background Emerald ash borer (Agrilus planipennis; EAB) is an Asian insect species that has been invasive to North America for 20 years. During this time, the emerald ash borer has killed tens of millions of American ash (Fraxinus spp) trees. Understanding the inherent defenses of susceptible American ash trees will provide information to breed new resistant varieties of ash trees. Results We have performed RNA-seq on naturally infested green ash (F. pennsylvanica) trees at low, medium and high levels of increasing EAB infestation and proteomics on low and high levels of EAB infestation. Most significant transcript changes we detected occurred between the comparison of medium and high levels of EAB infestation, indicating that the tree is not responding to EAB until it is highly infested. Our integrative analysis of the RNA-Seq and proteomics data identified 14 proteins and 4 transcripts that contribute most to the difference between highly infested and low infested trees. Conclusions The putative functions of these transcripts and proteins suggests roles of phenylpropanoid biosynthesis and oxidation, chitinase activity, pectinesterase activity, strigolactone signaling, and protein turnover.

Wood borers, such as the emerald ash borer and holcocerus insularis staudinger, pose a significant threat to forest ecosystems, causing damage to trees and impacting biodiversity. This paper proposes a neural network for detecting and classifying wood borers based on their feeding vibration signals. We utilize piezoelectric ceramic sensors to collect drilling vibration signals and introduce a novel convolutional neural network (CNN) architecture named Residual Mixed Domain Attention Module Network (RMAMNet).The RMAMNet employs both channel-domain attention and time-domain attention mechanisms to enhance the network’s capability to learn meaningful features. The proposed system outperforms established networks, such as ResNet and VGG, achieving a recognition accuracy of 95.34% and an F1 score of 0.95. Our findings demonstrate that RMAMNet significantly improves the accuracy of wood borer classification, indicating its potential for effective pest monitoring and classification tasks. This study provides a new perspective and technical support for the automatic detection, classification, and early warning of wood-boring pests in forestry.

This article is a Commentary on Gossner et al. (2023), 240: 1219–1232. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Biosurveillance monitors the prey of the solitary buprestid-hunting wasp, Cerceris fumipennis (Hymenoptera: Crabronidae), for the presence for emerald ash borer (Agrilus planipennis , Fairmaire: Coleoptera: Buprestidae). Still unresolved is the foraging range, and thus the surveillance range, of C. fumipennis. Foraging occurs in forest canopies and wasps are difficult to track. We assumed that the proportion of conifer-feeding beetles collected at a colony would be related to the proportion of conifers in the surrounding area. If this is the case, the radius of the area around a colony which best correlates the proportion of conifers with the proportion of conifer feeding prey should reflect the foraging range of the colony. In this study, we used 7 yr of foraging data, and the National Land Cover Dataset 2016 map to estimate the foraging range of C. fumipennis. Overall, we found that the highest correlation between prey type collected, and forest type present, was between 1,000 and 1,500 m from the nest sites. We thus conclude that surveillance of a colony of C. fumipennis will yield information about the presence of non-native buprestids within a 1.0–1.5 km radius. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: Trunk-boring insects have emerged as one of the most threatening forest pests globally, causing significant damage to forests. Certain groups of larvae reside within tree trunks without any observable external signs indicating their presence. This poses a significant challenge for pest detection. To tackle this issue, acoustic techniques are frequently utilized, which involve embedding a vibration probe into the tree trunk to capture the vibrations produced by larvae and using a model to distinguish whether the tree is infested. However, this approach requires the acquisition of the purest possible vibrations signal. Thus, to ensure accurate analysis, a noise suppression process is crucial, since the signals collected in real-world environments are often subjected to varying degrees of environmental noise interference. In this study, we employed artificial intelligence techniques to develop a boring vibration enhancement model. The training data utilized in this study comprise boring vibrations captured from trunk sections and typical environmental noise present in the trees' habitat. The experimental results demonstrate that the enhancement method proposed by our model significantly boosts the performance of an established classification model. Overall, this study promotes the development of sustainable and efficient forestry protection approaches by improving the accuracy of pest detection. Recording vibration signals induced by larvae activity in the trunk has proven to be an efficient method for detecting trunk-boring insects. However, the accuracy of the detection is often limited because the signals collected in real-world environments are heavily disrupted by environmental noises. To deal with this problem, we propose a deep-learning-based model that enhances trunk-boring vibration signals, incorporating an attention mechanism to optimize its performance. The training data utilized in this research consist of the boring vibrations of Agrilus planipennis larvae recorded within trunk sections, as well as various environmental noises that are typical of the natural habitats of trees. We mixed them at different signal-to-noise ratios (SNRs) to simulate the realistically collected sounds. The SNR of the enhanced boring vibrations can reach up to 17.84 dB after being enhanced by our model, and this model can restore the details of the vibration signals remarkably. Consequently, our model's enhancement procedure led to a significant increase in accuracy for VGG16, a commonly used classification model. All results demonstrate the effectiveness of our approach for enhancing the detection of larvae using boring vibration signals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Forester and logger responses to the invasive emerald ash borer (EAB) could substantially affect regions across the United States. We analyzed forester and logger responses to EAB in Massachusetts and Vermont, exploring characteristics associated with purposeful targeting of substantial ash properties; managing forests differently because of EAB; and regeneration goals. One-third of respondents increased timber sales on ash properties, motivated by ecological, not economic, impacts of EAB. Nearly 60% said EAB changed their management activity in stands with ash; changes influenced by the ecological impact of EAB and not economic factors. Those influenced by EAB's ecological impact to choose properties with substantial ash were more likely to have increased harvest area size, sawtimber removal, and harvest intensity. Loggers were more likely than foresters to remove small-diameter ash and low-grade trees. Both rated regenerating economically valuable species well adapted to the site as their highest essential priority. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Emerald ash borer (Agrilus planipennis; EAB) has devastated populations of ash (Fraxinus spp.) trees in dozens of U.S. states and Canada over the past few decades. The continued survival of scattered ash trees known as "lingering ash" in heavily infested natural stands, however, offers evidence of genetic resistance or tolerance to EAB. These surviving or "lingering" ash individuals may form the basis for reforestation programs in EAB-impacted areas, and clonal mass-propagation of these genotypes can help accelerate these efforts. Between 2013 and 2018, we initiated embryogenic cultures by culturing immature zygotic embryos from open-pollinated (OP) seeds collected from several surviving white ash and green ash trees in Michigan and Pennsylvania. In addition, in 2018, we initiated cultures from crosses made between lingering green ash parents from the USDA Forest Service ash breeding program in Ohio. Somatic embryos were produced by growing cultures in liquid suspension, followed by fractionation and plating on semisolid medium to produce developmentally synchronous populations of somatic embryos. Somatic embryo germination and conversion were enhanced by a combination of pre-germination cold treatment and inclusion of activated charcoal and gibberellic acid in the germination medium. Ash somatic seedlings derived from OP explants grew rapidly following transfer to potting mix and somatic seedlings representing nine ash clones were acclimatized, grown in the greenhouse and planted in a preliminary field test, along with EAB-resistant Manchurian ash (F. mandshurica) and EAB-susceptible control seedlings. Somatic seedlings have now been produced from cultures that originated from seeds derived from the progeny of lingering green ash parents and an ex vitro germination protocol has shown some promise for accelerating early somatic seedling growth. Results of this research could provide the basis for scaled-up production of EAB-resistant ash varieties for seed orchard production for forest restoration and cultivar development for urban tree restoration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]