Rate Of Spread Of Emerald Ash Borer 40 Times Faster Than Expected

[hatrack]

The spread of the emerald ash borer, responsible for the death of millions of ash trees in the Midwest, is moving about 40 times faster than it was several years ago, local experts said.

Joe Boggs hasn't seen the view of Greater Cincinnati from an airplane, but he's sure there'd be a noticeable trail of destruction. "You drive up and down Interstate 75 and people can see dead trees to the east and west," said Boggs, assistant professor with Ohio State University Extension and the OSU Department of Entomology based in Hamilton County. "Our infestations are moving pretty fast."

Since the first beetles were found locally in Warren County in 2006, they have now infiltrated all seven local counties in Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky: Butler, Clermont, Hamilton and Warren in Ohio, and Boone, Campbell and Kenton in Kentucky.

Five years ago, the spread of the ash borers moved about a quarter- to a half-mile a year, Boggs said. Today, he estimates they are moving about 20 miles per year.

EDIT

http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20110619/NEWS01/106200318

[XemaSab]

1. .

[GliderGuider]

2. Jesus make it stop.

But it won't, will it?

[Demeter]

3. It passed through Ann Arbor in a couple of years

Dead trees are starting to fall down, where they weren't taken down.

[postulater]

4. I have started burr oak, elm, basswood, poplar, and white pine in my yard

to make up for when the ashes die.

Things happen in cycles. Much of the ash wood is re-growth where the old forest was cut. Other trees will take over.