Many US cities will lose nearly all ash trees by 2060

摘要

AN INVASIVE beetle called the emerald ash borer will wipe out almost all ash trees on the streets of many US cities by 2060, modelling reveals. Invasive pests and diseases, such as the fungus-caused Dutch elm disease, have had a devastating impact on certain types of tree in many places around the world. Emma Hudgins at McGill University in Canada has previously found that despite the different nature of all these pests, it is relatively simple to model their spread because they are being transported by human actions, for instance, in firewood. Hudgins and her colleagues have now applied this finding to model how the spread of insect pests that are already present in the US will affect trees in cities. The researchers discovered that the emerald ash borer (Agrilus planipennis) is set to have the biggest impact.