New York’s woodlands are constantly evolving, both in response to human activity and to broader, longer-term patterns of ecological change. A major upshot of this evolution is that tree species rise and fall in abundance, sometimes quite dramaticallyand abruptly, such as when eastern hemlock (most likely due to insect predation) nearly disappeared from the fossil pollen record between 4-5,000 years ago, before rebounding to its current ubiquity across our landscape, only to begin to decline once again in recent years after falling prey to the hemlock wooly adelgid (HWA). The decimation of elm and chestnut populations are two of the most severe examples from the 20th century, and of course ash is the latest victim of non-native insect infestation,leaving us to watch helplessly as the emerald ash borer (EAB) onslaught moves all too quickly through our woodlots.
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