WWETAC Projects
Project Title: Pathways and risk assessment of emerald ash borer movement into and within the Western United States
Status: Completed
Principal Investigator: William R. Jacobi
E-mail Contact: William.Jacobi[at]ColoState.EDU
Summary: The emerald ash borer (Agrilus planipennis) is an exotic wood boring insect that is native to China, Korea, Japan, Mongolia, and the far east of Russia. The insect was introduced most likely on wood packing material to the Detroit, Michigan area in the early 1990s. The insect had been killing trees in the Detroit area by 1992 but were not noticed until 2002. The insect has since spread by nursery stock, logs, firewood and naturally to Indiana, Ohio, Illinois, and Ontario Canada, and has been found surviving in ½-inch diameter stem/branch wood (Federal Register 2007). The overarching goal is to determine if minimally processed wood products including firewood are a credible risk for moving exotic tree insects and diseases.
Study Objectives:
- Determine the pathways that have the most risk of vectoring emerald ash borer into or within the Western United States (Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah, Wyoming, California, Oregon, Washington).
- Determine the relative risk of each pathway and pest type combination.
- Determine how pathways could be modified to reduce current and future exotic pest movement.
- Determine impact metrics that can be used for comparing risks.
Project ID: FY07TS17
