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10-Minute Presentation

Plant-Insect Ecosystems

10-min: P-IE, Invasive Species

Ash survival and growth in response to emerald ash borer invasion in Massachusetts riparian forests: Impacts of biological control

Sunday, November 9, 2025
1:54 PM - 2:06 PM Pacific
Location: Oregon Convention Center, E141-142, OCC
Oral Presentation
The emerald ash borer (Agrilus planipennis, EAB) is an invasive buprestid that currently threatens North America’s native ash (Fraxinus spp.) resource, particularly green ash (F. pennsylvanica), a species that is common in riparian ecosystems and floodplain forests. Loss of these species has widespread implications for the ecosystem services these habitats provide. Biological control, through the introduction of hymenopteran parasitoids from EAB’s native range in East Asia, is a potential long-term management solution; however, it is unknown if the program can protect mature ash trees that often succumb to the initial wave of EAB invasion. We here assess the ash growth and mortality responses to EAB invasion at six floodplain forests in Massachusetts and the impacts of early releases of biological control agents. We released the parasitoids Oobius agrili, Spathius galinae, and Tetrastichus planipennisi at three of the sites from 2017 to 2022. From 2018 to 2024, we measured the diameter at breast height and assessed the canopy condition of approximately 100 tagged ash trees at each site. We found significant effects of site and initial crown dieback on ash tree growth. We also found that the ash mortality rate was negatively correlated to the level of parasitism of EAB larvae in sentinel ash bolts deployed across the six study sites in 2024. This is the first finding of a relationship between EAB larval parasitism and ash health outcomes in the literature. Future work could examine if these results extend to different habitats and environments.