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Turning Dead and Dying Ash into Conservation

The emerald ash borer is an insect less than an inch long, but is doing a lot of Emerald ash borer insectdamage in PA’s woods. The insect is originally from northeast Asia and was first found in Michigan in 2002. Since then it has spread into many states, including Pa, and has killed an estimated 50 million ash trees.

When the emerald ash borer attacks a tree the tree usually dies in about three years. From the time the emerald ash borer moves into a patch of woods it can take less than ten years for all the ash trees to die.

Landowners are salvaging their ash trees as they die or even before. Dead ash trees deteriorate very quickly. Once the trees die, they are especially dangerous to cut or to leave near heavily used areas. The tops break out easily as well which is another possible problem. Another concern is since the trees deteriorate so rapidly, the trees quickly become a threat as branches and large limbs break off and fall.

The Bureau of Forestry has been proactive in removing ash trees along the Pine Creek Trail to help alleviate this threat.

NPC Board member Roy Siefert took advantage of January’s cold temperatures to harvest his ash trees. Roy’s property has some wet areas and the cold weather freezes things, making tree removal easier and not impacting the ground surface as much.

Because of site conditions Roy and the forester he was working with used mules and Belgium horses for the operation.

Mountain Home magazine visited during the harvest and carried a story in their March issue of the magazine. Roy donated the proceeds from the sale to a fund helping the sons of a logger killed while working several years ago, the Pennsylvania Forestry Association, and the Northcentral Pennsylvania Conservancy. Roy explained, “I own my woods for privacy and the wildlife, not to make money. This sale gave me an opportunity to support Andy’s boys and a couple of organizations that share my philosophy on conservation and stewardship.”

Singer, songwriter, and folklorist Van Wagner wrote a song “Ash to Ash” about his experience with the ash trees on his property dying. You can watch a video and hear the song performed by following this link Van’s YouTube video.

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Spotted Lanternfly

Tom Baker, is a distinguished professor of entomology and chemical ecology at Penn State University. He has 40 years of experience in entomology research. He describes the spotted lanternfly (Lycorma delicatula (WHITE)) as, “… the weirdest, most pernicious insect I’ve ever seen.”

That sounds pretty serious. Officials at the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture, Bureau of Forestry, and Penn State Extension are worried about how spotted lanternfly will impact Pennsylvania’s agriculture, tree-fruit, hardwood and nursery industries. Researchers are trying to understand if plants can recover from infestations or if the damage to trees and vines is permanent.

The spotted lanternfly is native to China, India, Japan and Vietnam. It feeds on the woody parts of plants (tree trunks, vines, tree branches). As it feeds it creates wounds on the tree or vine that allow sap to escape and the spotted lantern fly excretes a substance known as honeydew as it feeds. The honeydew and sap attract other insects and also allow for fungi to take hold and grow. Some of the most common fungi will cover leaf surfaces and stunt growth. Plants with heavy infestations generally don’t survive.

Pennsylvania has the unfortunate distinction of being the first place in the United States where the spotted lanternfly was found. The PA Department of Ag. and Pennsylvania Game Commission confirmed the insect in Berks County in 2014.

The Department of Agriculture set up a quarantine area at that time and has expanded the area each year since. One way to stop the spread of the insect and possibly be more successful with controlling it is to keep it in a smaller geographic area.

People are asked to not move or remove the following items from the quarantine area:

  • Firewood of any species
  • Any living stage of the Spotted Lanternfly – including egg masses, nymphs, and adults
  • Brush, debris, bark, or yard waste
  • Landscaping, remodeling or construction waste
  • Logs, stumps, or any tree parts
  • Grapevines for decorative purposes or as nursery stock
  • Nursery stock of any type
  • Crated materials
  • Outdoor household articles including recreational vehicles, lawn tractors and mowers, mower decks, grills, grill and furniture covers, tarps, mobile homes, tile, stone, deck boards, mobile fire pits, any associated equipment and trucks or vehicles not stored indoors

So, before you decide that the tree you helped your parents or kids cut down in their yard in Litiz would be great for campfires at your house or camp in Waterville, think twice.

Before you take your brother’s old grill (because he had to buy the new one with the second side burner) and move it from his house in Reading to your deck in Danville, think twice.

Those simple actions could be moving an insect pest into central Pennsylvania that would have lasting impacts on the regions wineries, farms, and forests.

The spotted lanternfly has several life stages. If you know what it looks like in each of those stages, you can help agricultural scientists who are working to prevent the spread and prevent further damage to Pennsylvania’s forests and farms.

In Pennsylvania, the spotted lanternfly overwinters in egg masses. The masses are laid on smooth, vertical surfaces such as tree bark and stones.

The first stage begins emerging from the egg masses in mid-May. At this point it’s an instar (an immature stage of an insect) nymph. It’s black with white spots and no wings.

As it grows it keeps the white spots and develops red patches.

Nymphs spread from their egg mass site by crawling or jumping. Spotted lanternfly aren’t really very good at flying, but are amazing jumpers. They’ll use any plant they comes across to feed and move.

Adults look very different than the nymphs and start to appear in the middle of July. As an adult they have a black head and grayish wings with black spots when they are at rest, wings tucked in. The tips of the wings are a pattern of black rectangular blocks with grey outlines. When its wings are out the Spotted Lanternfly’s hind wings are red at the base and black at the tip with a white stripe dividing them. The red portion of the wing has black spots. The abdomen is bright to pale yellow with bands of black on the top and bottom surfaces.

If you see spotted lanternfly, report it!  1-866-253-7189; Badbug@pa.gov

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Chiropterophily – Pollination by Bats

Bats are another pollinator. Over 500 plants, including bananas and cocoa (the key ingredient in chocolate), rely on bats for pollination. The scientific term of for bat pollination is “chiropterophily.”

Since bats are nocturnal, they pollinate at night. You’ll find the plants they pollinate have white or light colored nocturnal flowers. Yes, flowers that bloom in the dark. Often, the flowers are bell-shaped and the bats have adapted to reaching into the “bell” to reach the nectar at the bottom.

The photo below is of a lesser long-nosed bat pollinating. The bat’s head is inside the bell shaped flower. You can see the bat’s eye and its ear. Merlin D. Tuttle with Bat Conservation International took this amazing photo.

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Pollination by Bees

We often think of honey bees when we hear the word “pollinator.” That makes sense since there are at least 16,000 different species of bees in the world. The term for pollination by bees is “melittophily.”

About 10 years ago beekeepers experienced a major die-off of honey bees. Labeled Colony Collapse Disorder, there was major concern the agricultural products that rely on honey bees for pollination would be unable to produce sufficient fruit for communities to eat.

Since it was first discovered researchers and scientists have been working to identify the causes and develop treatments to not only stop further Colony Collapse, but also rebuild the honey bee populations lost.

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Pollen for More Plants and Food

Pollination helps the plants and the pollinators. Plants need pollination so they can form seeds and fruit to reproduce. There are estimated to be 300,000 species of flowering plants worldwide that need pollination. Some of these plants are food sources for humans – for example, apples, pears, and oranges. If there aren’t pollinators to move the pollen around, these plants won’t produce seeds or fruit.

Pollinators often use the pollen as a food source or to produce nectar which they use as a food source. Nectar is a carbohydrate and pollen provides proteins, fats, and vitamins. Researchers are looking at how nutritional needs vary across species. They’re also looking at how yearly changes – a wet summer or a dry spring – might change the nutritional value of a plant’s pollen.

The photo above is courtesy of Penn State. These apple blossoms are from Penn State’s fruit research farm in Biglersville, PA.

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Planting for Pollinators

We are already making plans for the spring 2018 planting season. In addition to talking about trees, a lot of landowners wanted to talk about wildflowers for pollinators and wildflower plantings that would support pollinating insects.

As you probably already know, pollination helps plants form seeds and fruit so the plants can reproduce. There are estimated to be 300,000 species of flowering plants worldwide that need pollination.

Pollination can happen abiotically. This would be plants where the wind blows the pollen around (anemophily) or water moves pollen (hydrophily). Pollination can also happen biotically – bees, wasps, butterflies, moths, flies, birds, bats, and beetles moving the pollen from plant to plant.

The actual process of pollination is when pollen is moved from the pistils (male part of flowers) to the staman (the female part of the flower).

The drawing is from the University of Illinois Extension’s website:

https://extension.illinois.edu/gpe/case1/c1facts2d.html

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Take a Walk in Penn’s Woods

Join us at one of over 60 events being held as part of the statewide Walk in Penn’s Woods! You can hike on the Bluebird Trail in WMWA Watershed, check out the “water bugs” the County’s Watershed Specialist and Lycoming College’s Clean Water Institute collect, look for birds with Lycoming Audubon, or check out the new River Simulator (made possible by the First Community Foundation Partnership of Pennsylvania and Loyalsock Creek Watershed Association). Learn about how this protected watershed helps to provide clean and abundant public water to the Greater Williamsport area.

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Lakes: “a hole in the ground that’s full of water”

There are several definitions of a lake. Dr. Milt Ostronfsky is a limnologist (he studies lakes) at Allegheny College in Meadville, PA. In his classes a lake is “a hole in the ground that’s full of water.” Other limnologists only consider a water body a lake if the water doesn’t completely change over, or “flush,” ten times a year or more. Another definition says a lake must be at least 10 acres in surface water size.

There are several definitions of a lake. Dr. Milt Ostronfsky is a limnologist (he studies lakes) at Allegheny College in Meadville, PA. In his classes a lake is “a hole in the ground that’s full of water.” Other limnologists only consider a water body a lake if the water doesn’t completely change over, or “flush,” ten times a year or more. Another definition says a lake must be at least 10 acres in surface water size

The water is lakes is layered. The top layer of water is the warmest in the spring and summer because of the sunlight hitting the surface of the water. In the winter this becomes the coldest layer (this is where you get your lake ice for skating and ice fishing). There’s less sunlight and generally more wind in the winter. The wind cools the top layer of water further and causes the water to turn over, or mix, causing the colder water to be moved toward the top.

The middle layer is the buffer and the area subject to the quickest temperature change. In the winters this is the layer that tends to mix with the top layer.

The bottom layer remains at a fairly constant temperature. This layer will be the coldest in the summer, but doesn’t cool off too much in the winter. While you may have a lake freeze over, you’ll rarely see the bottom layer freeze.

http://www.untamedscience.com/bio…/biomes/lakes-ponds-biome/