Experts are worried about an impending environmental catastrophe of unimaginable scale: Over the following 3 decades, aggressive pests are expected to decimate as many as 1.4 million trees throughout the US.
The emerald ash borer (also known as Agrilus planipennis), which is anticipated to be guilty of 90% of those 1.4 million fallen plants, is the biggest culprit. Researchers say that the bug might decimate more than 6,100 metropolitan areas.
On average, the expense of restoring the plants and the havoc they cause might account for up to $30 million every year. Those costs might soar into the billions by the year 2050 if additional pests are allowed to establish in the US.
These gloomy projections were based on data gathered from over 30,000 US cities. Invasive species projections were then included in tree population models.
As seen by the high density of ash trees, metropolitan areas suffer from a lack of tree type diversity. The emerald ash borer bug, for example, is less of a concern when there are more species to defend against.
Because many metropolitan areas are overtaken by a particular species or genus of trees, an organism that is attracted to those trees has an easier time spreading over the region.
Insect species which have yet to appear in the United States, such as the citrus long-horned beetle, were also taken into account by the scientists.
Researchers are optimistic that their findings will assist urban tree administrators to think accordingly and avoid the same expensive harm from occurring in other nations, despite their severe warnings.
If the Emerald Ash Borer continues to spread throughout Europe, it will have an impact on ash dieback in many nations.
The findings were published in the Journal of Applied Ecology.
