Background Information and Impacts of Emerald Ash Borer

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        The food chain is a balance and order of species and animals that get energy from each other. When animals go extinct it causes a domino effect of extinct animals. This happens because all animals rely on each other to survive. There are three different types of eaters’ specialist, generalist, and specialist individuals. The species of animals that are known as specialist can only eat a certain type of food. This is a disadvantage because if that species died out it would cause the animals that feed off of it to go extinct because it relied on that source of energy to survive. Generalist eaters can survive in multiple environment, this means it can adapt to different environments and eat other multiple species. Specialist individuals have a larger food supply because they eat many different types of animals. This will be helpful for generalist eaters in the future because if one of their food sources died they would still have a backup food source.

Invasive species

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        An invasive species is a species of animal that is non- native. Invasive species are only invasive when they from one environment to another. Some non-native species are dangerous and some are helpful, for example Mullen, this plant was helpful because it helped vegetation grow and new plant sprout.an invasive species may not seem like a big harm in the beginning, but over time it expands and spreads taking over other species homes and killing food supply. They also can cause animals to go extinct. One example of an invasive species is EAB the Emerald Ash Borer. This species of animal eats the phloem and cambium of the ash trees but the beetle itself isn’t dangerous, it is the beetle’s larvae. EAB burros into the tree and lays its eggs, when the eggs hatch the larvae burros throughout the tree causing death. Emerald Ash Borer adults live 3-6 weeks, but during that time they can lay many eggs. They can be a threat to other species that need ash trees to survive. Non-native species can be transferred to new places from things like vehicles or shipping crates. We could take a step to decrease the accidentally import of invasive species by not transporting firewood.

 

        The food chain is a series of a number of plants, fungus, animals. These organisms rely on each other to survive. For example, primary producers get energy from decomposers also known as soil. Primary consumers known as herbivores feed of the primary producers. Secondary consumers are also omnivores, and survive of the primary consumers and producers. Finally, tertiary consumers [top carnivores] rely on secondary consumers. This is the order of the food chain. One challenge of the food chain is if one of the species of animals die off it might cause a ripple effect. This will cause animals too go extinct because their food source has died off. An example of a food chain is:    grass which is a producer feed off energy form the sun, grass hopper a primary consumer eats of the grass, then the bird which is a secondary consumer eats the grass hopper, after that a snake a tertiary consumer eats the bird, then finally an owl which is an apex predator feeds of the snake. Energy falls from the bottom of the food chain to the top.

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        An ecosystem is a system or a group of interconnected elements, formed by the interaction of community of organisms with their environment. In Colorado, Springs we have six ecosystems. The main ecosystem we live in are forest and mountain ecosystem, rather than an aquatic ecosystem. The type of ecosystems we have are Dinyo-Juniper woodlands, mountain conifer forest, alpine tundra, and shrubland. One example you might recognize is Black forest. The types of plants you would see are pine trees, conifer trees. For animals there would be a lot of birds, deer and bugs. With all the vegetation there are going to be more primary consumers like bugs and birds.

  

        The Emerald Ash Borer is a type of invasive species. It is ½ inch long and has a shape of a leaf. It is known for its interesting green color. The EAB originated in China. Its scientific name is Agrilus Planipennis. The EAB’s place in the food chain is primary consumer. The Emerald Ash Borer eats ash trees. The species know to eat the EAB are the woodpeckers and wasps. So, when the female Emerald Ash Borer lays their eggs on the bark of the Ash trees, the larva eats their way into the cambium & phloem of the ash tree. So, it’s not adults killing the ash trees it’s the larva. Then they grow up to reproduce and it’s the circle of life.

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Action plan

        Do you want to save our ash trees? Well you should. First, you need to determine if the ash tree is worth saving. Are they healthy with a few signs of the EAB? If so measure how big your tree is at DBH also known as Diameter Breast Hight. Measure around the trunk and divide that by three. If the diameter is greater than 15 inches then call a licensed professional. If it is not worth saving it may need to be cut down. Save money, have unwanted ash trees removed before they die.

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        The EAB might be able to adapt to eat other trees after step five or they could move to a different location. The trees could develop a natural toxin to get rid of the bug that is killing the tree.