Background Information

          A food chain is a group of flora and fauna that have to rely on each other to survive.  have multiple types of food chains, and no food chain is the same as another. At the top of the food chain is the tertiary consumers. It is most likely a predator, and is able to eat most of the animals below it on the food chain. Below the tertiary consumer is the secondary consumers. They are also mostly predators, and they also pray on the animals below them. Below them are the primary consumers. They are herbivores that feed on the plants known as the primary producers. Primary producers act as a food source for the primary consumers. At the bottom of the food chain are the decomposers. They eat all of the dead plants and animals. To summarize, a food chain is a group of flora and fauna that eat the animals that are weaker than them, or serve as food for the animals and plants.

          An invasive species is an organism (plant or animal) that is non-native to an ecosystem. Another trait of an invasive species is they cause harm to the environment. Most of the time,  they are brought by humans who don’t know the danger of what an exotic animal can do to an environment. When a new animal is in an environment the food chain is disrupted. The EAB is an invasive species that that spreads across America, and a python that is decreasing the number of deer in Florida. 

          The Emerald Ash Borer may look pretty, but it’s a danger to our environment. The EAB was introduced to America by wood packing material from Asia on transport ships. It was found in Michigan and was thought to be an exotic, tropical beetle. The EAB is a green, sparkly, grass hopper-like insect with a glossy appearance. Its larvae are cream colored with bell shaped segments that make up their body. They’re the threat to the trees. The EAB lays its eggs in the bark of the ash tree. When the eggs hatch, the larvae feed on the tree. The eat the phloem and the cambium of the tree, which leads to the tree’s death. Once a tree is infected with the larvae, it only takes two years for the tree to die. Since it’s from Asia, it only has one natural predator, the woodpecker. In Asia, it had wasps and other bugs that ate it.       The EAB is a primary consumer, so it only eats plants. The EAB is danger to ash trees everywhere, and we need to do something about it.

          A food chain is a group of animals and plants that are connected. There are many different types of food chains. Every ecosystem has one and each one is different. At the top of the food chain is the tertiary consumers. It is able to eat anything below it. Next are the secondary consumers they are eaten by the predator above it but can eat the animals below it. The herbivores serve as food for the predators above them. These animals eat the plants. The plants are at the bottom get their food from the sun.

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Impacts of Emerald Ash Borer

          The Emerald Ash Borer beetle is an invasive species that is a danger to our urban environment. It effects our eco system in various different ways. Its only source of food is ash trees, a very important part of our urban environment. It’s only natural predator is the woodpecker, but the rate they reproduce is faster than they can eat them. The EAB has eaten so many ash trees, the ash trees mortality rate has nearly tripled. The lack of ash trees has caused a variety of problems. When ash trees die, their leaves fall on the ground around them. Because ash trees have many leaves, this serves as a fire danger, because leaves are easily combustible. And when the trees fully decompose, their roots decompose, leaving the soil around the trees loose and susceptible to erosion. The EAB has also been costing tree nurseries, lumber companies, and home owners billions of dollars combined because of the need of tree removal and replacement. The EAB has been a detriment to our society in America.

 

 

 

Action Plan

          The EAB has been spreading in our country for far too long, so we are going to give you some tips on how to stop it. The first thing you should do is find out if your ash tree is worth saving, if it looks like its in bad shape or is missing more then half it’s leaves, it is not worth saving, and you should get it removed by a professional. If you want to save it, measure the trunk around at chest height. If it is more than 15in. around, call a professional to treat it with insecticide. If it is less, you should buy a soil drench to treat your tree. The soil drench needs to contain 10% imidacloprid for it to be effective. Also, do not move fire wood. If the tree it has come from has not been treated, it is illegal to move it to un-infected areas. If you do, you will be charged a fine and get jail time. Remember to be aware of your surroundings, and keep Colorado beautiful.   

          The EAB, a threatening bug, will most likely adapted to eat other species, like pine trees, or even the dead ash. This theory would make the most sense because they have already started to eat other trees. This was because they needed to have another food source. They are adapting to their environment. This is a natural process and every animal does this. How it works is that If an animal has its own environments, it’s offspring will be even more suited to their environment. Every animal does this, even if they don’t know about it.