Background Information

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        In Colorado Springs there are six ecosystems. They are: plains short grass prairie, foothills shrub, pinyon-juniper woodlands, mountain conifer forests, sub alpine forests, and alpine tundra. An ecosystem is a group of inter-connected elements made by the communications of a community, of life, and of their environment. There are deer, elk, birds, robins, squirrels, bears, and much, much more in these ecosystems. Even more broad, we have forest ecosystems, like Black Forest, and where the prairie meets the mountain.

 

       A Food Chain is the hierarchy in which animals get their energy. Tertiary Consumers, the carnivores at the highest part of the food chain, eat the secondary consumers. The carnivores, at the second highest rank, feed on the primary consumers (the herbivores), which feed on the primary producers (the plants). The sun gives the primary producers energy allowing them to be the most numerous species giving the primary consumers food creating more food to the higher categories of animals, and without the sun the animals in that ecosystem would die out Due to no primary producers. The sun also gives energy to the primary producers and so on up the food chain, once a consumer or producer is eaten. An example of this is if a cheetah eats a gazelle who ate grass who got energy from water and the sun. In Colorado (Urban areas in Denver mostly) ash trees are becoming rarer and if they become extinct the animals that feed on the ash trees and their predators could die out or be negatively affected.

 

      Invasive species are a species of animal or plant that originated in a country but moved (most likely due to humans) to a new location. They are harmful to the species in an environment, unlike nonnative species, which do not harm an environment. The Emerald Ash Borer (EAB); an invasive species to Denver Colorado eats ash foil (adults) and the larvae eat ash tree bark killing the tree.

 

    The Emerald Ash Borer Beetle (EAB) is an invasive species that kills and destroys ash trees under the bark, which is also called the cambium. It is no bigger than a penny’s face. It is a metallic green shade on the top and a reddish color on the bottom. The EAB originates from Asia and travels through shipping crates and firewood. The EAB is a primary consumer that eats ash trees. Woodpeckers and wasps eat the EAB and its larva, though they do not control the population by much. When the EAB is in the tree, it leaves swirls in the bark. Also, when the EAB grows into an adult, it leaves the tree and leaves a D-shaped hole in it. How to recognize an ash tree: Step one, they have five to nine little leaves on each stalk, which is really one leaf. Step two, most ash tree bark has diamond-shaped edges. Step three, branches grow directly opposite one another. Step four, the branches usually start growing at the bottom.

 

Impact of EAB

    If the Emerald Ash Borer Beatle (EAB), takes over Colorado Springs, there would only be 80% of the trees left. That means that 20% of the trees in urban Colorado Springs are Ash trees! It can affect the animals like woodpeckers (who eats EAB larva). If we take the EAB away, that would be like taking away the bananas, but not by much. Not only that, but not having the Ash trees could have a major economic impact. One thing people use Ash trees for is shade in the summer and to let the sun into the house on cold days during winter. Also, it can help people’s “breathing problems” like Asma. In the long term the EAB can have a negative effect on many people just by destroying Ash trees.

         The food chain sometimes changes if an invasive species is in a habitat it does not originate in, it may cause negative effects and the habitat may become distorted. In some cases, there is already a problem in that ecosystem and a new species could help that ecosystem thrive. The Emerald Ash Borer (EAB) hurts the USA’s ecosystem in some states, and is spreading closer to Colorado Springs . If the EAB travels to Colorado Springs, the Urban ash trees will be killed and the animals that need the ash trees will die out, causing other animals to die out also. The Beetle Boom in Black Forest is similar to the EAB’s in Denver; soon to Colorado Springs. After a blizzard in Black Forest hit in March, beetles started infesting trees. They ate the branches of most trees, both dead trees and live trees. The transported trees are a food source for the beetles, killing the newly planted trees.

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Action Plan

1. Measure the diameter of the tree at your chest height

2. . Smaller than 15 Inches,    larger than 15 inches

                     

 

                                       

    Do it yourself with the           Get a professional!!!   

     next steps.  

3. Use products with 1.47% imidacloprid around base of Ash tree. Use between May 1st and June 15th when it is most effective.

4.Trees cannot be saved if:

• It has more than half of the branches are dead (they have no leaves left)

• It is showing outward signs of the EAB

• Bark split

• Water spouts

• Woodpecker damage

5.Don’t move fire wood to avoid spreading the EAB

6. If nothing above help to save your ash tree, get professional help or cut down the tree after talking to the land lord.

SAVE The Ash Trees

 

If the Emerald Ash Borer (EAB) were to survive Action step #3 it would have adapted over time to have the Natural Selection of that environment. (Natural Selection is the properties of an animal or plant that allows it to live in a certain environment and adaptation is the changes of an animal or plant over time.) At first (now) the EAB is faced with toxin (action step 3) they would not be immune but over time they would adapt to become immune.

 

STOP THE EAB