f you live in Wisconsin, or really anywhere in the eastern US, you have probably seen large stands of dead trees. In many cases, these are trees killed by Emerald Ash Borer (EAB), an invasive species first detected in WI in 2008.
While the tree mortality itself is problematic, the way the ash tree dies might be worse. Since the trees die slowly, they continue to produce seeds so that a new generation may grow up under the dying trees. While EAB won't bother the ash saplings much at first, they will attack once the trees are mature and producing seeds. A major concern is that this will create a landscape of zombie ash in a perpetual state of "not dead yet."
Compared to a healthy forests, these zombie landscapes offers little for wildlife, cooling, recreation, and flood control. And removing these trees can be very costly to the managers such as Milwaukee County Parks, City of Milwaukee, Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR), Waukesha County Parks & Land Use, etc..
The TREE Fund supports the type of research that can help us learn how to manage these landscapes in a cost effective and beneficial manner. If you have a few bucks to spare, please consider donating to my Tour des Trees sit here: https://lnkd.in/g5tAGRYK...
And notably, falling trees in these zombie ash landscapes can be a major threat to energy security such as seen along this We Energies transmission line.
