insecticides and pesticides used on fraser firs

Read more about the Firewood Quarantine to see how you can help stop the spread of this invasive and destructive insect. Once in the United States, the Hemlock Woolly Adelgid spread by itself from forest to forest over many years, while the Emerald Ash Borer, another insect pest, arrives on firewood that campers bring into the park from infested areas. Pests and disease come to the park in many different ways. Foresters treat the trees with systemic chemical control (pouring insecticide around the tree base), foliar spray of insecticidal soap or oil, and/or biological control (using predatory beetles). HWA is an aphid-like insect that feeds at the base of hemlock needles, killing trees directly or weakening them so secondary pests such as hemlock borer eventually kill the trees. Hemlock Woolly Adelgid (HWA)-Since 1992, hemlock woolly adelgid or HWA, has infested eastern hemlocks throughout the Park. Pest management surveys of growers have documented that pesticides have been reduced by almost 75 from 2000 through 2013.

Vegetation managers monitor surviving dogwood. Fraser Fir IPM is Working in NC The good news is that growers are adapting IPM and reducing pesticide use in NC Fraser fir Christmas trees. Its origins are unknown, and there are no effective treatments.

Scientists began monitoring 75 butternut trees in 1987.ĭogwood Anthracnose - Many flowering dogwoods in the Park-and in the United States-are afflicted with this fungus. The disease first appeared in Wisconsin in 1967, although no one knows where it originated. Look for loss in high elevation beech gaps along the Appalachian Trail.īutternut Canker - The butternut canker causes lens shaped bark wounds and lesions on butternut tree nuts and branches. Fir stands that survived have begun to reproduce in many areas.īeech Disease - Beech stands have been devastated in many areas of the Park by a combination of non-native beech scale and a species of Nectria fungus first identified in the late 1980s. Managers spray fir trunks with insecticidal soap, although there is no completely effective treatment. The Fraser fir, a federally listed species of concern and a southern Appalachian endemic (meaning it’s found only in these mountains, and most of them are found within the boundaries of the Park), has been hit hard. Here are examples of five forest insect pests and diseases in the Great Smoky Mountains that managers actively monitor:īalsam Woolly Adelgid (BWA) - An aphid-like insect, BWA killed 90 percent of mature fir trees in the park since 1962 when it was first found in the park. Managers deal with pests in forests, fields, and even park buildings, trying to protect native species and people. There are three types of IPM: mechanical (such as hand-pulling weeds), cultural (such as changing behavior to prevent or reduce pests), and chemical (using approved pesticides or herbicides). Biologically rational pest control materials, or biorationals, such as insecticidal soaps and horticultural oils, were tested from 1985 to 1987 in Ohio.

Biologists and foresters at the Park use Integrated Pest Management (IPM) to control exotic and invasive pests.

Insecticides and pesticides used on fraser firs