John's Mark Trail post from earlier reminded me to post this update on the Ohio Emerald Ash Borer invasion from hell:
Central Ohio has been especially hard hit by the ravages of a killer insect that has destroyed tens of thousands of majestic ash trees the last few years.
The Columbus Dispatch reports that American Electric Power has a crew dedicated to cutting down dead and dying ash trees before they fall on power lines. AEP took down 13,000 ash trees last year alone.
The city of Columbus has spent about $4.5 million to remove 17,000 ash trees since 2011. The removal of 450 ash trees on a city golf course has dramatically altered its layout.
The emerald ash borer is an invasive species from Asia that destroys vital tissue beneath the bark. State officials estimate there are 3.8 billion ash trees in Ohio.
via www.10tv.com
The strategy for Ash borer control still puzzles me. Ohio preemptively cuts Ash trees to prevent Ash trees from dying from invasion. I get the idea--stop the spread here before it spreads somewhere else, but it still seems, well, Ash-backwards
And 3.8 billion Ash trees? Does that seem high to anyone else?
According to NASA, in 2005 there were about 400 billion trees in the world.
That means that almost 1% of the world's trees are Ash trees in Ohio despite Ohio having less than 0.08% of the world's land area.
Can that be right?
