WINDSOR, Ontario, Sept. 7 (UPI) -- Scientists say they might not be able to prevent the devastating spread of the emerald ash borer across eastern Canada and the United States.
Such a failure, they said, would cost billions of dollars in lost timber and ornamental trees, dramatically changing landscapes in eastern North America -- with even more impact than Dutch elm disease.
A study to be published in the journal Diversity and Distributions documents the invasive beetle's distribution from its epicenter in the Windsor-Detroit area.
"In the Great Lakes region this beetle invasion is mushrooming out like an atomic bomb going off," said study co-author Hugh MacIsaac of the University of Windsor's Great Lakes Institute for Environmental Research.
The metallic green beetle was first detected following an unusual dieback of ash trees in southeastern Michigan and southwestern Ontario in 2002. A native of southeast Asia, the insect is capable of rapidly spreading, laying eggs under tree bark.
The study indicates unprecedented actions taken to stop the borer's spread have, so far, failed. At risk are 9 billion ash trees in the United States and Ontario, with an estimated value of more than $300 billion in the United States alone.
