Emerald Ash Borer (EAB) approaching eastern EU border: preparing for - - PDF document

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Emerald Ash Borer (EAB) approaching eastern EU border: preparing for the worst case scenario

Rimvys Vasaitis, Anders Broberg, Audrius Menkis, Andrey Selikhovkin*, Dmitry Musolin*, Jan Stenlid

Department of Forest Mycology & Pathology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala * Sankt Petersburg Forestry University, Russian Federation

Musolin, D.L., Selikhovkin, A.V., Shabunin, D.A., Zviagintsev, V.B. and Baranchikov, Y.N. 2017. Between Ash Dieback and Emerald Ash Borer: Two Asian Invaders in Russia and the Future

• f Ash in Europe. Baltic Forestry 23:

316-333.

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Musolin, D.L., Selikhovkin, A.V., Shabunin, D.A., Zviagintsev, V.B. and Baranchikov, Y.N. 2017. Between Ash Dieback and Emerald Ash Borer: Two Asian Invaders in Russia and the Future of Ash in Europe. Baltic Forestry 23: 316-333.

Administrative regions invaded by EAB in Russia in year 2016

Focusing towards north-west: Moscow – Sankt Petersburg direction

• Aim: to estimate status quo with EAB spread

towards north-west, from Moscow to Sankt Petersburg as for year 2016

• St.Petersburg and its suburbs would be very

vulnerable to EAB: contain numerous historical parks and alleys with monumental ash trees

• … but in later decades, ash was commonly planted

along federal highway Moscow – St.Petersburg

• As natural occurrence of ash in surrounding forests

is scarce, inspecting roadside trees provided excellent opportunity for monitoring EAB spread

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Selikhovkin, A.V., Popovichev, B.G., Mandelshtam, M.Y., Vasaitis, R. and Musolin, D.L. 2017. The Frontline of Invasion: the Current Northern Limit of the Invasive Range of Emerald Ash Borer, in European Russia. Baltic Forestry 23: 309-

• 315. (modified)

○ - inspected, but EAB not found

• - EAB found

Where are we with EAB in north-west Russia?

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… here: approx. 140 km from Moscow & 480 km to St. Petersburg The frontline of invasion: highway Moscow – St. Petersburg

Selikhovkin, A.V., Popovichev, B.G., Mandelshtam, M.Y., Vasaitis, R. and Musolin, D.L. 2017. The Frontline of Invasion: the Current Northern Limit of the Invasive Range of Emerald Ash Borer, in European Russia. Baltic Forestry 23: 309- 315.

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… and a closer look …

Selikhovkin, A.V., Popovichev, B.G., Mandelshtam, M.Y., Vasaitis, R. and Musolin, D.L. 2017. The Frontline of Invasion: the Current Northern Limit of the Invasive Range of Emerald Ash Borer, in European Russia. Baltic Forestry 23: 309-315.

• in case if EAB would expand further west: the fate
• f ash in St. Petersburg and EU countries at risk
• need for measures to be taken to prevent or mitigate

eventual impact of such scenario

The worst EAB scenario

05/02/2018 6 Possibilities for prevention / eventual control

i) parasitoids of EAB native to Europe: a promising candidate could be ectoparasitoid Spathius polonicus, adults, larvae and pupae of which were regularly detected in the remains of A. planipennis larvae in Moscow Province ii) presumably, the level of its parasitism to EAB is relatively high, as in nature more than 50% of examined last instar larvae of EAB were inhabited by S. polonicus iii) the hypothesis has been drawn that S. polonicus could be suitable candidate for the biocontrol of EAB in Europe iv) testing the ability of this parasitoid for biological control and initiating tests for its eventual mass rearing require indeed detailed investigations v) furthermore, search for more potential natural enemies of EAB native to Europe is of utmost importance

Orlova – Bienkowskaja MJ, Belokobylskij SA (2014) Discovery of the first European parasitoid of the emerald ash borer Agrilus planipennis (Coleoptera: Buprestidae). European Journal of Entomology 111: 594-596 Baranchikov YN (previous presentation)

Prospects?

• studies on EAB in Moscow region: in certain infested areas about half
• f F. excelsior were in a good condition and showed no signs of EAB,

whereas the other half were in rapid decline

• this suggests that different individuals of F. excelsior exhibit

different levels of resistance (or attractiveness) to EAB attacks

• there are indications that F. excelsior is less prone to EAB than

North American species of ash Straw NA, Williams DT, Kulinich O, Gninenko YI (2013) Distribution, impact

and rate of spread of emerald ash borer Agrilus planipennis (Coleoptera: Buprestidae) in the Moscow region of Russia. Forestry (Lond.) 86:515-522. Baranchikov YN (previous presentation)

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Biochemistry

• basis for such resistance unknown, but biochemical properties of

individual trees in this respect cannot be excluded

• in North America numerous studies have been published on

biochemical mechanisms potentially contributing to ash resistance to EAB

• in this respect, native host Manchurian ash appeared to possess

specific traits than ash species native to North America

• regarding European ash, the respective data are not available
• such data could provide valuable insights for future selection,

breeding and eventual hybridization of European ash tolerant / unattractive for EAB.

Villari C, Herms DA, Whitehill JGA, Cipollini D, Bonello P (2016) Progress and gaps in understanding mechanisms of ash tree resistance to emerald ash borer, a model for wood-boring insects that kill angiosperms. New Phytologist 209:63-79.

Aims

• intended / planned project proposal is to conduct a pilot

study and to elaborate the basis for the future work to mitigate the effects of eventual invasion of EAB to EU

• eventually, it will involve continuous checking of

transmissibility of EAB, investigating options for its biological control and biochemical mechanisms of tree resistance to provide visions for resistance breeding

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Objectives: i) in European Russia, monitoring spread and transmissibility of A. planipennis (EAB), and perform “alert” monitoring on Eastern EU borders of the potential invasion of the pest; to be done with the assistance of local forestry authorities of Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia; ii) perform yearly monitoring of health condition of GPS-mapped trees; iii) study population genetics of A. planipennis both in advancing front (European Russia) and its native environment (Asian Far East); iv) search for more potential European biological control agents against

• A. planipennis and setting pilot tests for their rearing;

v) in European Russia make search for eventual existence of symptomless native Ash in EAB-infested areas, GPS-map available trees, collect plant material for consecutive biochemical studies and propagation; vi) study biochemical traits of F. excelsior, other spp. of European ash that could potentially contribute for EAB-resistance mechanisms and visions for further breeding

Thank you!