Pennsylvania’s trees are facing a multitude of threats including fungus, insects, and worms, like the ones that cause beech leaf disease. American chestnut trees once thrived in our region, but 150 years ago a fungus wiped them out. Researchers and advocates are trying to bring them back, but they disagree on how to do it. Plus, we tag along with a crew trying to save hemlock trees from a sap-sucking invasive pest.
A researcher in Ohio was surrounded by hundreds of dead ash trees that the emerald ash borer, a beetle, had wiped out. But in that same forest, she found a lone tree thriving. Could this tree be the key to saving ash from extinction?
Listen on: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Google | TuneIn
- The Last to Leave - A researcher in Ohio was surrounded by hundreds of dead ash trees wiped out by a beetle called the emerald ash borer. But then she found a lone tree thriving, and started looking for answers.
- Native Pennsylvania tree battles two diseases that put it at risk for extinction - Beech trees are being attacked by two separate diseases that could devastate the native species, which provides nuts for wildlife.
- How a land trust is fighting invasive hemlock woolly adelgid in Allegheny County - Hollow Oak Land Trust is selectively treating hemlock trees with insecticide and hopes to inspire homeowners to do the same.
- After GMO program hits snag, what’s the future of restoring American chestnuts? - Researchers and advocates disagree on the path forward for the iconic tree that once provided food for people and wildlife, as well as lumber.