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North American arthropods at risk due to widespread Fraxinus mortality caused by the Alien Emerald ash borer

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Abstract

Emerald ash borer (Agrilus planipennis Fairmaire) (EAB), an alien invasive wood-boring buprestid beetle, is causing large-scale decline and mortality of the most widely distributed species of ash (Fraxinus spp.) trees endemic to eastern North America. We determined which arthropod species that are associated with ash may become threatened, endangered, and co-extinct with the demise of ash as a dominant tree species. A literature survey revealed that 43 native arthropod species in six taxonomic groups (Arachnida: Acari; Hexapoda: Coleoptera, Diptera, Hemiptera, Hymenoptera, and Lepidoptera) are known to be associated only with ash trees for either feeding or breeding purposes, and thus face high risk of endangerment. Most of these species are gall-formers followed by folivores, subcortical phloem/xylem feeders, sap feeders, and seed predators. Another 30 arthropod species are associated with 1–2 host plants in addition to ash, and herbivory on these hosts may increase as these arthropods shift from declining ash trees. Extirpation of arthropods dependent upon ash may unleash multiple extinctions of affiliated species with which they may be inextricably linked. The demise of North American ash species due to EAB is expected to lead to biotic loss with cascading ecological impacts and altered processes within forested ecosystems.

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Acknowledgments

We thank C. P. Herms and D. M. Lightle (The Ohio State University), and an anonymous reviewer for comments on a previous version of this manuscript. L. Ogden (The University of Georgia) assisted with formatting of the manuscript. Funding for this project was provided by the USDA Forest Service, Northern Research Station, Delaware, OH, and by State and Federal funds appropriated to the Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center, The Ohio State University, and to the Daniel B. Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources, The University of Georgia.

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  1. Daniel B. Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources, The University of Georgia, Athens, GA, 30602, USA

    Kamal J. K. Gandhi

  2. Department of Entomology, Ohio Agricultural and Research Development Center, The Ohio State University, 1680 Madison Avenue, Wooster, OH, 44691, USA

    Daniel A. Herms

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  1. Kamal J. K. Gandhi
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  2. Daniel A. Herms
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Correspondence to Kamal J. K. Gandhi.

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Gandhi, K.J.K., Herms, D.A. North American arthropods at risk due to widespread Fraxinus mortality caused by the Alien Emerald ash borer. Biol Invasions 12, 1839–1846 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10530-009-9594-1

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