Michigan State University Extension
This summer, the American Public Gardens Association (APGA) has taken measures to fight off the overwhelmingly large amount of invasive pest species that have attempted to colonize in the United States. With tree species like the ash tree and the American chestnut already at risk, we need to take all the measures we can to fight off incoming pests. This initiative is why the APGA and Bernheim have teamed up to track down and trap these pests before they can settle.
This summer, I will spend my time as a Horticulture Intern to trap these potential pest species including a variety of gypsy moths, the emerald ash borer, and other wood borers like the six-toothed and European ips, the Japanese pine sawyer, the oak ambrosia beetle. Trapping such a wide variety of bugs means lots of different traps with lots of different – and stinky – lures and baits, which you can find hidden all along the forest.
This 16 week long project has one goal – to make sure that no harmful species can invade into Bernheim and hurt our trees. With the wood borers having the potential to settle into grown trees and repopulate entirely, and with the knowledge of the presence of the gypsy moth, which are very harmful defoliators, the risk is high. But our plan is to prevent such harm from coming into our forest.
–Bethany Lee, Horticulture Intern