Forwarded message:
Dear Conservation Friends and Supporters,
Please share this important message with other interested individuals and
organizations.
An insect pest newly arrived in the Finger Lakes region -- the hemlock woolly
adelgid was recently discovered in the Cornell Plantations area of
Cascadilla Gorge and in the Beebe Lake natural areas and is threatening hemlock
trees and the biodiversity they support. This Asian species has decimated
hemlock populations across the eastern United States, where altered habitats
due to the loss of the hemlocks have caused a cascade of environmental
changes for some amphibians, fish, invertebrates and plants in response to
increased light and warmer temperatures.
The hemlock woolly adelgid (Adelges tsugae) causes nearly 100 percent mortality
in the native eastern hemlock (Tsuga canadensis). The small, aphid-like
insects feed on the sap at the base of individual needles on the trees;
eventually needles yellow and drop, branches die, and trees succumb in about
four to 10 years.
Hemlock woolly adelgids were first reported in the central Finger Lakes region
in mid-2008, and they now inhabit at least 19 local sites. Early detection of
new sites of infestation is now a high priority, and local conservation groups
are organizing volunteer surveys as a critical first step in managing this
devastating invasive species.
Cornell Plantations, Cornell Cooperative Extension, the Cornell Department of
Natural Resources, the Finger Lakes Land Trust, and the Finger Lakes Native
Plant Society are organizing three workshops aimed at training volunteers to
identify and report new hemlock woolly adelgid infestations. Each two-hour
session will feature a presentation by Mark Whitmore from the Cornell
Department of Natural Resources on the adelgids biology and the threat it
poses to local hemlock forests. Participants will visit Beebe Lake to observe
hemlock woolly adelgids firsthand and gain experience in detection and survey
protocols. Participants will also have the opportunity to volunteer in the
"Adopt-a-Hemlock" program to conduct surveys and report new infestations in
local hemlock forests.
The training workshops will be held at Cornell Plantations Lewis Education
Center, located at One Plantations Road on the Cornell campus, on Friday, March
13, at 1 p.m.; Saturday, March 21, at 10 p.m.; and Monday, March 23, at 3 p.m.
To register for the training workshops, or for more information on the hemlock
woolly adelgid, visit www.plantations.cornell.edu. Additional information and
instructions on reporting new infestations can also be found at the New York
Invasive Species Research Institute website.
The mission of the Cornell Plantations Natural Areas Program is to preserve,
maintain and restore representative examples of each natural community type and
locally rare plant habitat within the Central Finger Lakes region, in order to
foster natural heritage conservation, research and education efforts. Cornell
Plantations is the arboretum, botanical garden, and natural areas of Cornell
University and is a member of Ithacas Discovery Trail partnership.
Todd Bittner, Natural Areas Director
Cornell Plantations
1 Plantations Road
Ithaca, NY 14850
[For more information and photos of the hemlock woolly adelgid, see
http://nyisri.org/HWA.aspx]
_______________________________________________
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