Environmental groups work to save black ash trees from invasive beetle in northern Ontario
Members of the public can volunteer to help find black ash trees, collect seeds
Environmental groups in northern Ontario are working to preserve black ash trees from the emerald ash borer, an invasive beetle threatening to wipe out the species.
The Invasive Species Centre in Sault Ste. Marie has partnered with the National Tree Seed Centre in New Brunswick to collect seeds from black ash trees, preserving their genetic material for future restoration efforts.
"There are a lot of black ash still within the landscape, but… unless actions or preservation or conservation efforts are taken seriously — and they're starting to be done — it is something that can become more of a problem down the road," said Vincent La Tassa, program development coordinator at the invasive species centre.
Native to parts of Asia, emerald ash borers were first detected in Canada in the early 2000s and has now spread across Ontario. The beetle is known to kill all species of ash trees.
"The long term strategy really is, once we've been able to successfully eradicate the emerald ash borer from the landscape, to reintroduce the seed into the environment and re-establish these trees that have been lost," La Tassa said.
Dan Thibeault, the City of Greater Sudbury's manager of linear infrastructure and support services, said the city has been aware of the invasive bug for several years.
Last year, the city outlined a five-year plan to remove all 1,500 ash trees on municipal property due to a widespread infestation.
"Just this year, we've actually accelerated that plan, because [the ash trees] were declining faster than we had anticipated," said Thibeault, adding the city's removed around 1,000 ash trees so far.
"We'll be looking to plant 1,500 trees. 900 of those are planned to be planted this year, with the remainder being planted next year. The other nice thing is we're trying to diversify our tree species. So we will be planting well over 20 different species to replace the ash trees."
As of 2022, the black ash tree was deemed endangered in Ontario. La Tassa said it's now unlikely to come across a surviving mature tree in the region, since most have been killed by the emerald ash borer.
Collecting the seeds
There are calls for members of the public to assist with the collection of seeds. La Tassa explained that a volunteer kit is currently in the works that would provide instructions on how to effectively collect seeds.
"The past few weeks, I've received quite a few emails from individuals expressing interest, telling me that they're aware of black ash locations. So there's definitely interest growing and people wanting to get involved," he said adding, volunteers must register through the centre's website to participate.
According to La Tassa, seed collection involves laying a tarp under a black ash tree, using an extendable pole pruner to snip seeds from branch ends, which then fall onto the tarp.
Seeds are collected in bags, then dried and processed by the invasive species centre before being sent to the national tree seed centre for long-term preservation.
The project also asks volunteers to upload photos and location information of black ash trees when collecting seeds to help map locations for conservation efforts to an online platform called iNaturalist.
"Getting a better understanding of where black ash occurs in the landscape is really important for conservation efforts," La Tassa said.
"The bonus of asking members of the public to get involved is that it also gives us access to information where black ash might be occurring on private land."
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With files from Erika Chorostil