{"id":12060,"date":"2020-11-12T12:46:41","date_gmt":"2020-11-12T17:46:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.scenichudson.org\/?post_type=magazine&p=12060"},"modified":"2023-06-25T11:36:28","modified_gmt":"2023-06-25T15:36:28","slug":"woolly-adelgids-threaten-eastern-hemlock-trees","status":"publish","type":"magazine","link":"https:\/\/www.scenichudson.org\/viewfinder\/woolly-adelgids-threaten-eastern-hemlock-trees\/","title":{"rendered":"Woolly Adelgids Threaten Eastern Hemlock Trees"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

For generations, the canopies provided by the Eastern hemlock trees have been integral to the Empire State’s forest ecosystems. Although more plentiful in the Adirondacks, the Catskills and Hudson Valley area also host the needled evergreen \u2014 the Eastern hemlock is the third most common tree in the region<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Eastern Hemlock (Photo: Courtesy NYS Hemlock Initiative)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

As centuries have gone by and the inhabitants of the area have changed, the hemlocks have weathered all nature has had to offer, until now. Swaths of Eastern hemlocks in New York State have been hit hard by a never-ending infestation of hemlock woolly adelgid, an invasive insect that’s managed to worm its way into most of the native tree populations in the country. While the pests can still be visible as tiny black nymphs during their period of hibernation (known as aestivation)<\/a> throughout much of spring and summer, their most noticeable attribute \u2014 the white, waxy, “woolly” puffs of material that grow on the base of the needles and twigs \u2014 sprout up once winter rolls around in a bid to fight off the cold.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Woolly adelgid (Photo: Courtesy NYS Hemlock Initiative)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

After hitching a ride on a contaminated stock of nursery trees from Southern Japan in the early 20th century, the hemlock woolly adelgid quickly spread all across the East coast,<\/a> from the southern tip of Nova Scotia all the way to northern Georgia. Even though the adelgid problem in New York has gotten extra attention these last couple of years due to recent outbreaks in the Adirondacks and Finger Lakes<\/a>, the Catskills have been dealing with these puffy pests since the 1980s, according to Mark C. Whitmore, a forest entomologist at Cornell University’s Department of Natural Resources and the principal researcher at the New York State Hemlock Initiative<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Hemlock damage caused by woolly adelgids (Photo: William M. Ciesla, Forest Health Management International, Bugwood.org<\/a><\/strong>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

“I think the most important thing is for people to look at the hemlocks and realize how important they are to them. There’s the old adage ‘You don’t know what you got till it’s gone,'” Whitmore says. Whitmore and his colleagues decided to form the Hemlock Initiative to combine their decades worth of research on adelgids as well as raise awareness of the problem on public and private lands. It\u2019s far too late to eradicate the hemlock woolly adelgid; they\u2019ve been detected in 43 counties across the state. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Basically the short-term fix is treatment with insecticides to keep trees alive,” he says. “The long-term fix is to introduce predators in hopes that we can stop using insecticides at some point in time.” <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Black Creek Preserve Insecticide Treatment Area<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Given the acreage covered by Scenic Hudson\u2019s 45 parks, the Eastern hemlocks within those spaces haven\u2019t been spared either. Land stewardship coordinator Dan Smith and other staff have diligently worked with a certified pesticide applicator over the past year to treat trees afflicted with woolly adelgid on the 130-acre Black Creek Preserve in Esopus<\/a>. As the adelgid slowly feeds, the tree begins to die from the bottom up as fine twigs with pale greenish-yellowish needles start to pile up and the damage ascends upwards, Smith explains.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n