Invasive shot hole borers are in the news again. Our collaborator, Greg McPherson with the US Forest Service, has just released a new estimate of the potential damage polyphagous and Kuroshio shot hole borers may cause as the spread across the landscape. As quoted in this recent LA Times article by Louis Sahagun:
His initial estimate is that just one particularly dangerous menace — the polyphagous shot hole borer beetle — could kill as many as 27 million trees in Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino counties, including parts of the desert.
That's roughly 38% of the 71 million trees in the 4,244 square mile urban region with a population of about 20 million people.
UCCE Plant Pathology Specialist Akif Eskalen added:
“Here's the sad news about sycamores....If we cannot control the shot hole borer, it will kill all the sycamores in California. And when they're done with sycamores, they'll move to other trees.”
And emeritus Environmental Horticulture Advisor John Kabashima was also featured.
You can read the whole story at http://www.latimes.com/local/california/la-me-dying-urban-trees-20170403-story.html