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Great Plains trees to be inspected for invasivesNebraska As part of the Great Plains Tree and Forest Invasives Initiative, approximately 250 randomly selected plots across Nebraska will be visited to evaluate the state's tree resources. Beginning the end of May, three, two-person crews will be surveying 173 rural windbreak plots in 60 counties across the state and 80 urban plots in Lincoln and Omaha. This year's inventory is a continuation of the work conducted last summer. The Great Plains Tree and Forest Invasives Initiative is an effort of state forestry agencies in Nebraska, Kansas, North Dakota and South Dakota working together to prepare for the arrival of invasive species in the Great Plains. The agencies are assessing the region's tree resources, determining and addressing the potential impacts of invasives to those resources, creating public awareness of invasive species and promoting species diversity. The initiative is funded by a U.S. Forest Service grant and matching state funds. "The inventory will give us a better understanding of our rural and urban tree resources in the northern Plains," said Steve Rasmussen, Nebraska Forest Service district forester and GPI coordinator. "In the past, this type of information has been lacking, but this has allowed us to get comprehensive information that will help state forestry and natural resource agencies make better informed management decisions." Kansas, North Dakota and South Dakota also will be conducting resource inventories within their states. Understanding the state's tree and forest resources is important because invasive pests, such as emerald ash borer, pose a tremendous threat to Nebraska. "EAB was recently detected in southwest Wisconsin, just 300 miles from Nebraska," said Eric Berg, Nebraska Forest Service community forestry program leader. "The sooner we have an accurate picture of the resource at risk, the better equipped we are to prepare for the insect's arrival." Emerald ash borer is a non-native, or invasive, insect that attacks and kills all native ash species, including white, green, black and autumn purple. The beetle kills ash trees by disrupting their ability to transport water and nutrients. EAB larvae, which are cream colored and approximately 1 1/4-inch long, feed on the tissues just below the bark, creating serpentine tunnels. This feeding disrupts the tree's ability to transport water and nutrients, eventually killing the tree. Adult insects, which are metallic green and approximately 1/2-inch long, emerge in June and July, leaving D-shaped exit holes in the tree's bark. Symptoms of EAB include canopy dieback that typically begins in the top one-third of the canopy, sprouting from the base of the tree, bark splitting, serpentine galleries below the bark, D-shaped exit holes and increased woodpecker activity. Inventory plots were selected for each state by the U.S. Forest Service National Inventory and Monitoring Applications Center in Newtown Square, Pa. Each plot is 1/6 acre. The number, species, diameter and height of trees within the plot and the use of land within the plot will be recorded. Observations also will be made about tree health based on the percent of canopy dieback within each tree. Information about distance from buildings will be recorded for energy computations. For rural plots the function of trees, such as windbreaks, will be recorded. Plots without trees will not be surveyed. Once collected, data will be sent to the U.S. Forest Service for analysis. Data will be analyzed for each state, as well as regionally to provide a picture of the tree and forest resources throughout the northern plains. The information provided by this survey will be invaluable in helping natural resource professionals estimate economic impacts of invasive species, as well as the volume and location of wood that will be generated by trees lost to invasive pests. Rasmussen said these techniques, tools and software were developed specifically for the Great Plains Initiative. "After two summers of inventory work, we will have more detailed information about our windbreaks and rural non-forested tree areas than we ever have before, since these areas were not well represented in past inventory efforts," said Rasmussen. Inventory crews will contact landowners before accessing plots on private property. "Last year, landowners were very receptive to our inventory efforts, so we hope we have the same cooperation this year," said Rasmussen.
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