Tsuga canadensis

Invasive Species and the effects of the Hemlock Woolly Adelgid A specific environmental issue I would like to learn more about is the impacts of invasive species, more specifically that of the hemlock woolly adelgid (HWA). I have spent a lot of time down in the Hocking Hills in southeastern Ohio, and I had heard that the invasive adelgid was threatening the local hemlock population there. The eastern hemlock is a very abundant tree among the eastern seaboard of the United State. It is considered a foundation species for certain ecosystems that it is present in, essentially meaning that the hemlocks play a large role in how the environment is shaped by having a disproportionate amount of influence on its surrounding area (Adkins and Rieske). A couple of ways in which it is able to influence the environment is the trees have a very high water transpiration rate, which affects water, air and soil temperatures beneath its canopy as well as showing a greater diversity of fish species in the riparian areas under hemlocks, as compared to other riparian areas (Adkins and Rieske). However the hemlocks are being attacked by an invasive pest native to Asia known as hemlock woolly adelgid. It ends up killing the hemlock species that it infests by laying ovisacs on the hemlock trees and when the eggs hatch, the nymphs feed on stored starches which are vital to the tree’s survival (Pest Alert). While it has been readily identified the problem is the adelgid, what caused it is not…

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The city of Mannheim in Germany was one of the greatest industrial hubs of the time: creativity and innovation was at its peak. Because of this, it became an important city for both World War I and World War II. However, it had become a main target for the opposition, the Allied forces and in December of 1940, air raids began raining down on the city. This lasted until the war ended, leaving the city pretty much in ruins. During the long process of reconstructing the city, a contest was held to…

Mitchell Saunders Mrs. Whitmire AP Environmental Science 4th Period 11 October 2014 The Woolly Adelgid: A Forest Nuisance The woolly adelgid, or hemlock woolly adelgid (Adelgis tsugae), is a species of small insect native to Japan that infests eastern hemlock (Tsuga canadensis) and Carolina hemlock (Tsuga caroliniana) trees in the Eastern United States. The insect was first discovered in the United States in Richmond, Virginia around 1954. The infected trees were part of a park located on the…

Georgia and through the Appalachian Mountains into New England. The most similar varieties to A. saccharum in North America are A. barbatum (Florida maple), A. leucoderme (chalk maple), and A. nigrum (black maple) which often hybridize with sugar maple. A. platanoides (Norway maple) is a European species that also looks very similar to sugar maple, but it has broader leaves with drooping lobes, and sap from a broken petiole is milky (Nesom, 2016). Typically, the sugar maple is found in plant…

of Insecta, the magical beauty of so many of their kind. But there are a few that strike more than a few heebe-geebes -- some are downright frightening. Take the tiny hemlock wooly adelgid (ah-del-jid) for instance: a needle sucking scale insect of miniscule proportions that reproduces asexually (no male required) at a rate of thousands per year. This aphid-like insect, originally from Japan, has no predators in this part of North America and its only table fare is the Eastern hemlock tree. In…