www.aphis.usda.gov/plant-pests-diseases/eab/eab-story-map">U.S. Department of Agriculture, was first found in the United States in southeast Michigan in 2002. In the decades since, the wood-boring beetle has spread east and west across the U.S. and Canada, killing tens of millions of ash trees, causing one of the costliest forest insect invasions to date. More than 90% of all ash infested by the insect native to Asia eventually die, threatening to make the tree species functionally extinct in North America. In response, researchers at Penn State are working with the U.S. Forest Service and other partners to identify and develop ash trees genetically able to withstand the beetles' onslaught and strategize how to restore ash to forests.
Since 2019, scientists in Penn State's Louis W. Schatz Center for Tree Molecular Genetics have focused research efforts on Oregon ash (Fraxinus latifolia), a species that plays a critical role in the Pacific Northwest by providing wildlife habitats, stabilizing streambanks with an extensive root system, keeping waterways cool through shade and serving as a food source for birds and insects.
