Grant: Alliance Grants

Invasive insect species can lead to large scale death and decline of economically, ecologically, and culturally important tree species and forests. Within an integrated pest management program chemical insecticides are usually the first and only available control strategy as biological control can take many years to develop and deploy. Chemical insecticides pose risk to non-target species and management must make decide whether the risk of using the insecticide is worth taking to prevent ecological damage that will likely be caused by the invasive insect. The Hemlock Woolly Adelgid is an invasive species that was first detected in Nova Scotia in 2017. The Hemlock Woolly Adelgid is expected cause widespread death and decline of Hemlock forests which are the last vestiges of old growth forest and are foundational forests as they create unique cool, moist, and dark ecosystems that support unique flora and fauna. Currently the only effective control strategy are systemic, non-selective neonicotinoid insecticides. In this project we will use a combination of lab studies to predict ecological risk and field studies to measure effects of operational treatment. By simultaneously monitoring ecological change caused by the insect we will place the risk of non-target effects in the context of ecosystem change directly informing managers tasked with deciding whether chemical treatment is worth the risk.