Ithaca, NY – Monitoring and Managing Ash (MaMA) workshop

Although emerald ash borer (EAB) kills close to 100% of the mature native ash trees that it encounters in the Northeast, a very small percentage of the trees that it attacks not only survive, but remain healthy years after the vast majority of nearby trees have been killed by this pest. These trees, which have been found for every widespread Northeastern ash species, are known as “lingering ash” and provide hope for ash conservation because some have EAB resistance that can be used to breed highly resistant trees.

The Ecological Research Institute (ERI) has developed the Monitoring and Managing Ash (MaMA) program, which facilitates the detection of lingering ash through 1) its data collection projects that determine where and when to search for lingering ash and enable reporting of lingering ash found; and 2) integrating the search for lingering ash into an overall management framework that encompasses both short- and long-term considerations. MaMA has already resulted in the detection of numerous lingering ash in New York, where it was first implemented. Now, it plays a prominent role in the Tree Species in Peril collaborative initiative led by The Nature Conservancy in collaboration with the US Forest Service.

In the workshop, you will learn both about how you can participate in MaMA’s citizen-scientist and land-manager-based research projects and how to incorporate the detection of lingering ash into overall ash/EAB management strategies. This free workshop will include hands-on training in all of MaMA’s research projects, including setting up a plot at Lighthouse Point Natural Area (Ithaca) that will form part of the MaMA Monitoring Plots Network.

Workshop presented by ERI in collaboration with Cornell Cooperative Extension – Tompkins County and Cornell Botanic Gardens. MaMA program funded by the Nature Conservancy.