Auto-dissemination of Beauveria bassiana (FraxiProtec^®) for control of emerald ash borer in urban forests

Wednesday, November 16, 2022

9:00 AM – 9:12 AM PT

Location: Vancouver Convention Centre, Meeting Room 212

Presenting Author(s)

Jon D. Sweeney

Research Scientist
Natural Resources Canada
Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada

Co-Author(s)

MA

Mark Ardis

GDG Environment
Trois Rivieres, Québec, Canada
ML

Marie-Ève Lajoie

GDG Environment
Trois Rivieres, Québec, Canada
RL

Robert Lavallée

Natural Resources Canada
Québec, Québec, Canada
KV

Kate Van Rooyen

Natural Resources Canada
Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada

We tested a commercial system for auto-dissemination of the fungal pathogen, Beauveria bassiana, (FraxiProtec®) for suppression of emerald ash borer (EAB) infestations in urban forests. Each auto-dissemination trap consisted of a contamination chamber (containing B. bassiana conidia) attached to a green Fluon-treated Lindgren 12-funnel trap, baited with Z-3-hexenol and Z-3-lactone and placed in the mid-upper canopy of an ash tree. In 2021, we placed 15 auto-dissemination traps in each of two 1 ha urban forest stands, one in Bedford, NS, and one in Fredericton, NB. Each site had an untreated control plot with 15 auto-dissemination traps that contained no B. bassiana, located 500 m from the treated plot. Every tree with an auto-dissemination trap also contained a baited green sticky prism trap to collect EAB adults and estimate the percentage infected with B. bassiana. In Fredericton, mid-crown branches were collected and peeled from ash trees in treated and control plots to test whether the proportion of infested trees differed between pre- (April) and post-treatment (October) samples. We collected 1523 EAB in Bedford and 193 EAB in Fredericton with 38% of adults infected in treated plots and 0% infected in untreated plots. In Fredericton, the proportion of trees infested with EAB increased significantly in fall versus spring 2021 in the untreated plot but not in the treated plot, suggesting the rate of infestation was suppressed in treated plots. The experiment is being repeated in 2022 with branch peeling at both sites and these results will also be presented.

Auto-dissemination of Beauveria bassiana (FraxiProtec®) for control of emerald ash borer in urban forests

Presenting Author(s)

Co-Author(s)

Auto-dissemination of Beauveria bassiana (FraxiProtec^®) for control of emerald ash borer in urban forests