[CANUFNET] ash tree question

[Andrew Almas]

Hi Lorraine,

Based on the conversations that I have had with numerous municipal
employees in southern Ontario, I would say that there is nearly a consensus
that planting ash trees is a waste of resources given the extremely high
mortality due to EAB (within 6 years of infestation, more than 99% of the
ash trees are dead (Klooster et al. 2014; Knight et al. 2013), and I think
many of us are still feeling some PTSD from seeing so much of our
urban canopy destroyed in such a short window of time.

There is another intriguing point of view which has been espoused by some,
such as University of Delaware entomologist Doug Tallamy in his 2020 book
"Nature's Best Hope" that we should continue to plant ash and retain
non-hazardous ash both on public and private property as a means of
retaining ash based aspects of our food web (for instance, insects which
can only be found on host ash trees), but also to identify and maintain
natural resilience so ash trees may thrive in the future. I recognize that
this is a difficult scale of objective to manage when making site specific
planting decisions, but it is an argument against policies such as you have
outlined in the City of Toronto which takes an extirpation approach to ash,
which if expanded to all Ontario municipalities, counteracts any attempt at
identifying natural resistance. The challenge of course is that
realistically there is almost never going to be resource-based support for
planting something which has a less than 1% chance of surviving once
infested.....

I hope that helps to 'muddy the waters'!
Andrew

On Wed, Nov 3, 2021 at 7:24 AM Lorraine Johnson via CANUFNET <
canufnet at list.web.net> wrote:

> Hi all,
>
> Apologies if this question has already been addressed by the group.
>
> I'm wondering whether or not you are recommending (or advising against)
> the planting of ash trees in Ontario at this time?
>
> I'm aware that some municipalities (Toronto, for example) have bans on the
> planting of ash trees on City-owned property, but my question relates to
> recommendations for private land-holders.
>
> Ash trees are still for sale at nurseries. Should people plant them or not
> in Ontario?
>
> I'm assuming no, but wonder if there is consensus on this.
>
> With thanks in advance for your thoughts,
> Lorraine Johnson
> Toronto, Ontario
>


-- 
*Andrew Almas*
Assistant Professor of Teaching
University of British Columbia
Department of Forest Resources Management
Bachelors of Urban Forestry Program
(647) 529-8867
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