Steady loss of hemlock trees could devastate ecosystem (Ashville Citizen-Times)

OTTO — Chelcy Ford looked up into the early afternoon sunshine and pointed to the naked, brown branches of the hemlock trees surrounding her. The bare-limbed evergreens are a familiar sight here in the Southern Appalachian Mountains, where nearly all of the hemlocks are dying after being infested by the woolly adelgid.

Unlike many other scientists trying to figure out how to save the trees, Ford and a small group of researchers at the Coweeta Hydrologic Laboratory here are letting them die.   read more

Hemlock Wooly Adelgid

The following is from the PA DCNR Bureau of Forestry:

What is the Hemlock Woolly Adelgid?

Adelges tsugae, the hemlock woolly adelgid, is a fluid-feeding insect that feeds on hemlock trees throughout eastern North America, including Pennsylvania. The egg sacs of these insects look like the tips of cotton swabs clinging to the undersides of hemlock branches.

Hemlock woolly adelgid was introduced from Asia into the Pacific Northwest in 1924. It was probably introduced into the northeastern US in the 1950’s, and it was first discovered in Pennsylvania in 1967. This insect has been damaging hemlock ever since, and it is spreading. To date, 47 counties in the eastern two-thirds of PA have been infested with this insect. read more