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A Non-Native Forest Invader Alters Forest Structure And The Associated Arthropod Community, Matthew B. Savage

Theses and Dissertations--Entomology

The emerald ash borer (EAB, Agrilus planipennis Fairmaire) (Coleoptera: Buprestidae) is a non-native wood boring beetle that is causing extensive ash (Fraxinus spp.) mortality in eastern North America, affecting both urban and wildland forests and drastically altering forest structure and composition. As EAB-induced ash mortality progresses, native arthropod associates of ash forests are impacted by the effects of rapid and broad scale tree mortality. These include loss of food source, increased canopy gap formation, alterations in litter inputs causing shifting temperature and moisture regimes on the forest floor, and significant accumulation of coarse woody debris.

I assessed the sub-canopy …