Volunteers are needed to assist in a special project occurring at SUNY Oswego's Rice Creek Field Station to determine if biocontrol species that have been deployed at the site can naturally suppress populations of the invasive emerald ash borers that have become established.
Targeting all native species of ash trees, the emerald ash borer has spread to 36 states including New York, and is responsible for the death and decline of tens of millions of ash trees, researchers said.
Starting in 2022, the St. Lawrence Eastern Lake Ontario Partnership for Regional Invasive Species Management (SLELO PRISM), Oswego County Soil and Water Conservation District and Rice Creek Field Station staff have participated in the United States Department of Agriculture Aphis Emerald Ash Borer Biocontrol Program at Rice Creek, releasing natural enemies of the species with the hope they will establish resident populations and provide a long-term solution to the invasive beetle's damage.
Anyone 18 or over can participate in one or more surveys. No experience is needed; however, SUNY Oswego students in the biological sciences and with interests in entomology or field studies are highly encouraged to participate.
Volunteers will join surveys held each week on Wednesdays, at 10 a.m., from June 5 through Sept. 25. During the surveys, specimens will be collected from pan traps that are set up along some of the trails at the field station.
Specimens collected from the traps will be examined through microscopes at the field station and sent to a lab for confirmation.
Identification keys and guidance will be provided during each survey by the SLELO PRISM Terrestrial Restoration and Resilience Coordinator Robert Smith, and a recorded training is available.
Those interested in volunteering for this project should sign up at sleloinvasives.org/event/volunteer-to-assist-biocontrol-monitoring-project/ or call 315-522-1258. The opportunity is also posted on the SLELO PRISM Facebook page.
-- Submitted by Rice Creek Field Station and SLELO PRISM