Kristine Johnson
Wednesday, October 15, 2008 - 11:00-11:30
Hemlock woolly adelgid was found in Great Smoky Mountains National Park in 2002. While the park has aggressively implemented integrated pest management strategies to save its vast hemlock forests, impacts are devastating and dramatic. Studies conducted in the northeast, particularly at Delaware Water Gap, indicate changes in forest structure and species composition as well as in stream temperatures. Research documenting baseline pre-infestation conditions in the Smokies began in the early 1990s, and current studies are now assessing the early impacts of massive hemlock mortality to streams, forest composition, and diverse hemlock associates including birds, mychorrizal fungi, and arthropods.
Keywords: HEMLOCK WOOLLY ADELGID