UMass Extension’s Invasive Insect Webinar Series 2023

9:00-10:15AM:  Forest Pest Risk is Heating Up with Climate Change

Audrey Barker-Plotkin, Senior Scientist and Site & Research Manager, Harvard Forest
Insect pests and pathogens, and climate change, each threaten forest health. But what happens when the two are combined? Climate change brings pests to new areas, makes pests more damaging, reduces trees’ defenses to pests, and can alter how forests recover after pest disturbance. Strategies for managing the combined impacts of forest pests and climate change include preventing new pest introductions, resisting pest spread by treating individual trees and diversifying forest stands, promoting more resilient forests that can rebound from pests, and helping forests transition to a state better adapted to our future climate.

10:30-11:45AM:  Spotted Lanternfly Updates for Massachusetts from MA Department of Agricultural Resources

Elizabeth Barnes, Forest Pest Outreach Coordinator, MA Department of Agricultural Resources
The MA Department of Agricultural Resources (MDAR) will provide updates on the current status of the invasive spotted lanternfly in Massachusetts. A brief review of the biology, hosts, and identification of this insect will be discussed. Presenters will also discuss the established populations of this insect in MA along with MDAR survey and response efforts. 

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