Date of Award

12-2022

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Department

Forestry and Environmental Conservation

Committee Chair/Advisor

David R Coyle

Committee Member

R Talbot Trotter III

Committee Member

R Kyle Barrett

Committee Member

Jessica A Hartshorn

Abstract

At the epicenter of the Asian longhorned beetle (Anoplophora glabripennis Motschulsky) quarantine zone in South Carolina, a small island containing an actively growing subpopulation of A. glabripennis had not completely killed its 37 host trees in 2020. Before these trees were removed and destroyed according to the USDA Eradication Program protocols, I performed an observational study to examine the microhabitat selection tendencies of the invasive A. glabripennis within this satellite infestation. After cataloging >14,000 oviposition sites and >1,600 exit holes created by A. glabripennis, I found dispersal trends according to a host’s stem status (single or multi-stemmed), vertical placement within the trees, and with respect to the first-infested tree on-site. Despite differences between the modeled spread (“ALBRisk”) and actual spread site-wide, the model performs well for broad-scale spatial trends in A. glabripennis spread. In this thesis, I report these findings and discuss how they could improve future survey efforts for A. glabripennis.

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