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.
Recommended Citation
Bean, Meredith, "If You Give a Beetle a Maple: Anoplophora Glabripennis Habitat Selection Patterns on an Island in South Carolina" (2022). All Theses. 3943.
https://tigerprints.clemson.edu/all_theses/3943