Olivia Bigham, a PhD student in the Ginzel Lab at Purdue University recently presented on Sassafras Wilt in Indiana on the Emerald Ash Borer (EAB) University webinar series, a national webinar series highlighting forest insect, disease, and health research and extension.
Since 2019, sassafras trees in the Central Hardwood Forest Region have been wilting, yet the cause remains unknown. Initially, it was suspected that laurel wilt, a deadly disease of sassafras and other laurel species, had spread. However, neither its primary insect vector (Xyleborus glabratus) nor the causal agent of laurel wilt (Harringtonia lauricola) have been detected. However, investigations of material from wilting trees revealed two non-native ambrosia beetles (Xylosandrus germanus and X. crassiusculus) and a potentially novel fungus closely related to Ophiostoma quercus.
Learn more about this emerging issue and what is being done in this YouTube video.
