Spring has Sprung!
May 2022 Journal
Happy Spring! As our temperatures slowly warm up the insects of our forests are becoming more and more active. Many species that may have overwintered as tiny larvae are beginning to feed once again; adults within pupae that remained safe and warm within the forest floor are preparing to emerge and egg masses that survived the wintry blasts are starting to hatch.
We want to take a moment to thank all our project members and iNaturalist participants for their numerous observations during our first year. As of today, you have submitted over 2500 observations of forest pest species. All submissions aid in our understanding of species distribution and seasonal occurrence. For example, observations have extended the known flight period of the whitemarked tussock moth in the province by almost a month. The data has also indicated a potential population increase of the same species along the Digby shore, information not previously collected in our annual surveys for this species.
Submitted observations of invasive species, such as the hemlock woolly adelgid, emerald ash borer and the beech leaf mining weevil, by community science contributors enhance our own monitoring efforts and help reinforce our distribution data for these species. It is hoped that these observations can also alert us to or provide early detection of new invasive species. This was the case in 2020 when numerous observations reported the presence of adult browntail moths at porch lights in Cumberland County and southwestern Nova Scotia. These reports resulted in a 2021 spring egg search to find evidence of establishment of this pest. Thankfully no eggs were detected.
As we step into year two of our project, we look forward to expanding our species list as well as highlighting several forest pest species over the course of the year. Our continued engagement with iNaturalist will help to provide a better understanding of forest pest species and their presence throughout the province.
For additional information on forest pests of Nova Scotia, please check out our Pests of the Acadian Forest Field Guide at:
https://novascotia.ca/natr/woodlot/pdf/Woodlot-Field-Guide-to-Pests-of-the-Acadian-Forest.pdf
Please forward any questions related to this project to forest.health@novascotia.ca
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