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Cities and towns with “urban forests” such as parks and streets lined with trees could spend less money by taking steps to save emerald ash borer-infested trees early rather than wait until they can only replace them, Purdue University researchers concluded in a study.

Cliff Sadof, professor of Entomology and Matt Ginzel, associate professor in the Department of Entomology and Department of Forestry and Natural Resources, developed a model to help foresters predict the progression of ash decline over time. This model helps them use early reports of damaged trees to alert the community to the imminent threat posed by EAB. The percentage of damaged ash trees in a city typically doubles every year.

Owners of ash trees in Indiana, as well as all around the country, are encouraged to check out the full article provided by Purdue Agriculture News EAB research: Saving trees early less costly than replacing them. You will find several resources on what we can do to aid the ash trees.

Resources:
EAB research: Saving trees early less costly than replacing them – Purdue Agriculture News
Purdue Tree Doctor – Purdue Botany and Plant Pathology
Emerald Ash Borer in Indiana – Purdue Extension
Emerald Ash Borer Cost Calculator – Purdue Extension Entomology
Emerald Ash Borer – Purdue Extension Entomology

 

Cliff Sadof, Professor of Ornamental and Pest Management
Purdue University Department of Entomology

Matt Ginzel, Associate Professor
Department of Entomology and Department of Forestry & Natural Resources

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Purdue Extension-FNR now has another expert-reviewed video to help spread awareness of invasive plant species in Indiana. This video discusses the callery pear, an exotic tree from East Asia that is moving from ornamental plantings to fields and woodlands.

Check out Invasive Plant Species: Callery Pear to learn how to identify the callery pear and how you can join the fight to stop it from spreading further. To learn more about invasive plant species, check out the videos covering oriental bittersweet and wintercreeper, or visit the Invasive Species section of the Purdue Extension website.

Resources:
Invasive Plant Species: Callery Pear – The Education Store, Purdue Extension Resource Center
Invasive Plant Species: Oriental Bittersweet – The Education Store
Invasive Plant Species: Wintercreeper – The Education Store
Invasive Species – Purdue Extension
Indiana’s “Most Unwanted” Invasive Plant Pest List – Indiana Cooperative Agricultural Pest Survey (CAPS) Program

Danny Thomas, Purdue Extension-FNR intern
Purdue University Department of Forestry and Natural Resources

Lenny Farlee, Sustaining Hardwood Extension Specialist
Purdue University Department of Forestry and Natural Resources

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Children today spend an average of 20 minutes outside. Since the dawn of television, video games, and other indoor activities, children are spending more and more of their time indoors and missing out on the many benefits of interacting with nature. Various studies have shown that engaging with nature improves concentration, coordination, creativity, and more. Hands of the Future, Inc. is a nonprofit organization started to educate children about the beauty of nature and help them connect with it.

Hands of the Future, Inc. has several programs for kids to get involved with. The Junior Nature Club is a free after school program for children in pre-kindergarten through the eighth grade that meets every three weeks to learn about nature through games, crafts, and other activities.  The Living Schoolyard Program is a partnership with Indiana schools bringing bits of nature to schools in the forms of “outdoor classrooms” like butterfly gardens and raised bed veggie gardens. A Children’s Forest is even being discussed as Hands of the Future, Inc. becomes more and more successful.

For summer fun sign up for Hands of the Future program! Registration is free.

Volunteers & Interns:
Older students and adults can apply to be a volunteer. Volunteers are always appreciated, no past experience necessary. If you love nature and kids you will enjoy this program. Internships are available for college students, contact Zonda Bryant.

This month’s Junior Nature Club theme is soil, and is taking place on June 21st for pre-kindergarteners to second graders, June 23rd for third to fifth graders, and June 28th for sixth to eighth graders at the Lilly Nature Center at Celery Bog. Look forward to upcoming themes including “Monarch Madness” and “Floating on Air!”

For more information, please check out the Hands of Future, Inc. and Junior Nature Club websites listed below.

Resources:
PK-12 Programs – Purdue FNR Extension

Zonda Bryant, Director
765.366.9126
director@hands-future.org

Purdue Extension Contact:
Rebecca Busse, Extension Associate
Purdue Department of Forestry and Natural Resources
busser@purdue.edu

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Many choices we make in our daily lives can have an impact on the water quality of rivers and streams around us. Animals like the eastern hellbender need clean water for their habitats, and they depend on us to make environmentally friendly choices whenever possible. Small changes to our daily routines such as sweeping sidewalks and driveways instead of hosing them off can improve water quality around us.

The new lesson plan from The Nature of Teaching titled Healthy Water, Happy Home offers a fun way for 4th and 5th grade students to learn about healthy water choices they can make in their home and community, along with learning how to identify aquatic animal species like the eastern hellbender. Healthy Water, Happy Home is available as a free download in The Education Store which includes a board game, vocabulary worksheet, accompanying lesson notes and power point slides for the teacher. It can be used as a 60-90 interactive classroom lesson on water quality. The board game allows students to choose an aquatic species like the northern water snake or water strider as their player piece, travel along the riverbed answering questions along with completing fun and educational tasks about positive water quality choices. The first group to make it to the hellbender, indicating the highest level of water quality, wins the game.

Teachers are highly encouraged to check out Healthy Water, Happy Home as well as the rest of The Nature of Teaching lesson plans for educational wildlife activities for the classroom. To keep updated on resources involving the eastern hellbender conservation efforts, please visit HelpTheHellbender.org.

Resources:
Healthy Water, Happy Home – Lesson Plan – The Education Store, Purdue Extension Resource Center
The Nature of Teaching – Purdue Extension
Lesson Plans – Help the Hellbender
Kids Resources – Help the Hellbender
Hellbender Havoc video game – Google Play Store

Rebecca Busse, Extension Associate
Purdue Department of Forestry and Natural Resources

Rod Williams, Associate Professor of Wildlife Science
Purdue Department of Forestry and Natural Resources

 

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What you do on your property is your choice first and foremost. I commonly get questions or comments related to the need to manage one’s property rather than setting the land aside and let nature take its course. One is not necessarily better than the other, but the outcomes will likely be very different. Certainly keeping land in a more ‘natural’ state provides better habitat for wildlife compared to a parking lot – both scenarios above achieve this. However, there are several reasons why you should at least consider a more active management approach.

The way our landscape is configured now is different from long ago so we can’t expect processes to function the same way as they once did. Setting land aside for preservation often has the goal of letting the land return to pre-settlement conditions. While looking into our past can help inform management decisions, it doesn’t make much sense biologically to completely rely on this approach. At what point in time should it be? Remember, part of the Indiana was covered by glaciers and flocks of passenger pigeons (now extinct) numbering in the billions used to call Indiana home. Just think about what your car looks like after parking under a tree occupied by a few dozen starlings – imagine what billions of birds roosting do to tree limbs and the soil nutrient levels. Moreover, natural processes, or wildlife responses to them, may not be desirable. For example, having too many deer or raccoon may be problematic.

Invasive species have also completely changed the way we view habitat management. Their control requires regular monitoring and appropriate control measures, preferably before they become overabundant.  Simply letting nature take its course can have unintended, and undesirable, consequences. Setting land aside is certainly one option to consider.  Just don’t be mistaken that approach is best for wildlife and our natural resources.

I would argue it is better to inventory what you have on your property, identify what you want out of your land out of potential options, and then determine the approach that meets these objectives.

To learn more about this active style of property management, read Wildlife Extension Specialist Brian MacGowan‘s publication “Assessing Your Land’s Potential for Wildlife.”

Resources:
Assessing Your Land’s Potential for Wildlife – The Education Store, Purdue Extension Resource Center
Woodland Wildlife Management – The Education Store
Managing Forest & Wildlife Resources: An Integrated Approach – The Education Store
Forest Management for Reptiles and Amphibians: A Technical Guide for the Midwest – The Education Store
How to Construct a Scent Station – Purdue FNR Extension

Brian MacGowan, Extension Wildlife Specialist
Purdue Department of Forestry and Natural Resources

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Hellbenders have been rapidly declining since the 1980s due to various factors, including poor water quality.  Many ecological issues contribute to poor water quality, and one important issue we can focus on is how we use the land around rivers and streams. Livestock operations produce a lot of nutrients – largely in the form of manure. When next to a river, this can flow into the water, which reduces water quality through the high nutrient input and added sedimentation.  However, livestock owners can greatly reduce the impact of their operations on water quality using a number of different management practices.

In this new video “Improving Water Quality at Your Livestock Operation,” we focus on how livestock owners can use management practices on their farm that improve water quality while still meeting their production goals. Bob Sawtelle, a livestock owner along the Blue River, uses a forested riparian buffer to filter out runoff from his cattle pen, resulting in cleaner water and healthier wildlife. In this video, he discusses the ecological and economic benefits to this practice in further detail.

Please visit the Help the Hellbender website for more information about other management practices that improve water quality, and also check out the National Resource Conservation Services website (NRCS) for news and other information related to soil and resource conservation.

Resources:
Improving Water Quality At Your Livestock Operation – The Education Store, Purdue Extension Resource Center
Improving Water Quality Around Your Farm – The Education Store
Options for Farmers – Help the Hellbender
Identifying Benefits and Barriers Associated with Reforesting Riparian Corridors – Purdue Engineering
Riparian Area Management – United States Environmental Protection Agency

Megan Kuechle, Undergraduate Extension Intern
Purdue Department of Forestry and Natural Resources

Dr. Rod Williams, Associate Head of FNR Extension and Associate Professor of Wildlife Science
Purdue Department of Forestry and Natural Resources

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Hellbenders have been rapidly declining since the 1980s due to various factors, including poor water quality.  Poor water quality is caused by a variety of ecological issues, one of which is land use along the river. Farmers can reduce the impact of their farming practices on water quality using a number of different management practices.

In this new video “Improving Water Quality Around Your Farm,” we focus on how farmers can use management practices on their farm that improves water quality while still meeting their production goals. Todd Armstrong, a farmer on the Blue River, uses cover crops and no till farming to reduce soil erosion and describes the ecological and economic benefits to these practices in this video.

Please visit the Help the Hellbender website for more information regarding other management practices that improve water quality, and also check out the National Resource Conservation Services website (NRCS) for news and other information related to soil and resource conservation.

Resources:
Improving Water Quality Around Your Farm – The Education Store, Purdue Extension Resource Center
Options for Farmers – Help the Hellbender
Water Quality – National Resource Conservation Service (NRCS)
Managing Cover Crops: An Introduction to Integrating Cover Crops Into a Corn-Soybean Rotation – The Education Store
Adoption of Agricultural Conservation Practices: Insights from Research and Practice – The Education Store

Megan Kuechle, Undergraduate Extension Intern
Purdue Department of Forestry and Natural Resources

Dr. Rod Williams, Associate Head of FNR Extension and Associate Professor of Wildlife Science
Purdue Department of Forestry and Natural Resources

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Have you ever wanted to set up your own scent station? Here’s a great video that will teach you how! Scent stations are a non-invasive alternative to other trapping methods for determining what species of wildlife populate an area. Scent stations work by using a scent lure surrounded by sand in which animals will leave their tracks. These tracks can then be identified later for each species that visits the scent station.

However, it can be difficult to set up an animal scent station for the first time. In this video, Robert Cordes, assistant regional wildlife biologist at the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, shows you step-by-step how to construct your own scent station.

“How to Construct a Scent Station” is a companion to Lesson 2 in The Nature of Teaching’s Unit 1: Animal Diversity and Tracking. This free lesson plan includes a data sheet you can fill out after setting up your scent station, as well as other fun projects that can be used in a classroom. You can find other free lesson plans at the Nature of Teaching website with topics like food webs, watersheds, and the scientific method.

Resources:
How to Construct a Scent Station – The Education Store, Purdue Extension Resource Center
The Nature of Teaching Unit 1: Animal Diversity and Tracking – The Education Store
The Nature of Teaching – Purdue Extension
Nature Publications – The Nature of Teaching

Megan Kuechle, Undergraduate Extension Intern
Purdue Department of Forestry and Natural Resources

Dr. Rod Williams, Associate Head of Extension and Associate Professor of Wildlife Science
Purdue Department of Forestry and Natural Resources

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Pesticides are a great way for farmers and homeowners to protect plants against insects and disease. However, sometimes pesticide ends up where it isn’t supposed to – on neighboring properties like homes, schools, and parks. This is called pesticide drift, and it can be very dangerous to your health and damaging to property. You have the legal right to be free from pesticide drift, and it is important to be able to recognize it and understand what to do next if you are experiencing it. Purdue Extension-Pesticide Program has a new publication titled “Options for Dealing with a Pesticide Drift Incident” sharing resources to help simplify that process, explore what exactly pesticide drift is, what causes it, and what steps you can take to resolve it. The publication is available as a free download in The Education Store, so those interested can take a look and be sure to stay safe and informed about pesticide drift.

Resources:
Options for Dealing with a Pesticide Drift Incident – The Education Store, Purdue Extension Resource Center
Driftwatch: Watch Out for Pesticide Drift and Organic Production – Purdue Extension
Agricultural Plant Pest Control – The Education Store
Purdue Pesticide Programs – Purdue Agriculture
National Pesticide Information Center – U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
District Forester (forestry landowners with 10+acres) – Indiana Department of Natural Resources
Directory of Professional Foresters – Indiana Forestry & Woodland Owners Association

Michael O’Donnell, Purdue Extension Educator of Delaware County
Purdue University Department of Botany and Plant Pathology

Roy Ballard, Purdue Extension Educator of Hancock County
Purdue University Department of Agriculture

Fred Whitford, Clinical Engagement Professor of Purdue Pesticide Programs
Purdue University Department of Botany and Plant Pathology

Joe Becovitz, Pesticide Investigator
Office of Indiana State Chemist

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When you hear about endangered species, most of us think about the plights of our furry or feathered friends.

This article describes the plight of some of the less cuddly members of the endangered species list.

Indiana is home to a number of endangered and threatened tree species. In this multi-part series, we will identify some of these tree species and describe some of their unique characteristics.

Our second species is the Butternut (Juglans cinerea), known also by lemon-nut, oil nut, or white walnut. It is a close relative of the more common black walnut. Butternut is a small/medium sized tree that most often reaches a maximum height of 60 to 90 ft., although some trees as tall as 120 ft. have been reported. This short-lived tree often has a forked or crooked trunk and wide-spreading branches, although it can grow straight in forest settings. It rarely reaches 75 years of age or greater than 24 in dbh. Butternut trees are easily grown and have quickly developing fibrous root systems. Butternuts produce both male and female flowers on the same tree and have bright green compound pinnate leaves (alternate) that extend to between 15 and 25 inches.

Butternut trees are more valued for their nuts than for lumber as the nuts are sweet and prized as a food source by both humans and wildlife. In fact, these trees served as one of the primary mast species for numerous woodland species prior to its sudden population decline. The average seed-bearing age for butternut is 20 and becomes optimal between 30 and 60 years. Heavy crops occur every 2 to 3 years but nuts are produced each year after seed-bearing age is reached. Butternut is able to naturally hybridize with several other walnut (Juglans) species. The nuts collected from most Juglans spp. including butternut can vary in size and shape however, distinctive differences among species can be noted.

Similar to black walnut, the roots of butternut trees release a chemical known as juglone. Juglone (5 hydroxy-1, 4 naphthoquinone) is toxic to a number of plant species. Planting ornamental plants such as azaleas, lilacs, peonies, and rhododendrons, or fruits and vegetables like blueberries, eggplants, peppers, potatoes, and tomatoes near butternut trees is discouraged, as juglone from the butternut roots may kill them or stunt their growth. The toxic zone around walnuts extends 60 to 80 ft. from the base of the trunk, or about twice the size of the crown, and it is likely the same for butternut. Juglone has never been shown to harm humans, but butternut husks exude a strong dye that stains clothing and skin.

Butternut was once a common tree in North America. Its range was expansive; in Canada from Manitoba east to Quebec, south to Georgia and west to Arkansas. In the past, the states with the most robust butternut timber trades were West Virginia, Wisconsin, Indiana, and Tennessee. Butternut trees are found almost exclusively in mixed hardwood forests composed primarily of basswood (Tilia spp.), black cherry (Prunus serotina), beech (Fagus grandifolia), black walnut (Juglans nigra), elm (Ulmus spp.), hemlock (Tsuga canadensis), hickory (Carya spp.), Oak (Quercus spp.), red maple (Acer rubrum), sugar maple (A. saccharum), yellow-poplar (Liriodendron tulipifera), white ash (Fraxinus americana), and yellow birch (Betula alleghaniensis), although in the northernmost portions of its range it can also be found with sweet birch (Betula lenta) or white pine (Pinus strobus). Typically, a stand only contains a few butternut trees as they thrive best among mixed forests.

The ranges of butternut and black walnut (Juglans nigra) are similar, however butternut is found farther north and at higher elevations (1500 m) than black walnut. Unfortunately, butternut tree populations have declined significantly throughout the majority of its former range. Conservative estimates have indicated that roughly 13,000 trees remain in Ontario and between 7,000 and 17,000 in New Brunswick. The Forest Service estimated that greater than 77 percent of butternut populations in the southeastern United States had succumbed to the fungus twenty years ago. Today, those estimates approach 90 percent nationwide. A subset of these remaining trees are nearly dead and carrying heavy infection loads, while most of the remaining trees are not reproducing.

A fungal disease known as butternut canker has decimated populations of butternut trees throughout their native range. The causal agent of butternut canker is Ophiognomonia clavigignenti-juglandacearum. The speed at which butternut populations have disappeared has led many to believe that butternut canker was yet another introduced pathogen. The primary hallmarks of butternut canker disease are numerous branch and stem cankers. These lesions are typically elliptical in shape and have sunken centers with a dark brown or black exudate stain that can be easily seen against butternut’s ashy grey bark.

Aside from butternut canker disease, butternuts are also in danger from a host of insect pests such as bark beetles, the butternut curculio, defoliators, husk flies, lace bugs, nut weevils, and wood borers. Unlike the American chestnut (Castanea dentata), the tree described in our first blog entry on trees at risk, the great majority of butternut do not sprout after stem death. Butternut is now rare everywhere, but most of the few populations that still exist are found in riparian areas. At present, insufficient knowledge about management of butternut and how to regenerate butternut seedlings in natural forest stands has hindered strategies for conservation. Some butternut trees have survived; these paltry few trees may show some resistance to butternut canker, but that is still being evaluated. A Japanese Juglans species, Japanese walnut (Juglans ailantifolia), appears more resistant to butternut canker than is butternut, so researchers in Tennessee have begun butternut restoration using hybrids between Japanese walnut and butternut. A breeding strategy using these hybrids, known by the common name buartnut or buarts, may be a promising avenue for the restoration of a butternut-type tree to the eastern forest. Backcrossing buarts to butternuts and development of a disease screening technique could be a step towards restoring this species, however progress towards this goal has been slow.

Resources:
Surviving Butternut Trees Benefit From Better Sites Rather than Disease Resistance – USDA Forest Service
A Forest Manger’s Guide to Butternut – USDA Forest Service
Butternut Profile – USDA Forest Service
Endangered Trees of Indiana: Part 1 – American Chestnut (Castanea dentata) – Got Nature?
The Morton Arboretum 

Shaneka Lawson, USDA Forest Service and HTIRC Research Plant Physiologist & Adjunct Assistant Professor
Purdue University Department of Forestry and Natural Resources

Keith Woeste, Adjunct Professor Emeritus, USDA Forest Service and HTIRC Research Plant Physiologist
Purdue University Department of Forestry and Natural Resources

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