Bugs’ Infestation is Much Worse Than in Chicago
BEIJING -- Fall 1999 In rural areas across northern China, the pest is known as "the forest fire without smoke."
In many of this capital city's parks, it's as common as groups of Chinese practicing tai chi, children flying colorful kites and elderly men taking caged birds for a stroll.
While Chicagoans have seen the devastation the tree-killing Asian long-horned beetle can bring, it is a small bite.
In China, the beetle has proliferated virtually uncontrolled, decimating rural trees and urban greenery.
While estimates on the beetle's impact here vary widely, Western and Chinese scientists say hundreds of millions--if not billions--of trees have been infested by Asian long-horned beetles or cut down to stop their spread.
One Chinese study claims that Asian long-horned beetles have caused $100 million in damage and infested half of the trees over 5,000 square miles, an area more than five times larger than Cook County. Another media account tells of how 142 million trees were destroyed by the beetle in one province over a six-year period.
Yet another study claims the beetle had moved into more than 240 cities in the five hardest-hit provinces in northern China.
"It's a disaster," said Larry Hanks, an entomologist at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. "It doesn't bode well for our situation in the U.S."
Agreed Beijing Forestry University Professor Youqing Luo, one of the leading long-horned beetle researchers in China: "It's a very bad situation."
Originally the beetle reportedly did little harm while contained in its native habitat --thought to be natural forests in one or two provinces in northern China. Natural enemies kept populations in check in those forests.
But in the last three decades, as trade increased among provinces, beetle larvae stowed away in wood used to make crates or pallets, similar to how scientists believe the beetle came to the United States.
In 1978, the government launched a reforestation project to replace the forests clear-cut to make farmland in previous decades. The government planted poplar trees because of their ability to grow quickly in harsh climates.
But as it turned out, the poplars were a favorite of the beetle, too. With little diversity among the densely planted trees and few natural enemies outside the forest, the beetle flourished.
The beetle also has hit urban areas across China, although not as hard as rural areas. But in one park on the west side of Beijing, dozens of willow trees resemble skeletons, riddled with holes so large it's possible to see directly through some branches.
"I've found Asian long-horned beetles all over Beijing," said Shaoming Huang, a researcher at Beijing Forestry University.
The Chinese continue to battle the bug, with little success. But they are now planting a broader diversity of trees with help from Germany and Japan.
While disturbing, scientists caution against gleaning too much from the experience in China. Urban trees and forests in the United States are made up of a greater variety of tree species, including many believed to be resistant to the beetle.
On the downside, there also are fewer natural enemies of the beetle in the United States that could keep populations in check.
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