Emerald Ash Borer Woodlot Inventory - Town of Ajax, ON
Aboud & Associates inventoried and assessed individual Ash trees in 86.5 hectares of municipally owned woodlots.
Emerald Ash Borer is a devastating exotic pest that has infested and killed over 70 million Ash trees in Ontario and many parts of the United States since first discovered in 2002. Once infested with the pest, mortality is nearly 100% within one to three years. The rapid decline of 7% of Ajax’s urban forest presented serious management and liability issues.
Aboud & Associates inventoried and assessed individual Ash trees in 86.5 hectares of municipal owned woodlots. International Society of Arboriculture (ISA) Tree Risk Assessment Qualified personnel established risk zones of trees with probable or imminent likelihood of failure adjacent sidewalks, trails and backyards. This was used by the Town to coordinate and prioritize tree removals and manage risk.
Data was integrated into the town-wide tree inventory to allow for efficient tendering and completion of work using individual GPS tree locations, tree size and condition assessments. Removal of the remaining Ash trees in moderate to low-risk zones in 2017 and 2018 was a straightforward exercise based on the detailed data and precision of tree locations.
The assessment of individual trees with direct on the ground field observations, rather than using a broad-based GIS landscape analysis approach, allowed Council to quickly validate staff requests for budget allocation for immediate and 3-year work plans.
