New York City’s ash trees are on their last limb.
Scientists have discovered the emerald ash borer in Prospect Park, and experts say it may only be a matter of time before the lethal larvae kill most — if not all — of the 50,000 ash trees in the city.
“It’s not good,” said Jennifer Greenfeld, assistant Parks commissioner for forestry, horticulture and natural resources.
“We feel like we will eventually lose our ashes, and it’s just a matter of how we treat the impact.”
Researchers last week confirmed the invasive Asian beetle has attacked three trees in the Brooklyn park.
The borers — which resemble small glittery grasshoppers — were first discovered in the U.S. in Michigan in 2002 and in New York state in Cattaraugus County in 2009.
They’ve since spread to more than 30 counties in New York and have claimed hundreds of millions of ash trees across the country in the past 15 years.
The larvae kill trees by eating their way through the trunks, cutting off the water supply and leaving serpentine patterns under the bark.
Greenfeld said the city and state are working together to slow the spread and remove infested trees before they weaken and fall. They will also attempt to save landmark ash trees, and have collected ash seeds to plant new trees once the beetle is gone. The three infected trees in Prospect Park have been removed.
“The good news,” Greenfeld said, is that less than 3 percent of street trees and less than 1 percent of trees in parks are ashes.
“The not so good thing,” she said, “is nobody who has met the emerald ash borer has yet to defeat it.”