It’s Cold Outside

April 20th, 2014 | Posted in: Did You Know

“Baby, it’s cold outside” — and that’s VERY good for most agriculture, trees and the environment, in general.
Deep frost kills plant pathogens and insect larvae by the billions. That means fewer aphids, beetles and emerald ash borers.

Effect on Tree Pathogens. Updraft – MPR News Weather and underlying science. “Extreme cold may wipe out high percentage of emerald ash borer larvae.” http://blogs.mprnews.org/updraft/2014/01/extreme-cold-may-wipe-out-high-percentage-emerald-ash-borer-larvae/

Other articles on this subject:

Zhou, X., R. Harrington, et al. (1995). “Effects of temperature on aphid phenology.” Global Change Biology 1(4):303-313.
Rosenzweig, C., A. Iglesias, et al. (2001). “Climate Change and Extreme Weather Events: Implications for Food Production, Plant Diseases, and Pests.” Global Change & Human Health 2(2):90-104.
Liu, D. and J.T. Trumble (2007). “Comparative fitness of invasive and native populations of the potato psylid (Bactericera cockerelli).” Entomolgia Experimentalis et Applicata 123(1):35-42.
Parmesan, C. (2006). “Ecological and Evolutionary Responses to Recent Climate Change.” Annual Review of Ecology, Evolution, and Systematics 37(1):637-669.