Talbot Trotter
Northern Research Station Program, U.S. Forest Service

Biological Control of Invasive Species: Efforts to Control The Hemlock Woolly Adelgid With Imported Beetles

Talbot Trotter is a Research Ecologist with the USDA Forest Service
Northern Research Station. His research has focused on modeling complex
systems, particularly arthropod communities in North American forests.

Currently, Talbot is involved in the efforts to mitigate the impact of the
Hemlock Woolly Adelgid (Adegles tsugae), an introduced adelgid species that
threatens eastern and Carolina hemlock stands in the eastern US. The use
of biological controls has often been attempted in systems, with varying
levels of success. The efficacy and probability of success can however be
improved through system modeling, as indicated by an analysis of the
ladybeetle Scymnus sinuanodulus, a predator of the Hemlock Woolly Adelgid.