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Termites Weakening FL Trees Before Hurricane Season

WGCU | By Rachel Iacovone,
Julie Glenn, Mike Kiniry
Published May 14, 2018 at 12:43 PM EDT
These flying alates were collected as they came out of their nests in the ground during the early days of the rainy season.
Tim Cowley
These flying alates were collected as they came out of their nests in the ground during the early days of the rainy season.

A new University of Florida study suggests that there could be even more felled trees the next time a hurricane makes landfall in the state— not because of the rise of super storms or stronger wind conditions but because of termites.

That’s right. The tiny, wood-boring insects could be the reason why many more trees fall over.

That's according to the research of Dr. Thomas Chouvenc. The UF/IFAS assistant professor of urban entomology joins Gulf Coast Live to talk about the invasive species infesting Florida trees.

For the visually minded, UF/IFAS also has a map of termite populations near your neighborhood.

Copyright 2018 WGCU
State News
Rachel Iacovone
RachelIacovoneis a reporter and associate producer ofGulf Coast LiveforWGCU News. Rachel came toWGCU as an intern in 2016, during the presidential race. She went on to cover Florida Gulf Coast University students at President Donald Trump's inauguration on Capitol Hill and Southwest Floridians in attendance at the following day's Women's March on Washington.
See stories by Rachel Iacovone
Julie Glenn
Julie Glenn is the host of Gulf Coast Live. She has been working in southwest Florida as a freelance writer since 2007, most recently as a regular columnist for the Naples Daily News. She began her broadcasting career in 1993 as a reporter/anchor/producer for a local CBS affiliate in Quincy, Illinois. After also working for the NBC affiliate, she decided to move to Parma, Italy where she earned her Master’s degree in communication from the University of Gastronomic Sciences. Her undergraduate degree in Mass Communication is from the University of Missouri at Kansas City.
See stories by Julie Glenn
Mike Kiniry
Mike Kiniry is producer of Gulf Coast Live, and co-creator and host of the WGCU podcast Three Song Stories: Biography Through Music. He first joined the WGCU team in the summer of 2003 as an intern while studying Communication at Florida Gulf Coast University.
See stories by Mike Kiniry