Presented by Iryna Matsiakh - Doctor of Biological Science - Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences

Iryna Matsiakh will be rounding out our seminar series with a talk on the unique boxwood forests (Buxus colchica) in the Caucasus: their habitat, ecology and biodiversity. Dr. Matsiakh is Dr. in Forestry at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Southern Swedish Forest Research Centre and in the Forestry Department of the Ukrainian National Forestry University. Boxwood trees growing in the Caucasus Mountains are threatened by habitat loss and defoliation by an introduced disease, boxwood blight, and an introduced insect, the box tree moth Cydalima perspectalis. Dr. Matsiakh’s story will include invasive species introductions, actions taken by forestry authorities against box tree moth, research studies and the current situation in boxwood forests.