In 2002 the first beetle showed up in traps at Port Wentworth in Savannah, Ga. This year in South Carolina Hunting Island State Park, volunteers counted 2,068 dead trees within 30 feet of the parks’ roads and trails in February and experts are now nervous for the fate of the entire population.

The trees are often used by landscapers because of their drought-tolerance, but can be replaced. But as one of the eight major tree species in coastal forests, the redbay plays a large role in the ecosystem, according to Laurie Reid, an entomologist with the South Carolina Forestry Commission.

The beetle problem is not exclusive to South Carolina. Damaged redbays have been found in 32 counties here and in Georgia and Florida.

Federal officials and forestry and agricultural scientists from the three states have been monitoring the disease caused by the beetle since 2004.