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Emerald ash borer (EAB; Agrilus planipennis) has killed millions of ash trees and threatens ash throughout North America, and long-term persistence of ash will depend on the potential for regeneration. We quantified ash demography, including mortality and regeneration, of Fraxinus americana (white ash), Fraxinus pennsylvanica (green ash), and Fraxinus nigra (black ash) in mixed hardwood forests near the epicenter of the EAB invasion in southeastern Michigan and throughout Ohio. Plots were established across a gradient of ash densities. Ash was the most important species in hydric sites, and ranked second among all species in mesic and xeric sites. In sites nearest the epicenter in Michigan, ash mortality exceeded 99 % by 2009, and few or no newly germinated ash seedlings were observed, leaving only an “orphaned cohort” of established ash seedlings and saplings. As ash mortality increased …