I’d also love to see what a $30,000 European Beech looks like. There are some at my work place that must be worth a million, until they are attacked by killer nematodes. Wtf
I first saw it 2 summers ago on isolated patches. By that fall I saw it in more places. Then it was a few leaves with the light/dark green zebra stripe pattern. Last year it was much more wide spread and now it’s on pretty much every beach tree. Haven’t seen stands with complete die off yet but it’s coming. There’s a lot of open canopy now. I do think the birds are what spread it so fast.
I’ve been seeing this in the beech trees here in SE CT for the last 18 months or so. I’m out in the woods with the dogs daily so I get to see a lot. I’ve heard that the fact that beech tree try to survive by sending out shoots ( sorry if my terminology is off) will give other vegetation a tough time as well.
First chestnut... then ash... I haven't noticed the beeches being affected here, there are some smaller beech in the woods behind my home. I will have to take a closer look...
Drove by a grove of beech today and could see they are affected. Sunlight reaching ground and sparse leaves on them. Sad.
100% correct and it’s a gift each continent passes onto every other continent. Invasive species are one of the biggest threats to biodiversity around the globe.
I noticed this just yesterday at our gun club. I hadn't payed attention to it before but now, it looks like are Beech Tree leaves are wilting and turning for fall colors, (not the norm).
There’s beech trees down in Cape May? Outside of one’s planted in yards, I didn’t think we had them that far down in south Jersey.
Yeah, there isn't many and very sparse in areas but we do have some. They're near a wettish area on our club, not many. We back up to a wetlands area. I'll snap a pic someday with my camera. They (May) have been planted years back because they are of considerable size. Our club has been here since 1949
There are only a handful of positive things I can see coming from a massive beech die-off. First, it should increase public awareness of the unintended consequences of... certain types of policies. Second, with beech stands dying, it will create a vacuum in the forest that will be filled by other species. Areas that were previously shaded will be flooded with light, and new trees will take hold. Oaks, hickories, maples, birch, etc. There will be a glut of beech firewood to go around for a while. I know it's not much of a lumber species, but I'm sure a good amount of it will live on in lumber form. Standing dead snags will provide wildlife habitat for years. Still, if the forests of the future are devoid of beech, that's going to be an immeasurable loss.
This picture (from Rutgers university webpage) shows what the diseased leaves look like. I went out back after work and looked at the leaves on the beech trees here but didn't see anything like this... yet that is... Also the trees I found are quite young, I don't know if that makes a difference.
same story i just posted a thread on..channel 8 news. Im about ten minutes from Sleeping Giant SP where it was shot.
It looks like there are some pesticides and nematicides available and using one as a drench could maybe save your trees.
I use Macho 2.0 as a drench for trees, pumpkins, you name it (unless it's something I'm going to eat within the effective window). It's literally a "bloop" into a gallon of water. One pint goes a long way.
Bummer. But I guess on the bright side, beech is a pretty awesome firewood......so at least there is that.
It's here too, I took a walk into my woods and found 3 Beech trees in various stages of BLD. I have more Beech and wanted to check further but the skeeters chased me out of the woods. All this rain has raised a crop of them like you read about.
