Caught the story tonight. More or less what Chud's thread said. First ash and now beech....WTH?https://www.wtnh.com/news/connecticut/new-haven/expert-all-beech-trees-in-connecticut-will-die/
I watched the whole story standing in front of the TV and couldnt believe it. They have the video on the WTNH site which more or less says the same. I couldnt copy paste that video. How soon should we start cutting them down? Wonder if any will put out leaves next year? I have to check the solo tree next to my PA/stacks at storage where you got that elm. That tree was healthy last year. Held onto its leaves late into the Winter.
We don't have many in my area, but used to have tons of it back in WV. Dont recall dad ever cutting any of it as we had tons of oak. They were always massive trees around those parts.
Last year it was mild in the spots I saw it in Middletown. This year it’s extreme. I’m assuming next year or the year after is when the large scale die offs will start. I think the sooner they get cut, (once dead) the better if indeed they are all doomed. Beech doesn’t have a long shelf life as you know. I wouldn’t go cut any healthy ones proactively though. On the off chance there’s natural resistance in certain individuals, I think only dead or dying ones should be cut. I better take pictures of the large mature beeches I know of. They’re fading into history fast. Terrible tragedy.
Weve had it in Michigan for a few years now. The whole thing is very bizzare though on how its spreading.
Not beech related specifically, but the same concept applies. Between EAB, BLD, and spongy (gypsy) moths, there will be plenty of ecological niches to fill. Hundreds of trees will be cut in CT state forest. But it's not all bad news, wildlife officials say
This is really a sad thing. At least with chestnut and maybe EAB ( not sure on that one ), perhaps a tree every now and then is resistant to the disease in question. That article was pretty clear that 100 percent of the trees will die. I hope they’re wrong. Not sure what the future is like with a forest becoming less and less diverse. At least in the northeast, the black birch will jump into that opening in the forest floor. I love black birch for a lot of reasons but jeez.
It is really sad... and then we have to ask, what will be next? What can we do now to save the trees we still have?
In the case of the chestnut, none are immune but some have varying levels of resistance to the blight. Chestnut's ability to sprout from the roots and its rapid growth habit when exposed to ample sunlight has allowed the species to hang on, although its mostly relegated to an understory shrub. In the case of EAB, there are still plenty of young ash seedlings and saplings that the beetles can't infect yet, which buys them a few years. They're working on breeding and biological control so we'll have to wait and see. With beech, they grow notoriously slow. Any breeding program will be challenging. If they could find a biological control for the nematodes that won't have a negative ripple effect in the rest of our environment, that would be great but it's a tall order and the disease has moved alarmingly fast. I've seen 6" tall beech shoots infected, so the young and old individuals are susceptible.
Wow! Not good news at all. It’s tough to see another tree species impacted. Sadly, didn’t take long to see the EAB damage.
Back in CT and in a patch of woods we know well. The beech disease is progressing quickly from what the leaves look like compared to last year. I was telling my wife that we should be keeping our heads up on breezy days in the next few years. There should be a good bit of dead beech in this patch of woods soon.
Noticed the beech at my stepdaughters were affected. Although this giant one seemed to have healthy leaves for the most part.
Good to see the big tree is ok for now. our normal hike has an eerie amount of sunlight in places compared to the past.
Been meaning to check the lone beech at my wood storage with all this talk of them being diseased. Looks very healthy. The only one i see in the area so maybe they havent found it yet. Be interesting to see how long, if ever, before it gets infected.
That's good. It's not everywhere.... yet. Bristol seems to be in the beginning stages of it. Plenty of trees still healthy there. Middletown is in rough shape though. I haven't been to many other places in CT lately so I have no idea how the rest of the state is fairing.
