Does ash know EAB is coming?

[TradEddie]

EAB has not yet been reported in my county, but it's within 50 miles and this year my ash trees seem to smell it coming. My yard has been swamped like never before with "helicopters", they are hanging in huge clusters, ash saplings are taking over my lawn when I leave the mowing for a week.These trees are scared of something and are desperately making babies.

Is it the weird wet weather this year, or some other disease? Has anybody else seen their ash trees doing this?

TE

 

[NortheastAl]

I would not be surprised. Trees send out chemical messages through their root systems. It definitely could be a defensive response by the Ash.

The EAB will not bore into a dead tree. If all the tees are dead in that area it must move on. These little saplings won't be affected for a few years, most likely, and by then the EAB may have move to another area.

 

[TreePointer]

I'll have to take a good look at our ashes, but the black cherries and pin oaks have already started to drop some leaves. It could just be early arrival due to dryer weather and cooler nights than usual.

I did notice that our sugar maples were almost bursting with helicopters.

 

[Ehouse]

I would not be surprised. Trees send out chemical messages through their root systems. It definitely could be a defensive response by the Ash.

The EAB will not bore into a dead tree. If all the tees are dead in that area it must move on. These little saplings won't be affected for a few years, most likely, and by then the EAB may have move to another area.

I've read that trees also communicate with pheromones through the air, signaling uninfected trees to alter their chemistry (increased tannins in Oaks threatened by Gypsy Moths). Perhaps the chemical signal of a dead Ash could be mimicked or that of a live one masked as a defense.

 

[NortheastAl]

I've read that trees also communicate with pheromones through the air, signaling uninfected trees to alter their chemistry (increased tannins in Oaks threatened by Gypsy Moths). Perhaps the chemical signal of a dead Ash could be mimicked or that of a live one masked as a defense.

Absolutely correct. I had forgotten about that. Aspen connect through their root systems to basically become one organism in a forest of them.

 

[Ehouse]

Absolutely correct. I had forgotten about that. Aspen connect through their root systems to basically become one organism in a forest of them.

Isn't a particular Aspen grove somewhere out west a candidate for the title of "largest living organism"?

 

[Jon1270]

My bet would be on the weather. I've seen the numbers of pine cones, walnuts and sweetgum pods vary widely from year to year without the influence of any threatening pests.

 

[ScotO]

I see a bumper crop in quite a few species this summer........the big sugar maple we just stopped up at scout camp was absolutely LOADED with copters, all the oaks I've cut this summer show tons of acorns, and the ash around our area is also loaded with seed pods........maybe the almanac has it right this year!

One thing is for certain.......harsh winters (not necessarily lots of snow but extended periods of deep freeze) helps control some of the insect population, if nothing else maybe we'll get a small break next summer from the ticks and other critters.

 

[NortheastAl]

Isn't a particular Aspen grove somewhere out west a candidate for the title of "largest living organism"?

It might be.

 

[NortheastAl]

I see a bumper crop in quite a few species this summer........the big sugar maple we just stopped up at scout camp was absolutely LOADED with copters, all the oaks I've cut this summer show tons of acorns, and the ash around our area is also loaded with seed pods........maybe the almanac has it right this year!

One thing is for certain.......harsh winters (not necessarily lots of snow but extended periods of deep freeze) helps control some of the insect population, if nothing else maybe we'll get a small break next summer from the ticks and other critters.

Acorns in abundance was taken as a sign of a harsh winter. Squirrel and deer loading up on caches and fat expecting severe weather. My honey locust is shedding leaves along with lots birch too. First I remember happening this early. This could be a bad one.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Our white oaks have just started dropping acorns pretty good now. They had been dropping just a few at a time but yesterday and this morning there seemed to be more. Good to see as we had basically no acorns last year.

 

[Augie]

Isn't a particular Aspen grove somewhere out west a candidate for the title of "largest living organism"?

Yup it was a Fungus in the U.P. of Michigan but there is a new contender a Aspen Stand in Utah

t was a shock last April to learn that the dainty mushrooms found on the forest floor in Michigan's Upper Peninsula were but the visible manifestations of a single genetically uniform fungus. It had been extending its tentacles beneath the ground for more than 1,500 years, maybe even 10,000 years, before butting into other underground giants.
That mega-fungus now covers more than 30 acres and weighs 100 tons. And scientists think even bigger fungi may lie undetected elsewhere. Who can blame this page for fretting, at the time, that the fungi might inherit the earth?.

Now comes welcome news that an even larger organism has been identified in the Wasatch Mountains of Utah. It's a huge stand of 47,000 quaking aspen trees and stems, growing from a single root system, that covers 106 acres, is genetically uniform and acts as a single organism. When the trees change color in the fall, they do so in unison, like the card section at halftime of a football game.

 

[Paulywalnut]

I'll have to take a good look at our ashes, but the black cherries and pin oaks have already started to drop some leaves. It could just be early arrival due to dryer weather and cooler nights than usual.

I did notice that our sugar maples were almost bursting with helicopters.

Yep, my black cherry is almost totally bare. That started in July.

 

[Gark]

This summer we see all the trees in overdrive for whatever they do to propagate. The apple and pear trees are way overladen with fruit, the maples made real heavy helicopters, the catalpa is loaded with cigars and the lindens just bombed us with the seeds. I (probably wrong) just figured they were catching up on last summer's (2012) drought and a late spring hard freeze that killed the blossoms.

 

[schlot]

I have a huge amount of helicopters this year also. Must be related to certain weather conditions as EAB is still only on the east coast of Iowa, about a 6 hour drive from me....or is it?

 

[BobUrban]

post EAB my woods is loaded with ash saplings. So much so that I cull them and they prolifically keep coming back. Lop them off at ground level and they come back 2 and 3 per root base. I had the impression they were connected through their root system like Aspen but I am not sure.