What`s Killing Off The Forests In Your Area?

[RedRanger]

Here on south eastern vancouver island most of the hemlocks have died from "laminated root rot". In the interior of this province the "mountain pine beetle" has destroyed tens of thousands of acres,and is now moving into the neighbouring province of Alberta

It might be interesting to know what state or province you live in and what if anything is destroying forests in your area. The kind of trees being attacked,how severe,etc. Might give the forum members some insight into the health of our forests in general in north america.

.Not sure if this is going to be the right forum,but should be interesting reading,even if it gets moved.

 

[BrotherBart]

Caterpillars are killing most of our forests. Generally the D-9 sub-species has been the most destructive.

 

[Henz]

loggers , just kidding just kidding!

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Right now the worst is the emerald ash borer. We also still have the dutch elm disease.

 

[fossil]

In Central Oregon, we have an interesting and almost opposite problem. The dominant native species of tree is Juniper, and its only real natural threat is wildfire. Over the decades, we've been so effective at preventing/containing/controlling wildfires that the Juniper trees are proliferating. As they begin to grow, they spend about 5 years developing a very deep root system, and they will eventually reach a stage of maturity where one tree can suck 40 or 50 gallons of water up out of the aquifer every day. It's a dry, high desert climate, and all the flora competes for water. The Junipers have become so successful I've seen them referred to as an "invasive native" species (almost sounds like an oxymoron). We're being encouraged to thin our Juniper stands, starting with the smaller ones. On our little 2.5 acres, we have many dozens of Juniper trees of all ages. I guess I'll start culling them. Juniper makes for good firewood, though it's kind of shaggy/messy...but it burns hot and long if it's well seasoned. About a decade ago, we were considering retiring to the Prescott, AZ area...went to visit, and the biggest thing going on was all the devastation from the Pine Bark Beetle. It was pretty sad, many stands of very fine old trees standing dead, and people watching one of the reasons they moved there die before their eyes. Rick

 

[chrisfallis]

Pine beetles are also gaining a serious foothold in central Colorado. The dry conditions that we have seen for the past decade or so has encouraged fires and the beetles. The senic vistas sought after by tourists are becoming yellow and brown instead of green. Logging these trees on hundreds of thousands of acres seems impractical, so most of this timber will rot or burn in a forest fire. What a waste.

 

[moondoggy]

I been watchnig the white oaks getting killed by inch worms.
my white oaks are the first thing eaten.. totally before it even finishes blooming.
see a lot dying out every year.


oh and i dont know why, but Dogwoods are real bad the past few years.
I had 6 big boys 3 yrs ago, now I have 2 and they are not worth keeping up.

 

[Yooper Burning]

Beech Bark Disease. Going to be a catastrophic event here in the eastern and central U.P. of MI when its over. Lots of great firewood, but no more beech nuts for all the critters and we have little to no oak around here to fill in the gap.

Also jack pine budworm. Lots of overmature jack pine that is getting hit hard. Not so good for firewood though. Oh yeah, it burns great, but just a little too well. If you want to see how much it takes to overfire your stove, put some seasoned jack pine in there and touch er off. WOOOOSH! There goes the neighborhood!

 

[jebatty]

Jack pine bud worm. pine bark beetle, blister rust, all exacerbated by drought which has greatly stressed the trees - central lakes area of Minnesota. Climate change forecasts are for increasing dry trend, amounting to as much as a 30-40% reduction in precipitation. Our average is now about 24" of rain, and a significant reduction plus warming will drive the pines, birch and aspen out of MN. Looking forward to Kansas summers and Iowa winters.

Time to move north to our friendly and much respected neighbor, Canada. Do you have room? Do you want a conservation oriented Yankee?

 

[BotetourtSteve]

Drought 7 of the past 10 years in the central Appalachians (Blue Ridge Mtns) has been insult to injury. We have a smorgasbord of critters and crud laying waste to our trees:

Dogwood: Anthracnose Blight
Elms: Dutch Elm Disease
Oaks and other hardwoods: Gypsy Moth
Hemlocks: Woolly Adelgid
Pines: Southern Pine Bark Beetle
Everything Else: Acid Rain from all those midwest power plants

So far it looks like Sumac, Paradise Trees, Multi-Flora Rose and Autumn Olives are doing just fine... :-S

 

[jadm]

I remember when I was a child and learning about extinct species of animals - saber toothed tigers, wooly mammoths, dodo birds etc. and I naively thought that the list was finite. Tis a scary thing to read of all sorts of living things that are struggling to stay alive now-a-days.

In Colorado, as has been mentioned, it is the pine beetles and now we are getting hit with the emerald ash borers too. It is interesting to note that not all pine trees are struck by the beetles. The ones hit are the ones that are stressed by disease or drought. The beetles pick the weaker trees....

Survival of the fittest. I'm not sure I like observing the process. Kinda makes me wonder just how fit I am......I could be next! :ahhh: