Essay on Chestnut Blight and American Chestnut Trees

Emerald Ash Borers has killed millions of ash tree and put billions more at risk. Emerald Ash Borers originated in Asia and eastern Russia was first discovered in Canada in 2002. It is now widespread in Quebec and Ontario areas. Emerald Ash Borers can be spread to various parts of Canada and USA through infested firewood trading. Therefore the government of Canada has decided to restrict infested areas. Emerald Ash Borer arrived to Canada through trading forestry products. If we had been more careful, Emerald Ash Borers would have never entered Canada. Therefore our interaction in cutting down trees to trade and trading with others has an important effect on the welfare of our forests. The interaction of receiving wood from outside our country

The ancient forests of the Northeast aren’t the only aspect of the bioregion that’s fate have been at perpetual risk since the early settlement of Europeans. There is no question that forests still dominate the landscape of Northeastern region accounting for “60% of the total land area, and in New England alone, the coverage is 80%”. Still the species that exist within the understory of the forests have undergone an equally dramatic transformation because of human interaction with the land and the harvest of its resources. Some species in the understory of the mixed forests of the Northeast have been driven out of the region, are under intense ecological pressure, are on the brink of extinction, or have already gone extinct in the region. Perhaps one of the most harmful and impactful effects colonization of the Northeast has had on the resources of the land is the introduction of non-native species and diseases into the region. Over time the overall makeup of the forests have changed drastically as an example, “…the American chestnut once made up as much as 25% of the trees in some areas and was economically the most important hardwood in the Eastern forests”. The introduction of chestnut blight at the turn of the century accounts for

Looking further into the impacts of the Rodeo-Chediski fire the trees saw the greatest impact of the fire. Almost 90% of the trees suffered complete crown kill (Ffolliott, 2008). Either some trees had survived with low severity, were harmed, or dead because of the drought and the fire combined. Even though some of the trees that had faced high severity apparently after having seen what trees had survived the fire yet by 2004 two years after the fire they had died (Ffolliott, 2008). The wildfire also impacted the standardization structure, post-fire mortality of trees, and stocking of tree reproduction on the Steamer Ridge Watershed (Ffolliott, 2008). After the fire had finally been contained the density of the forest had been forever changed.

Boxelder Maple trees depend on the dispersal of their samaras to reproduce. The samaras are the seeds of the tree that are shaped in such a way that the wing of the seed causing it to spin. The seed does not fall directly but instead twirls like a helicopter making it stay in the air longer. With the wind the seed can then me dispersed away from the parent tree to take rout and grow on its own. Not all seeds float away from the parent seed and take rout. Some end up falling to close to the parent tree not allowing them to survive due to not getting nutrients and sunlight. “Recent field studies have made progress in elucidating the mechanisms behind these patterns and the implications of these patterns for recruitment success”

The Blue Oak tree is a deciduous tree, but will sometimes shed its leaves and go dormant for many years during severe droughts. It is a short tree with an open canopy and an average height of 30 feet. The leaves are blue-green in color and one to three inches long. Acorns are thin and ¾ to 1 ½ inches long. They ripen in one year and are able to germinate after one month. Blue Oak reproduces through seeds and from cut or burnt stumps. The light colored, thick bark helps reduce fire damage. The number of Blue Oak trees has decreased due to their slow growth, but they aren’t considered endangered because of their wide distribution. People use Blue Oak for fence posts and fire wood. Native Americans also ate the acorns and used the wood to make

The experiment was conducted in Sheboygan County at three locations of varying distance from Lake Michigan, where they were surveyed for the occurrence of the invasive tree species black locust. The first location, Kettle Moraine State Park, is located 20 miles inland west of Lake Michigan. As its name suggests, this location has a combination of kettles and moraines. Kettles are steep side impressions in a landscape while moraines are linear deposits that accumulated at the edge of an ice sheet. This creates a rolling hill landscape that can create quite the diversity of vegetation. This site was dominated by mostly sugar maple with the occasional red oak and birch. There was very little ground coverage, due to the dense shade cast by the

Purple Loosestrife (Lythrum salicaria), is a plant native to Europe, Eastern Australia, Asia and Northern Africa. Through history, this plant has been used as a medical herb for the treatment of dysentery, bleeding, wounds, ulcers and sores. The introduction of the Purple Loosestrife, through shipping, has caused disruption of waterflow and the crowding out of native species. Each individual Loosestrife plant can produce up to 2.7 millions seeds , this has helped it overtake native species, such as the cattail. Very costly and difficult to remove, Purple Loosestrife numbers show no sign of decreasing. The Water Chestnut (Trapa natans L.), is an aquatic plant species native to Europe. Introduced much like the Purple Loosestrife, the Water Chestnut is a plant that thrives in shallow depths of rivers and lakes, but can spread to deeper waters. Due to the coverage and over population of the Water Chestnuts, navigation, livable habitat and recreational activities are all affected by the plant. The beds of Water Chestnut also provide a perfect breeding ground for

Change is inevitable; as the years go on, everything is always either improving or weakening, but still changing. Nothing can prevent change, but there are still those who ignore it and refuse it. Individuals refused to accept their past because they do not want to change, they want to focus on the present. In Mary Oliver’s free verse poem, The Black Walnut Tree, the daughter discusses the argument with her mother regarding the selling of their Black Walnut Tree, commenting on it’s personal history with her ancestors. In the poem, Oliver contrasts the daughter’s disagreeing perception of the mother’s consumeristic urges to sell their tree with her need to preserve it and its memories through the use of dark, gloomy word choice and varying concepts of time, illustrating the everlasting effect and importance of one’s past and ancestry on the present.

The reading claims that the numbers of the yellow cedar in America have been decreased since 1880. However, the lecturer finds all ideas dubious and presents some evidence to refute them all.

Pines in the forest of Morne des Commissaires is often distorted because of Loranthacee parasite. The parasite is endemic to Hispaniola, l’Arceuthobium bicarinatum Urb. (fig. 11). Even though the plant is being parasitized, it keeps its height and gives an excellent wood. Currently, the pines wood is being exploited in abundance for the need of the “Shada” war (society Haitian-American of agriculture

Our experiment was performed in the fields next to the Shumaker Sorority complex at William Jewell College, Liberty, MO and next to the softball field. We selected five Honey Locust trees in that area with low hanging branches and healthy leaves. The experiment commenced 01 October 2016 and ended 29 October 2016 due to senescence.

One hundred and fifty two of the trees surveyed were dead (7.1%), with 81 of those (53.29%) situated in the Green Prairie management unit (Figure 9). Sixty seven out of this 152 trees (44%) were unable to identified and classified as Unknown. Of the percentage that could be identified, Black/Red Oak and Black Cherry presented the bigger frequencies (50 and 16, respectively).

What is ‘Myrtle Rust’ and how pernicious is it? Myrtle Rust, aka Uredo rangelii, is a fungal plant pathogen native to South America that affects plants in Myrtaceae family, such as Tea tree, Beach Cherry and Bottle Brush (DAFF, 2012). Its advent can be witnessed in the form of small purple flecks and leaf spots on young leaves. It then utilizes its vicious powers to create tiny, raised spots or pustules, which turn powdery distinctive yellow after a few days. It attacks young and new plants and causes them to be stunted, leaves to be twisted and even leads to their death. While the South American trees have some resistance against this aggressor, the Australian ones are more vulnerable. It has the potential to affect up to 80 per cent of Australian native trees and the crusade cannot be stopped once it has occupied the bush lands (NSW Scientific

The Asian longhorned beetle has a major impact on our tree’s. The beetle has the potential to destroy the lumber and maple syrup industry. If maple trees get infected, they will all die and we will no longer collect sap from them. The Asian longhorned beetles make holes in trees one and a half to two centimeters in diameter. Some host trees for the Asian longhorned beetle include Elm trees, Willow trees, Maple trees, and Birch trees. Since the Asian longhorned beetle does not feed on animals, tree’s are the only victim. If the Asian longhorned beetle kill out all the maple tree’s, our $100 million maple syrup industry will be gone. The impacts of the Asian longhorned beetle are very serious, but we can

In the 1900's, the Chinese chestnut introduced a blight that was fatal to the American chestnuts. Those grand old trees disappeared from our forests and landscapes. While everyone decried their loss, few believed anything would bring the tree back. Thank God for those few stubborn believers!