Phytophthora Ramorum Susceptibility As Measure Of Leaf Age By Primary Reservoir Host California Bay Laurel

“The Condor’s Shadow,” written by David S. Wilcove, is a book about the conservation of wildlife in America. It describes multiple species that have been in danger of extinction, or gone extinct. The book goes into depth on how these animals came to the brink of extinction and why they couldn’t be saved or the measures taken to restore them. One of the major themes throughout the book was habitat destruction in forests and aquatic ecosystems alike. This led to the extinction of some species. When it comes to the destruction of forests it affects not only the animals but the trees as well. Many trees

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

Many new species such as the anaconda along with various other animals and plants have been introduced to Florida, but those who run River Bend State Park have done a superb job at keeping the park free of any invasive species. The park has also take precautionary measures for protecting their oldest tree in the Park by adding fence around the tree with cameras to make sure that the tree remains undisturbed. This tree just so happens to be buried on top of an Indian burial tomb and it is told to be that this particular oak tree is 300 years old. Unfortunately, this tree is now slowly dying, but no one knows exactly how long the tree could take to fully

Laurel Wilt Disease is a scourge here in Florida. The disease affects laurel trees all over the Southeast, with the most notable victim being avocado trees. The beetles also effect sassafras trees, pond spice trees, and swamp bays. The main cause of this disease is a fungus known as Raffaelea Lauricola that is transmitted through a beetle called the red bay ambrosia beetle (Persea Borbonia). Neither of these species are native to the area. It was brought over to the states through wooden shipping containers that had contained the beetle insect. The insect and disease came from countries like India, Japan, Myanmar, and Taiwan. The disease works by having the beetle come into the country, hiding in the wooden crates. Once in America, the beetle enters into the environment and seeks trees to bore into for food and shelter. The beetles contain spores that containing the fungus that kills the host tree. The fungus then grows in the sapwood of the tree, restricting the flow of food, sap, and nutrients around the tree. This results in die back and eventually, a dead tree. The disease is known to highly effect the avocado industry and the natural forests in Florida. Currently, 61 out of 67 counties in Florida contain reports of Laurel Wilt Disease as of 2015. That is an enormous 91%.

The new population of cane toads has been quickly growing throughout Australia while carrying with it, a parasitic nematode, rhabdias pseudosphaerocepala. Once infected with this lungworm, both adult and metamorph toads can experience stunted growth and reduced stamina. This is a problem that is effecting native species. When predators feast on these toads, they become poisoned. Introduced pests can sometimes be controlled by using native predators or competitors. By conducting experiments and finding possible solutions, researchers may be able to protect these native species.

As the spread of this region contains coastal borders as well as a “natural region biogeography of gulf coast prairies and marshes”. Where the two defining attributes to the area plays a role in the salinity of the soil which require a plant to be highly salt tolerant. Because of the marshes and coastal waters containments of salt evapotranspiration of the water increases the salinity of the surrounded areas subsequently resulting in the visibility of the Live Oak in the area. Live Oak’s visibility in the area is marked by a stripping pattern indicated on the map can then be inferred that the species has a high salt tolerance because of its successional status persisted over time such as the century tree found at Texas A&M University which has held place for over a hundred

The Eastern Hemlock is being attacked by the Hemlock Wooly Adelgid. This invasive aphid-like insect kills Hemlock by feeding on their starch reserves and injecting a toxin into them that causes their needles to drop more quickly. According to the article “Rehabilitation Guidelines for Hemlock Stands,” “Adelgids cause damage by depleting the Hemlock’s starch reserves.” When the starch reserves are depleted, the tree doesn't have enough energy to grow. The Hemlock Wooly Adelgid’s toxin causes needles to fall off the tree faster, as shown in the article “Forest Health Fact Sheet”. With less needles to perform photosynthesis in and not enough energy reserves to grow new ones, the tree is unable to store enough energy to live well through the dark winters, and it dies within a few years.

Figure 1. shows the average leaf mass decomposition rate for invasive species leaves and native species leaves Results Explanation – In the experiment, we found that the invasive species leaves have a isopods faster decomposition rate than the native species leaves. The treatment used in the experiment differentiated only where the 1 gram (each) of the two different types of leaves were used. At the end of the experiment, the leaves had little to no moisture left to them and the 2 isopods were dead. Discussion – 1)

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

southwestern parts of the United States and Mexico. Although, they are native to Eurasia and were brought to the US to stabilize sand banks and to provide shade; salt cedar is like many invasive plants, extremely harmful to the native species, such as: Fremont Cottonwoods, Salt Grass Meadows, and Gooding’s Black Willows. In addition, tamarix outcompetes and replaces the natives in Riparian ecosystems. Another huge impact is, water conservation, salt cedar can absorb 200 gallons of water in just a day and will choke the watercourse, eventually leading to flooding. However, several treatments have taken place in the last century to attempt to control this

Forests are carbon sinks, they absorb carbon dioxide, a major greenhouse gas, from the atmosphere through photosynthesis and store it in plant biomass and soils belowground. When the trees die, they stop absorbing and storing carbon dioxide, and as they decompose, they release some of the stored carbon dioxide back into the atmosphere (Suzuki & Moola, 2008). The mountain pine beetle (Aendroctonus ponderosae) is a primary agent of forest disturbance, a higher number of outbreaks occur due to favorable forest age and climate patterns (Progar et al., 2014). The mountain pine beetle (MPB) starts its attack when the female finds a pine tree (usually lodgepole) that is at least 80 years old. Upon finding the tree the female bores into it, while releasing a pheromone that attracts the male beetles. When the males arrive they, also release more pheromones to attract more females. The tree tries to defend its self by secreting a toxic resin. But the beetles carry spores of a blue-stain fungus in their mouths which they release as they bore into the tree, the fungus prevents the tree from transporting nutrients and water. The beetles lay eggs under the tree’s bark, and when the larvae hatch, they feed on the blue fungus until they are mature enough to leave the now dead tree (Aukema et al., 2006).

A chaparral biome is a plant community shaped by a specific climate characterized by hot, dry summers, and rainy winters. This climate is known as the Mediterranean climate and it occurs in regions located within the Mediterranean Basin. Although Mediterranean climate is common within the Mediterranean Basin, it is not exclusive to this area. It can also be experienced in many other areas throughout the world including Cape Town located in South Africa, the western coast of South America, and the western coast of the United States of America. These area’s specific climate are what allows them to be categorized them as chaparral biomes. This essay will focus on the latter of these aforementioned chaparral biomes, specifically the chaparral biome found in Southern California.

Over the last few decades in North America an insect has wreaked havoc on the coniferous trees that inhabit the Rocky Mountains. The insect known as the Mountain Pine Bark Beetle, or Dendroctonus ponderosae although once an important part of the cycle of life in the pines of the Rocky Mountains has recently grown out of control. Because of the beetles need to live inside of trees, they have adapted the ability to fight against the trees defenses, but in doing so have endangered the trees by cutting off their source of moisture throughout the tree. The Mountain pine beetle has an interesting physiology that allows it to burrow into trees. This causes many

Our sample data supports our alternative hypothesis that English Ivy does have an effect on the growth of moss on trees. Our p-value shows that our data is statistically significant demonstrating that moss growth may be inhibited by the presence of ivy. Assuming our null hypothesis, that ivy has no effect on moss growth, our p-value states the probability of getting a sample as extreme or more extreme than our sample with a t-test of -2.33 is 2.18%. With this p-value, we can reject our null hypothesis.

Citrus greening disease, also commonly referred to as Huanglongbing, is a much newer disease to Florida than citrus canker. Although the bacterium, Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus, has been an issue in China since the 1900’s, it did not arrive in the US until 2005 (“Citrus Greening”). The disease is spread through its primary vector, an insect called the Asian citrus psyllid. Symptoms, which include yellow mottling of leaves, small, green, and misshapen fruit, and poor yields, may not appear until several years after a tree is infected. Citrus greening is such an important issue currently because, according to the United States Department of Agriculture, “other than tree removal, there is no effective control once a tree is infected and there is no known cure for the disease” (“Citrus Greening”). To date, revenue loss caused by citrus greening disease exceeds $3.6 billion (“Citrus Greening”). Although importing a race of orange that is resistant to greening may be helpful, the imported plants must first make it through inspection and quarantine.