Spindleshank fungus question?

[Will Hinchliffe]

I have seen a huge oak with a full crown with Collybia fussipies. It was identified in a survey by my boss as a hazardous tree. It blew over within 6 months. The roots were severely decayed.

 

Just before Christmas we cleared up an oak that had blown over into another tree this one was only 50cm dbh. It had failed due to root decay. Collybia fusipies fruiting bodies were present. There was no die back in the crown.

 

The decay caused by Collybia fussipies on Red Oak is not well documented and no assumptions can be made as to the extent of the decay without investigation.

 

Im not saying that all trees with Collybia fruiting bodies present should be felled but if noted by a professional the future of the tree must be carefully considered. Consideration of potential targets and liabilitys in the event of a failure may leave felling as the best option. Also the on going cost of continual root excavation or decay detection often results in the decision to fell.

 

Reduction of the sail area of a tree with root decay fungi may allow it to stand for longer but is likely to result in further dysfunction and decay in the roots.

 

I wouldn't be to quick to condemn the decision of the tree owner to remove the tree or to brand the contractor a money hungry ecovillan. Trees get taken down for much sillier reasons than this.

[Tony Croft aka hamadryad]

I have seen a huge oak with a full crown with Collybia fussipies. It was identified in a survey by my boss as a hazardous tree. It blew over within 6 months. The roots were severely decayed.

 

Just before Christmas we cleared up an oak that had blown over into another tree this one was only 50cm dbh. It had failed due to root decay. Collybia fusipies fruiting bodies were present. There was no die back in the crown.

 

The decay caused by Collybia fussipies on Red Oak is not well documented and no assumptions can be made as to the extent of the decay without investigation.

 

Im not saying that all trees with Collybia fruiting bodies present should be felled but if noted by a professional the future of the tree must be carefully considered. Consideration of potential targets and liabilitys in the event of a failure may leave felling as the best option. Also the on going cost of continual root excavation or decay detection often results in the decision to fell.

 

Reduction of the sail area of a tree with root decay fungi may allow it to stand for longer but is likely to result in further dysfunction and decay in the roots.

 

I wouldn't be to quick to condemn the decision of the tree owner to remove the tree or to brand the contractor a money hungry ecovillan. Trees get taken down for much sillier reasons than this.

 

I do not know how a trees crown can remain completley healthy when its roots are so degraded as to cause throw? i.e merripilus thins the crown before falling, it just cant sustain a full crown on a compromised root system.

[Will Hinchliffe]

Transverse flow between xylem vessels allow small strips of living root to supply the whole tree with enough nutrients to survive without showing signs of die back. The tree is existing but running down starch reserves and probably not putting on much growth. The lack of vigour or energy reserves in instances like this probably reduces the trees ability to put on compensation growth.

 

It is probably mostly the Static mass of the root system that is being degraded first. This is not involved in keeping the tree alive but plays some role in supporting the tree.

[Tony Croft aka hamadryad]

Transverse flow between xylem vessels allow small strips of living root to supply the whole tree with enough nutrients to survive without showing signs of die back. The tree is existing but running down starch reserves and probably not putting on much growth. The lack of vigour or energy reserves in instances like this probably reduces the trees ability to put on compensation growth.

 

It is probably mostly the Static mass of the root system that is being degraded first. This is not involved in keeping the tree alive but plays some role in supporting the tree.

 

I hate to be a pain, im not trying to argue i am interested in your views, as mine differ and one of us may learn something, which is always a good thing, no? i suggest it will be my learning !

 

In the oaks Ive seen thrown with collybia, the main skeletal structure of the heavy and origional roots remains and it is the fleshy outer material of the large roots and the fleshy fine roots that are riddled decayed and have psuedo sclerotial plating? if not decayed away completley.

[Will Hinchliffe]

I think you are correct I also have seen it degrade the outside first. Scrap the last bit from my post. Im just making it up.

[Will Hinchliffe]

http://arbtalk.co.uk/forum/tree-health-care/3877-collybia-fusipes.html

 

If you scroll down there is a picture of some root matereal I believed to have been decayed by Collybia

[Tony Croft aka hamadryad]

So, my statement earlier remains

 

"just how can a crown be showing NO sign of dysfunction when collybia SPECIFICALY eats away at the fleshy system? wind throw is more likely in a less stable soil, but in heavier soils i suspect the failure is rare before death. due to the skeletal remains of the old root system. i dont think collybia can deal with the strong phenols in oak heart wood hence the strategy, and also hence my remarks to the stem rot in the heart rotted trunk posted here

.

[Will Hinchliffe]

Thats a slightly different statement to your earlier one. I offer this up as some kind of an explanation:

 

Crowns can show little or know die back because the crown can survive on the stored starches in the tree (see Drew B's "how can this survive thread"). The remaining root system although only a fraction of the size of a healthy root system may be able to provide enough water to the crown. The roots are not directly linked to individual branches and water may pass transversely between xylem vessels allowing a fragmented root system to supply a whole crown.

 

The crown survives but with low vigour.

[Will Hinchliffe]

It may be that only a portion of the root system need be decayed to result in windblow on certain trees.

 

Its all a bit irrelevant anyway. If the tree stands next to a busy road. You should take action when the fungi is discovered. It would be negligent to say that you saw the fungi but there was no die back in the crown so the tree was safe.

[Tony Croft aka hamadryad]

It may be that only a portion of the root system need be decayed to result in windblow on certain trees.

 

Its all a bit irrelevant anyway. If the tree stands next to a busy road. You should take action when the fungi is discovered. It would be negligent to say that you saw the fungi but there was no die back in the crown so the tree was safe.

 

but it is eaqualy criminal to remove the tree purely on the basis of a fruiting body, am i wrong?