Ash dieback diagnosis

[chrisjpainter]

I work for a charity in Dorset and we've got a bank of mixed trees - ash, oak, field maple and hazel. The ash trees are in a shocking state and from what I've read, many of the symptoms seem to coincide with dieback - but the spanner in the works is a lot of the trees look like that! They're exposed to strong coastal winds, so the damage maybe just the result of a poor climate. On the other hand, if it's dieback as well, we can't really leave them for nature to take its course. Is there anything definitive that I should be looking for. 

There are some dead, blackened leaves in the leaf litter and many with brown veins - but then the maples and oaks have got evidence of this too...

I have pictures... if they're helpful. Any advice would be great.

 

[Khriss]

Yr gonna need a bigger saw.. 😉 k

[chrisjpainter]

Ooops! added one too many picture there...no velociraptors were present during the taking of these photos. This explanation is now going to look weird if the picture's not there...

[Paul in the woods]

It's frustrating that there isn't a clear guide to id ash die back and distinguish it from other disease and problems with ash. I've got 1000s of ash on my land and I'm sure it has dieback (some trees completely dead now) but I've yet to see the small fruiting bodies you get told to look out for.

 

Like your trees some of mine are grown in windy areas or in waterlogged soil so show signs of poor form and early leaf loss.

 

What I gather is a sure sign is the diamond shaped lesions on stems and trunks. I didn't see any for a few years but now often find them on trees I take out. Some fairly good pics are here:

The Chilterns AONB - News

WWW.CHILTERNSAONB.ORG

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Edited October 8, 2021 by Paul in the woods

[Stere]

Think its quite easy to spot once you know the signs    all the say 80% plus of ash trees  with dead tops weren't around before adb.

 

Ash as a species  always  looked in very good health generally before adb with near zero dead twigs.

 

 

Think OP probably is adb but from thoose pics hard to tell.

 

 

[kevinjohnsonmbe]

There is an online seminar with ATF taking place right now (09:30-11:30) and the discussion is currently focused on ADB.  There is always the option to 'flag' your concerns via the FC 'tree alert' system and FC THDAS are saying they will respond to every input.  It would provide you with a qualitative analysis and diagnosis.

 

The seminar slides will be available via ATF website later

[chrisjpainter]

1 hour ago, kevinjohnsonmbe said:

There is an online seminar with ATF taking place right now (09:30-11:30) and the discussion is currently focused on ADB.  There is always the option to 'flag' your concerns via the FC 'tree alert' system and FC THDAS are saying they will respond to every input.  It would provide you with a qualitative analysis and diagnosis.

 

The seminar slides will be available via ATF website later

That's brilliant, thank you so much. I will look in on that

[Paul in the woods]

4 hours ago, kevinjohnsonmbe said:

There is always the option to 'flag' your concerns via the FC 'tree alert' system and FC THDAS are saying they will respond to every input. 

 

Interesting, I thought they would be inundated and reading their page they say: "Please note that not all reports will be followed up directly" and "We would encourage you only to report suspected cases of Chalara dieback of ash in new (unshaded) areas on the following map "

 

Might be worth doing to see what happens. Funnily enough they don't have where I live shaded on their map and it's been around here for several years.

[kevinjohnsonmbe]

48 minutes ago, Paul in the woods said:

Interesting, I thought they would be inundated and reading their page they say: "Please note that not all reports will be followed up directly" and "We would encourage you only to report suspected cases of Chalara dieback of ash in new (unshaded) areas on the following map "

 

Might be worth doing to see what happens. Funnily enough they don't have where I live shaded on their map and it's been around here for several years.

“...every submission will get a response ranging from acknowledgement, assessment and where appropriate, a site visit and we encourage people to get in touch...” Not exactly the words but pretty much what I interpreted from what was said this morning by Dr Ana Perez-Sierra, Head of Tree Health Diagnostic and Advisory Service. 
 

Like you say though, be interesting to hear what people’s experiences are if / when they do make submissions. 

[kevinjohnsonmbe]

The seminar is available to view now at 

Recording now available! ATF Autumn Forum 2021- “Tree Diseases and Veteran Trees” 8.10.21 | Ancient Tree Forum

WWW.ANCIENTTREEFORUM.ORG.UK

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Recording now available- "Tree diseases and veteran trees" 8.10.21

 

 

The ADB feature is in the first briefing - well worth a watch. 
 

I kind of got the impression from the 2nd briefing that (situation dependant) there might be the signs of a shift away from Ash removal towards Ash retention. 

Edited October 8, 2021 by kevinjohnsonmbe