Defoliation of Beech

[P. Holly]

Hi everybody,

 

I'm looking for some help/guidance on two mature beech trees I went to look at yesterday for a local farmer (Cork, Ireland).

The trees are two in a line of approx 20 other mature beech trees along the boundary of a field. The two subject trees have not developed a full flush of leaves at all this year. Surrounding trees are perfectly healthy showing no signs of stress.

There is no dieback in the crown yet. It looks as if it were april/may with buds bursting and new foliage appearing. But its July now and these trees should have a full dense canopy.

There is no signs of fungal fruiting bodies or bleeding cankers. I asked the farmer who is attentive to his trees if he had seen any fruiting bodies. No sign. I checked around the buttress for signs of previous years decaying fruiting bodies but no sign.

There has been no mechanical damage, no changes in ground level or soil compaction. No chemical of fertiliser applications occurred in the vicinity.

The crown has minor broken limbs, nothing unusual.

 

In Ireland last summer, we did experience unusual drought like conditions. This is the only thing I can think of that would have stressed the trees. The farmer didn't notice any signs of stress last year but he said he wouldn't have been looking at those trees particularly.

Would anybody have an idea as to what might be going on here?.

 

va.zip

[daltontrees]

Mysterious. Hopefully someone has some insights.

 

I'm just back form the west coasy of Ireland. A lot of trees (mainly willows) were looking pretty much brown all over, and I couild only think it was due to recent (3 weeks ago) heatwave.

[Stere]

No idea  but drought does  seem a likely influence

 

How about early frosts?

 

Beech trees often come into leave at different times so some may of being frosted and set back whilst neigbouring tress were unaffected.....

 

Quote

Early leaf-out in beech and oak trees caused by an unusually warm
winter resulted in massive leaf scorching after a spring frost. Trees re-
mobilized carbon and nutrient reserves to produce a second cohort of
leaves. For beech, however, crown recovery was incomplete: leaves
were smaller and thinner, and twigs had smaller leaf area than those of
trees not affected by the frost. This did not have a significant impact on
stem sapwood NSC concentrations, suggesting that beech trees prioritize
maintaining carbon storage to secondary growth after leaf frost damage.
Frost effects diluted as analyses scaled up from organ to forest levels,
although some frost effects at stand level reflected the different organ-
and tree-level sensitivity between species (e.g. the higher frost-induced
reduction of LAI in beech stands). Delayed leaf senescence compensated
for the frost-induced delay in carbon uptake, caused by leaf scorching
and the time needed to form a second leaf cohort, alleviating the frost
impact on the length of the vegetative period. Nonetheless, the differ-
ential response between the two study species may give oak a compet-
itive advantage over beech, and may limit the current expansion of
beech if the frequency of spring late frosts increases.

 

https://digital.csic.es/bitstream/10261/275413/1/Differential_response_of_oak_and_beech.pdf

Edited July 10, 2023 by Stere

[Excels1or]

6 hours ago, P. Holly said:

Hi everybody,

 

I'm looking for some help/guidance on two mature beech trees I went to look at yesterday for a local farmer (Cork, Ireland).

The trees are two in a line of approx 20 other mature beech trees along the boundary of a field. The two subject trees have not developed a full flush of leaves at all this year. Surrounding trees are perfectly healthy showing no signs of stress.

There is no dieback in the crown yet. It looks as if it were april/may with buds bursting and new foliage appearing. But its July now and these trees should have a full dense canopy.

There is no signs of fungal fruiting bodies or bleeding cankers. I asked the farmer who is attentive to his trees if he had seen any fruiting bodies. No sign. I checked around the buttress for signs of previous years decaying fruiting bodies but no sign.

There has been no mechanical damage, no changes in ground level or soil compaction. No chemical of fertiliser applications occurred in the vicinity.

The crown has minor broken limbs, nothing unusual.

 

In Ireland last summer, we did experience unusual drought like conditions. This is the only thing I can think of that would have stressed the trees. The farmer didn't notice any signs of stress last year but he said he wouldn't have been looking at those trees particularly.

Would anybody have an idea as to what might be going on here?.

 

va.zip 1.46 MB · 13 downloads

Drought was the first thought, however the leaves look as though they are suffering from Chlorosis.....could be a Iron/nitrogen deficiency? Iron deficiency would be my first go to as the leaves are quite young