sudden death of a birch....

[Dilz]

took down a birch two days ago, apparently the owner said it had looked a little off by the end of last summer, its leaves dropping early, then in spring it attempted to put out some leaves but gave up. When i climbed the tree there wasnt an single drop of sap in it, it was dry as a bone. The client asked me what did i think it was....

 

There were no wounds, no fungal activity, some slight discolouration of the heart wood at the base, but nothing to raise suspicions.

 

I told the owner that it was probably the roots, as the soil was compacted and it looked like there had been some building work, landscaping done very close to the tree... he couldnt say as he only moved in two years ago but said nothing had been done since he had moved in. It also looked like some turfy had been laid, and the soil level raised.

 

I'm fairly confident in my diagnosis that the cause was a mixture of compaction, level change and possible root damage causing the tree to burn up its reserves over a couple of years and then finally give up.

 

I guess what i'm looking for is if anyone knows any other biological factors that could have caused the tree to die whilst displaying no real evidence which i may have over looked.

 

Sorry no decent photos of the tree or surroundings, only a couple of me climbing which dont really show much apart form its dead.....

 

 

Any help will be much appreciated

[Mesterh]

I've noticed quite a few dead and also very poor looking birch this year.

 

I put it down to the harsh winter we had.

[ScottF]

Birch are very susceptible to drought, also. I've seen quite a few here in North Wales looking very ropy this year, and I'd put it down to the very dry Spring.

 

I'd expect to see a pretty sorry looking cohort of beech next year for the same reason.

[Dilz]

thats what i thought scott, a mixture of compaction, a suprisingly dry spring (in stockholm) and there have been two hard winters over here, on the plus side the customer doesn't have to wait till he can burn it in his sauna.... thanks for the feedback

[Fungus]

In The Netherlands, over the last two years a lot of birches died because of extremes in the watertable : long and extremely hot spring or summer periods followed by periods of extreme rainfall.

[David Humphries]

In The Netherlands, over the last two years a lot of birches died because of extremes in the watertable : long and extremely hot spring or summer periods followed by periods of extreme rainfall.

 

 

 

Armillaria taking hold ?

 

 

 

 

.

[Fungus]

Armillaria taking hold ?

 

No, not the cause of death, which was the combination of completely drying out first and then drowning of the roots, both causing the mycelia of the ectomycorrizal macrofungi (lack of oxygen) to die and the roots to die too, but only afterwards as one of the saprotrophic decomposers.

Edited July 29, 2011 by Fungus

[David Humphries]

only afterwards as one of the saprotrophic decomposers.

 

 

 

Sorry Gerrit, didn't make myself clear.

Meant whether or not Armillaria had taken hold after the initial stress.

 

Thanks for the answer

 

 

 

.

[Tony Croft aka hamadryad]

drought stress followed by armillaria is a common theme for the birches, ive noticed the prunus aviums are also starting to show the ill effects of the dry weather, and ash too, very sparsley foliated some. all shallow rooters.

[Fungus]

drought stress followed by armillaria is a common theme for the birches, ive noticed the prunus aviums are also starting to show the ill effects of the dry weather, and ash too, very sparsley foliated some. all shallow rooters.

 

This afternoon I monitored a very wet birch wood, where half of the trees is dying or dead and the standing or lying trunks are covered with Piptoporus betulinus, Fomes fomentarius and some Daedaleopsis confragosa. There were just a few tree species specific ectomycorrhizal macrofungi found such as Russula claroflava and R. betularum. In mossy patches on the forest floor lots of FB's of Hypholoma elongatum were present and I found a thick birch branch with Lenzites betulinus. Apart from some living birches with black bleeds (see photo), there were no other signs of a parasitic Armillaria species being active.

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