Betula Failure

[David Humphries]

Saw this bleeding canker on this Betula a couple of months ago ( first Picture), didn't give me great reason for concern at the time.

Not on a schedule for surveying, so gave it an interested quick once over, then drove on.

 

Two months later get a call to a Tree failure.

 

Canker has dried up, but thats not the concern.

Stem has succumbed to compression & failed at the base.

 

Apart from the smallish cavity 50cm off the ground there were no other obvious external sign of It's impending failure.

[Bundle 2]

dog p@@s is not good

[David Humphries]

Interesting that there appears to be little scar tissue or lesions from the canker on the cross section rings.

This is almost certainly secondary infection and did not appear to add to the reason for failure. Imo

 

Tony?

 

 

Fungi that has caused the heart rot unknown.

Have never seen any brackets in situe.

Lots of Ganoderma and Piptosporus in the locality though.

[Amelanchier]

Looks like a soft white rot and a ductile fracture, with a lickle bit of twistyness

 

I would agree that the lesions and the bleeding are unlikely to be related though Armillaria does sometimes produce lesions... However, you'd have noticed the mycelium.

 

Looks like an existing basal bark wound in pic 4? Entry point? indicative of compaction damaged roots also perhaps??

 

The majority of species will only produce fruiting bodies once the conditions are right, so any of the usual suspects could be to blame... Though I'd lean towards a Gano just for the decay strategy...

Is the stump still in situ? You may get some fruiting bodies now that fungi has access to more oxygen... Seal it off in quarantine and watch!!!

[David Humphries]

Looks like an existing basal bark wound in pic 4? Entry point? indicative of compaction damaged roots also perhaps??

 

The majority of species will only produce fruiting bodies once the conditions are right, ... Seal it off in quarantine and watch!!!

 

 

 

Next to a woodland path that gets low vehicle usage, but compaction definately an issue.

 

 

Will keep thread posted on mystery bracket, if it decides to make an appearance

[Giles Hill]

Great pics and documentation of tree ill health and subsequant failure. I would be interested in reading more about your finds.

 

Agreed. In my short time on this forum, I've really appreciated the case studies.

 

With the benefit of hindsight, this one looks like one from 'The Body Language of Trees' - i.e. it does now that it's fallen over!

 

BTW was the bleeding happening on the tensioned side?

[Colin Bashford]

Next to a woodland path that gets low vehicle usage, but compaction definately an issue.

 

 

I would have said from first photograph that adjacent likely compacted path was a major concern causing a stress reaction ....... hence bleeding!