ash die back

[derbyshiretreeservices]

The other year we had loads of experts jumping up and down talking about ASH DIE BACK well what has happend since then? its all seemed to have gone quiat. is it still out there? are people still finding trees with this desease?

[the village idiot]

The other year we had loads of experts jumping up and down talking about ASH DIE BACK well what has happend since then? its all seemed to have gone quiat. is it still out there? are people still finding trees with this desease?

 

Still very much out there!

 

The wood I work in and all those in the area are riddled with it.

[County 764]

The reason your not hearing about it is because its that widespread, its pointless keeping track or reporting new cases. We planted a lot of ash, 80% is affected

 

 

 

 

 

 

.

Edited May 10, 2015 by David Humphries
Language

[john k]

Over 1000 confirmed sites now. http://www.forestry.gov.uk/chalara#spread

[MattyF]

I have seen plenty of young infected trees and newly planted trees with it but nothing with my own eyes or in photos of it on British mature trees... Maybe this too me seems because infected trees came as already infected root stock from non british seed banks and nurseries and possibly our native trees are immune.

I would also think that possibly because of its presence on the continent long ago and the traffic of large lorries with there possibility of spreading spores very quickly across the Chanel the disease would of showed up on mass at the same time as it did on the continent so I'm living in great hope our native trees have a higher immunity to the disease... Still I would love to see pics of british mature ash with the disease, I thought I had come across it a number of times in the past but was proven wrong.

[the village idiot]

I have seen plenty of young infected trees and newly planted trees with it but nothing with my own eyes or in photos of it on British mature trees... Maybe this too me seems because infected trees came as already infected root stock from non british seed banks and nurseries and possibly our native trees are immune.

I would also think that possibly because of its presence on the continent long ago and the traffic of large lorries with there possibility of spreading spores very quickly across the Chanel the disease would of showed up on mass at the same time as it did on the continent so I'm living in great hope our native trees have a higher immunity to the disease... Still I would love to see pics of british mature ash with the disease, I thought I had come across it a number of times in the past but was proven wrong.

 

It would be amazing if you were right MattyF and I genuinely admire your optimism:thumbup:

 

There hasn't been an Ash tree planted in the wood I manage for at least 60 years but Chalara is rampant. You are right that it only seems to be visable on young specimens, but I fear that this may just be down to the fact that the pathogen has less work to do with these.

I have more mature trees at the wood which are starting to look very suspect. I'll take some pictures when the leaves are fully out.

 

Having said all that, we still don't know how it will pan out. It may be that our larger stronger trees can muster enough resistance to carry on producing seed. They would have to be super resistant though to produce viable offspring as the Ash seems so vulnerable at sapling stage.

 

It's still just a case of wait and see.

[timbernut]

Sadly it's everywhere mate, we're lost over 90% of coppice regen

[timbernut]

In one wood I work in, the owner asked us to cut everything flush to the ground this year and were replanting with hornbeam and more hazel n oak. The older trees definitely in decline and I'm constantly removing infected saplings in my woods😟

[Gary Prentice]

IIRC the early videos and reports from Denmark, mature trees may take ten or more years to succumb to Chalara. Young, small diameter growth has much fewer vessels so is impacted on quickly.

 

The percentage of UK trees resistant is unlikely to be much different to the rest of Europe. Where the disease originated from, trees with no resistance died and didn't reproduce, those that had resistance reproduced and a status quo evolves.

 

Introduce the disease into a new environment and the process starts from scratch, in ten years or so we'll know which trees are resistant, they'll reproduce and hopefully the resistance is carried forward. In time all or most of our ash will evolve to live with but in the meantime 90-95% of the species is likely to become infected and die.