Tony Croft aka hamadryad

interesting to see the decline from one year to the next!

A couple of recent ones

mmmm, interesting, Im going to have a read tonight and see if my overly dismissive view is in need of a review. prsonaly I see it as a sporadic outbreak phenomina, and not like a constant battering as would be implied to cause radical changes in a trees ecological niche, and Oak IS a pioneer it cant stand climax forest! regen is at the forest edges not within, we all can go out and see this.

its not just the merip David, the rootstock should be more vigorous and thicker than the upper (scion) there appears to be Pluerotus present also? if you can maintain the chanells it will be viable with retrenchments and structural modifications. but it is in a lot of bovver guvnor!

the beech is goosed

good ones david, apart from the concrete/tarmac shot I would call these compacted though! thats certainly a bad dose of powdery mildew you got there.

havent bothered looking yet, very little about in general just a few here and there, my body clock will tell me when its time. I assume you mean the whip

There was nothing complicated about the post, started a thread entitled mycorrhizae and thought I would let those interested know of an event worth attending soon.

nice images guys very nice

Just a quick post before I go to work, but let us continue later! Fungi.docx

It really doesnt make a ot lof difference to how deep the organic horizon goes, its there acting as a sponge and source of goodness. Decompaction protection through soil dwellers etc and sand like you have ont the heath is a lot better than clays in that regard as you know. and were not talking just any old generalists here, were hunting the delicate sensitive species specific networks. Find me the orange Oak Bolete or the orange birch bolete, I will give you the Satanas, but again what was the conditions like for this find? Im not suggesting that the Heath is less than a miracle and urban oasis of biodiversity and uba rare stuff, but the pressures on the heath have magnified exponentially in the last few decades, and its only going to get worse. I agree, we need a new thread!

Spongebob:blushing:

Music to my ears, its about time the tree folk started showing at this event!

They are all generalists, all are in good humus rich soils Now show me low soil organic content well worn soils and species specifics!

and what do ALL of those images have in common?

then you best show me em sometime!

youll put me outta job you keep that up!

sounds like a plan.

I totaly get the point about Mildew, and yes its stressing trees, though to be fair this year they had a great start its only now the mildews broke out and late on in the growing energy storing season. There are so many Oaks as you say in decline and the reasons for this are VERY complex, so many things are conspiring to end their reign as the kings of Englands forests, lets hope it doesnt go the way of the elms. our landscape has changed so much in such a short space of time. There are of course a great many aspects to all these issues and declines, the biggest three are importation and human traffic bringing in alien pathogens and diseases our tree stock havent had the time to adapt to, not one let alone a whole sweet of them. I would call for a ban on all imports of trees and plants, but its too darn late, so thanks FC, defra ect) Then we have the agriculture business, GM crops, pest control and nitrification on levels that are lunacy. reducing biodiversity and losing tons of soil through dry crap earths blowing away in the wind, further exhausberating the issues! And pollution, acidification, ect etc etc all adding to global warming for that all important ultra combo

Graham there is no doubt you right on that thought process, those trees are of a special breed and age, I dont see them sorts in many a place I can tell thee! I will make a point of popping up for a vist and will tie in with you when i do:thumbup:

it is in times of need that the mycos earn their keep, and it is for this reason that they are fed, upto 30% of the trees energy budgets. Acidification, compaction, nitrification (in YOUR case eutrophication and compaction via our four and two legged varieties) render the soil habitat unfavourable to mycorhizae. a tree can grow into the light IF it has the capacity, it can last longer in drought WITH mycorrhizae, permanent wilting point far greater/longer than without. It is mycorrhizae loss that is the greatest magnitude of intolerenence to changes from optimum ranges for a given tree species.

could all those interested in doing a days trial (paid of course) we need to fill this post ASAP for this position please contact John Clark @ [email protected] 01494783536

urgent needs require bold statements, i learn that from Nev! the best instigator of em all:thumbup1: But seriously, the key to a robust healthy tree is in the soil, in the "rhizosphere" all other pests and diseases are rendered almost unimportant by a healthy growing environment. we know this, its what makes the difference between a downward spiral and just another episode in a trees long long life. so YES we do need to focus our energies at the foundations and build a stronger tree stock from the ground up, not the top down!

yep, thats the squirrels

100+ years is a long time to be on the concern list, IMO, there is a much greater set of threats the biggest one the loss of Mycorrhizae for which we should be focusing ALL our money and time on IMO at this time.