Tony Croft aka hamadryad

If we was to take the standard issue advice on most of the principal decay fungi, and actually follow it to a T, we would not make any prognosis without fully evaluating the situation. The reality is that very few individuals responsible for making these decissions are fully aware of mechanics, decay and fungal ecology let alone the full life proscess of a aging/veteran/ancient tree. There are many many more shades of grey more even than fifty between the fell all and the retain all camps. If I was only going on the works that are currently avaliable to me to make my prognosis in the HUNDREDS of cases of principal decays i work I would have had to rely on others work and info and as a consequence a great many trees may well have been needlesly felled. I have gone to great personal lengths to study the ecology and life cycle of trees and their fungi, and I very much take it for granted how easily I make prognosis or choices regarding retention of compromised trees. I guess if there was a golden rule to this kind of evaluation, then it would be to base ones prognosis on the mechanics above all other matters, that applies from root to shoot and then concern regarding the potential invasiveness of the "parasite" the latter matter being a long way from adequately researched. Meripilus is one of those I would not treat with less than the utmost of respects, it is one of the most capable of decay fungi, not only is it very capable of breaking down Pectin in the middle lamella it has both soft rot and white rot capacities. that said, it is in all cases the conditions the trees grow in that is the major contributory factor, and hence we see where man has made the rooting environment difficult we see the most progressive and dangerous cases. One reason for this problem is that beech are naturaly very shallow rooted in old age their heart rooted natures have long ceased, much of the time meripilus simply lives on the old root system that is no longer functional, it is only later and increasingly under stress conditions (compaction) that the fungi must move into living tissues and become the enemy we so far understand it to be. If you study Meripilus youll soon see the direct correlation in these points I raise, of course some wild trees fail but they do not fail nearly as quickly as those in the urban context, because of the conditions. We must ALWAYS remember that ensuring healthy growing conditions, from the Rhizospphere to the growing tips is the key in these situations. A tree growing in optimal conditions will compensate and cope with colonisations even of the most feared of fungi with relative ease, but in stressed conditions, especially drought fungi will win the day everytime.

I is a cock-o -knee! PMSL

I am so with you on that!

while your here pete the B|M|s meeting open free to all is right up your alley this year!

was defo and still is one of my all time top books, 14 years on and still very relevent and important. Dr david Lonsdale is the daddy! and a perfect gent to boot:thumbup:

I love the arb sarcasm!

always struggled with that one, get a life! lol:lol:

yes thats what I am talking about, thats YOUR buzz, but what made it so?

Its about a certain fungi and a certain tree and the nature of the relationship, especially the expressions of the body language/morphological changes in the tree. Its unique aspect is going to open a tin of worms! what was your injury?

I messed up school too, but that doesnt stop us becoming something does it? what is it about tree work thats kept you in it, and made you miss it in recent months?

looks like?, grow a pair man! lol:lol: hows the drum?

I've had a lot to think about recently, im on the verge of a few things and ever since our Mr Humphries asked me this question " what influenced you to take your current path/interests?" I have been pondering EXACTLY what has been driving this insatiable quest. Its taken me a few years to pin the answers down, but recently Ive been backtracking through my years as I ponder a book, and a while ago I went to visit a tree that always fascinated me as a child as a young man and now as i return to it the man I've become, and I find that tree to be a key example in a PHD study I am working on! I find it rather interesting that this tree, an old oak which filled my mind so many times as a boy should become one of those that in part completes my lifes ambitions and makes me wonder, is our path in our earliest influences, are we almost set from day one? I always knew I was going to be a naturalist of sorts, I was glued to Sir David Attenboroughs programs and as a child it was nature that fascinated me, my bedroom was a zoo, fish tanks full of great diving beetles and crested newts. I never set out to be an arboriculturist, I was working with father as an industrial engineer, then one day, my father realising I was not the indoor type told me of a job going with a family friend, and now here I am contemplating a book and a PHD project that will be unlike anything thats been done before, i know because I've been told so! I have always struggled with a lack of confidence and insecurity, but I am beginning to feel like i have nothing to prove, that i was born to do THIS, I think I have found my centre, the next ten years are going to be a lot of work, and the steepest learning curve I've ever known, but do you know what, i was born for this challenge, and nothing can prepare me better than that! So, what influenced YOU, why are you HERE at THIS point, is there some obvious link that drove you to the here and now? Are we destined to do what we do, does life push us in the direction we was meant to go in, or do we go in a direction we find ourselves in, randomly and without purpose?

Some good info on Phytopthoras http://www.forestry.gov.uk/pdf/fcin30.pdf/$FILE/fcin30.pdf

nuff said, its THE one.

WHAT AN UNFORTUNATE NAME FOR A YOUNG GIRL! Candida albicans can cause infections (candidiasis or thrush) in humans and other animals!

IS bacterial wetwood

Nice one

Did you know there is a white version aslo, called Candida

yes, Thats my point, I just bee talking about this with one of its head honchos. ancient tree forum. 12000 members has arbtalk, and hardly anyone knows what ATF is, they need to up their game bigtime. 5 years its been going

is it logged for the ATF?

keep the thread on track, with an applanatum like that in your avatar! no chance! thought I did anyways!

thats my job fella! always glad to help:thumbup1:

Being on beech as Pfeifferi is somewhat though not exclusive species specific to beech. and I know only pfeifferi to go so black and hard.

Till the guys that hire you find an equaly skilled but cheaper dude! Gibbon, I can probably swing a few days of at a time, what sort of thing are we talking about, have always fancied coming down and doing a :thumbup1:bit with you.