Fungus

Stephen, It used to be an intermediary for transporting water and nutrients from both trees to one another, now it only functions as a link or tap for the still standing beech to the intact root system of the fallen tree.

My favourite beech couple in a forest in the vicinity of the Dutch town I live, is this pair of beeches, which are connected by an enormous root bridge. The bifurcated beech to the right in the first photo still is in rather good condition, partially because it is linked to the remaining and still functioning root system of the left tree by a root bridge. The left beech was bifurcated too, but split in half up to ground level, because of a poor connection of both trunks at the base of the fork and on top of that, afterwards the crown of the remaining treehalf broke and fell to the ground too. Question : what do you see in the "head" of the root bridge in the photo's 2 and 3 ? ---

David, Unless it was an escape from a terrarium, it can not have been a grub of Dynastes Hercules, because it is not an indigenous European species. Probably it was the grub of the European Rhinoceros beetle (Oryctes nasicornis), which is mainly found in the Mediterranian region. And did you ever find the caterpillar of the Goat Moth (Cossus cossus) ? They can be more then 10 centimetres long and if held, bite and spray acid in the wound. I once had an escape of a full grown grub in the boot of my car, I could not retrieve, until I found it inside a rubber rain boot, of which he already had "consumed" a patch of more then 5 centimetres in a weeks time.

L. willkommii not often fruits, but if it does, it is mostly on infected twigs or branches laying on the ground and on or near bark tumors (bulges) on trunks and branches, which are still on the tree. The mycelium not only causes bark cankers, but also affects the phloem. And its spores spread over short distance by birds visiting trees.

Not what, who : you are my source and/or your quoted researchers, provided they are also stating, that : "Biochar (= Terra Preta ?) is charcoal it was naturally produced by forest fires for millions of years", without mentioning Amazonian indians producing and using it for (primitive) agriculture. Terra Preta is the outcome of a natural biological "ripening" process of burnt and partially pulverised wood, to which millions of soil organisms attribute to and change the composition of the "charcoal" soil creating a special type of anorganic and organic soil food web, which is fertile and suitable for agriculture in the Amazon region, and not for forestry or reforestation, because trees need a completely different soil food web as part of their tree species specific ecosystems. Research on mycology and forest ecology after natural, i.e. lighting stroke caused forest fires, has shown, that regeneration of the forest is highly dependend on the role parasitic, saprotrophic and ectomycorrhizal macrofungi play in killing the fire damaged trees, recycling the burnt wood and litter and "starting up" the seedlings, which germinate in the mineral rich soil. The macrofungi fruit in a rather fixed order or succession, starting with Heterobasidion annosum and Rhizina undulata as trunk base and root parasites, followed by saprotrophic recyclers such as Pyronema omphaloides and P. domesticum, Anthracobia melaloma and A. macrocystis, Trichophaea abundans and T. gregaria, Plicaria trachycarpa, P. anthracina and P. endocarpoides, Aleuria exigua, Peziza atrospora, P. petersii and P. subviolacea, Daldinia vernicosa (burnt birch), Psathyrella pennata, Pholiota highlandensis, Gymnopilus odini, Tephrocybe anthracophila and T. atrata, Coprinus angulatus and Fayodia anthracobia, and by pioneer ectomycorrhizal macrofungi like Geopyxis carbonaria. Final conclusion : your "home made" charcoal and Biochar both neither have anything in common with Terra Preta, nor with the soil food web, which results from a natural process of revitalisation and recomposition of the soil after a forest fire. You could just as well buy a king size bag of cheap barbecue charcoal or much more expensive norit pills, pulverize it and sell it for a good or even better price as Biochar, without anyone noticing the difference in its lack of benefit for the ecosystems of trees or forests.

A massive bark canker on the trunk of a Quercus robur "visited" by OPM caterpillars passing by. ---

The result of long lasting presence of the mycelium of Ganoderma australe in the lower trunk of an old Pedunculate oak. ---

At the request of a friend, today I looked at a troubled beech with poor foliage in her garden and after removal of the top layer of grass, this is what not only was eating the grass roots, but also gnawing the fine roots of the tree, a mean total of 34 white grubs of Melolontha melolontha per square meter we "harvested" them from. Tomorrow the area free of grass will be "treated" with "benine" nematodes. ---

I only dare to be this "sure" as long there is nothing but a stump, which is not at risk of falling involved. ---

Matt, Some successive stages of bark necrosis after sun burn of beeches, which were suddenly sun exposed after a row of trees shadowing the trunks of the beeches were felt. 1. Initial stage. 2. Secondary stage. 3. Detail of necrosis in initial and/or secundary stage. 4. Final stage with the mycelium of Schizophyllum commune decomposing the exposed wood. 5. Beech covered with jute to prevent sun burn of the trunk. ---

1. 2.

Yes, part of private research, i.e. monitoring specific trees, I expect to see something special on or happening with. I was out photographing today, so there's more to come.

No, it is either still in its (moving and colonizing) plasmodium phase or it has started withdrowing into a temporarely sclerotium phase to avoid being dried out before sporulation from a yet to form aethalium.

A today's find of Laetiporus sulpureus on Q. rubra, which probably has been completely decomposed at and up to 40 centimetres above ground level, reading the body language of the tree and the partially sterile panic fruiting of the fungus. ---

Scott, It is always good to "second opinion" a Picus with a Resistograph reading, but only if there are crusts of K. deusta already present on the outside of the tree. Never use a Resistograph on a beech, hornbeam or lime you suspect having an infection with the mycelium of K. deusta, because by drilling through the barriers, the tree forms, to keep the mycelium inside and prevent it from invading the cambium, one creates a six lane highway for the mycelium to break out of its "prison" and then speeding up the decomposition and killing process of the tree.

1. I know what Biochar is and I also know that Biochar is no Terra Preta, nor by origin, nor by composition, nor by content. 2. If you had taken a course on geology and paleontology, you would have known, that with Carboon, the geological era from 362,5 to 290 million years ago is meant, the period parts of The Netherlands were covered with tropical marshes or swamps with Sigillaria and Lepidodendron "tree" species and giant ferntrees and horsetails, of which the thick layers of peat and debri of plants were densily pressed to brown and black coal, not to charcoal, which Terra Preta is. So Carboon has nothing to do with forest fires or charcoal, because in that period there were no trees, i.e. there was no forest to burn. 3. You still don't seem to understand, that Terra Preta can not be artificially produced, and because I am familiar with what charcoal does to the natural soil food web, your right about one thing, I think it's a product to earn easy money with, without considering the consequences for the ecosystems of trees on the long run, so yes, it is grubby commercialism, just as mycorrhizal preparations are.

Or even as low as at or below ground level. The mycelium of a soft rotter like K. deusta often attacks the root plate and buttresses from below, going upward in the center of the trunk and then spreading out radially until the cambium is reached and its parasitical phase starts, after which the foliage becomes transparent and outer parts and/or the top of the crown die. With beech, hornbeam (see above photo) and lime, the appearance of fruiting with black crusts often indicates the mycelium has done its detrimental work of total decay inside and especially trees, which are still in full foliage can become vulnerable for windthrow.

I wasn't thinking of pruning or reducing the crown being the cause of the sunburn, but felling or falling of a tree standing close enough to provide shade to the south side of the affected tree, and it's trunk not being wrapped with jute to protect the suddenly overexposed bark.

Matt, Sun burn after sudden overexposure to light ? Infection with black plaques (and/or rhizomorphs) of parasitic Armillaria species, if that is what the black crusts are from ? And the big not yet burst canker is caused by Nectria ditissima.

And later on it dispersed countless numbers of brown spores in clouds when touched ? This is a myxomycete in its plasmodium phase, what species can only be said after it has formed one big aethalium or lots of small aethalia. This size of plasmodia mostly turn into one big aethelium of a Fuligo species or of Brefeldia maxima. Also see : Myxomycetes.

Bob, Provided it is not Verticillium, the second and third close up look a bit like swollen "blisters" of a mining moth at work, so if you want to follow me on that, try to identify the species with the second half (in English) of : Mining moths on Acer, or if there are any infected Aesculus close by, it could also be Horse chestnut leaf miner (Cameraria ohridella).

I should consult a dictionary more often to be so "fortuitous" or lucky to really understand and not just assume what a word means . By the way, because of the size of the caps of the depicted Oudemansiella mucida, I had to correct the standard measurements given by other authors for my encyclopaedia.

How about the body language of two kissing oaks and an oak with elephant ears. ---

The last ten years, in The Netherlands, where until now Laetiporus sulphureus never has been found on Fagus, the brown rot causing Fomitopsis pinicola is responsible for decay of the wood of living old beeches.