Gerry Hawkes - photo taken in 2001
Comments:
From: Bill
Subj: Re: [forestry-focus] The Brown Leaves of Spring
Date: 5/14/2002 12:41:42 PM Central Daylight Time
I have known Gerry for nearly 20
years and he has been claiming Sugar Maple decline for about all
of those 20 years. Contact our Forests and Parks Protection
Specialists for the real scoop.
Its funny that just today as I was driving home I was noticing
how much the foliage has "popped out" the last day or
two and is so green and interesting with pastel colors. I love
the colors this time of year. And this includes the Sugar Maple.
I realize that my statement is as about as scientific as Gerrys
"This photo represents approximately the average spring
sugar maple leaf discoloration"
If you want to contact anyone from the state to get an idea of
the true health of our forest email me directly.
Bill
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Gerry's reply:
Bill is right. I have been claiming sugar maple decline for about 20 years. Unfortunately they continue to decline and die at an increasing rate.
You can try contacting the Forests & Parks Protection Specialists for the "real scoop" on the health of our forests, but I have been trying since 1969 without receiving satisfactory answers.
Back in 1969, as I watched the red spruce inexplicably dying, I talked with Forests & Parks about the possibility that acid rain could be the underlying cause and was brushed off with the reply "Oh no, Gerry, it is all the dry weather we have been having."
Again in 1974, as the death of red spruce continued, I approached Forests & Parks and suggested that acid precipitation and air pollution was the only logical explanation for such persistent and widespread decline and death and was told that it was due to "all the wet weather".
It is now common knowledge that indeed air pollution in the form of acid deposition was and still is the primary causal agent of widespread red spruce decline and death. Every few years I try to bring up my strong suspicions that air pollution and acid rain are having serious widespread damaging impacts on other tree species in Vermont and am met with unsatisfactory explanations like the ones I received for red spruce.
In one sense, the Forests & Parks people are right, trees stressed by acid rain and air pollution are less tolerant of dry and wet weather, but this is at best a secondary cause and I seldom hear them mention air pollution. Often they do not even see a problem where I see trees and forests in trouble.
- Gerry
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From: Bill
Date: Monday, May 20, 2002 11:34 AM
The red spruce mortality that Gerry speaks of was high elevation red spruce. One of the suspected culprits is acid clouds/fog. As I recall the research concluded that the acid deposition made the spruce susceptible to winter kill. Other research said part of the mortality was simply old age. Other research found that ghost moths were a contributor. I can get references next week if anyone is interested. There is no widespread mortality of spruce at lower elevations.
The following quotes are taken from the Vermont Agency of Natural Resources publication, Forest Insect and Disease Conditions in Vermont, Calendar Year 2000. Prepared by Teillon, Burns, Kelley, Hanson, Wilmot, and Decker.
“Hardwood Decline and Mortality symptoms were mapped on 15,180 acres during the aerial survey. This is a decrease from the 21,223 acres mapped during the dry growing season of 1999.”
“Heavy seed production on many species led to thin crowns statewide. Particularly noticeable was a heavy crop of 2nd year cones on white pine, resulting in very thin foliage in the upper crowns. Heavy seed production on red maple was associated with very little foliage in the upper crowns into mid-June. Other species with heavy seed, and occasional thin crowns were sugar maple, beech, oak, black walnut, hickory, hophornbeam, linden, mountain maple, spruce, balsam fir, hemlock and cherry. Thin crowns associated with heavy seed were mapped on 1132 acres, mostly in Essex County.”
“Spruce-Fir Mortality and Dieback was mapped on 3545 acres this year with the most damage visable in Orleans County. Acreage is similar to 1999 when 3479 acres were mapped.
Defoliation and dieback of red spruce regeneration were frequently observed in the Southeastern Green Mountains in the spring. In some stands, the damage was moderate to severe, including dead trees, with lighter damage occurring elsewhere. Dead shoots could be found anywhere in the crown, although more likely towards the top. The damage occurred in patches in affected stands. Rhizosphaera was found on some needles, however, its fruiting bodies were uncommon. Overstory red spruce had no symptoms. Roots of young red spruce are known to be concentrated in the upper 6” of soil, making them vulnerable to the ’99 drought. Rhizosphaera infection may have further reduced water movement through shoots.”
“Trends in Forest Condition
Introduction
This information on forest condition is from North American Maple Project plots in Vermont. Four indicators of tree condition have been used to determine trends over the last 13 years: tree vigor, crown dieback, foliage transparency, and mortality….
Sugar Maple Condition
Sugar maple health remained similar to recent years with 92.5% of overstory trees in a healthy condition ( < = 15% dieback). Foliage transparency has generally been increasing since 1998. Mortality remains at 1.4 with some trees dying as a result of the 1998 ice storm, and others affected by the 1999 drought. Dieback remains low and vigor remains stable, with most trees related as healthy.
Wet spring conditions led to considerable browning from leaf diseases. In addition, heavy seed was recorded on 25% of North American Maple Project plots. These factors both contributed to thinner foliage and higher foliage transparency ratings.
Other Hardwood Species
Red maple and white ash health remained fairly constant in 2000, with a slight increase in foliage transparency of red maple and a slight decrease in dieback of white ash. Yellow birch and beech both had high foliage transparency ratings, 22 and 26% respectively, the highest recorded for each species during this 13 year survey. Beech also continues to have dieback ratings greater than 10%, higher than any other species.”
The report also indicated that even severely damaged trees from the '98 ice storm are making gains.
More can be found at http://vmc.snr.uvm.edu/summary/general021.htm
Bill
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Gerry's reply:
The red spruce mortality that was foremost in my mind when I was voicing my concern to Forests & Parks about the effects of acid precipitation and air pollution in 1969 and 1974 was in stands on my great grandfather's farm at a bit over 900 feet elevation, on my grandfather's farm also just over 900 feet, on my parents' land at 1200 feet and on my own land at 1600 feet elevation. Those stands of spruce along with many other red spruce stands in the area are almost all gone now, either dead and toppled or salvaged for logs and pulpwood. The majority of the dead and dying trees were less than 100 years old and should have been growing vigorously. Yes, high elevation red spruce stands were more severely affected first, but they were not the primary focus of my concerns.
If you go to http://www.eco-systems.org/air_pollution_notes_from_other_places.htm#MAINE and scroll down you can find a note on that site regarding observations of severe spruce & fir mortality along the coast of Maine in 2001. If there are any foresters on this list who live along the northern coast of Maine, they may be able to provide further observations of these stands that are less than 100 feet above sea level.
I have read the reports that Bill cites below, however what I am seeing in the forest does not correlate well with what is in the reports. This lack of correlation between observation and what was being officially reported concerned me so much that in the 1980's I ran 899 of my own forest health point sample plots in central Vermont and wrote a computer program to analyze the data. The resulting analysis of this plot data confirmed my observations so I began to phase out of consulting forestry to devote more time to developing ways to reduce the effects of air pollution on our forests.
One of the primary reasons so much time and effort has been devoted to the www.eco-systems.org web site is to attempt to show at least some of the worrisome forest health developments, many of which are difficult to quantify for statistical reports, particularly if there is little depth of background data.
I would urge all who read this to carefully observe the trees and forests they are familiar with and think of how the health and vitality of those trees and forests have changed over time. Talk with a few, knowledgeable old timers to see what they have observed.
- Gerry
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Contact Gerry Hawkes: ghawkes@eco-systems.org