mid Atlantic fungal epidemic. Anyone else seeing this?

[GGB]

Just curious, I live in central eastern PA and we have had record breaking .... actually shattering amounts of rain. A lot of tree species near me are dying for various reasons, all somewhat besides the point. My point is this year I’m noticing almost 80/90% of maples near me seem to have some sort of fungal disease. Looks like anthracnose but I could be incorrect there. Are you noticing this where you live? It’s a little daunting to estimate the almost every tree in my neighborhood Will be dead in the next couple years. Been noticing this in New Jersey and surrounding PA cities as well. I live in an extremely densely populated part of America and hope our rural areas aren’t looking like this too.

Also, while I’m on the soap box, has anyone noticed every single tree or shrub Lowe’s sells is sick as a dog? Am I late to the party on that one or is that new too?

 

[sorce]

Seems native maples here all have black spot.
The "cultivars" don't.

So our natives will die.

Meanwhile these "cultivars" that don't seed true can be considered sterile, since their offspring will be susceptible.

So our natives die.
The cultivars die.

Then we die!

You think it will get that far?

I heard the human population is going to max out and stabilize soon.
Thoughts?

Sorce

 

[Cadillactaste]

Seems native maples here all have black spot.
The "cultivars" don't.

So our natives will die.

Meanwhile these "cultivars" that don't seed true can be considered sterile, since their offspring will be susceptible.

So our natives die.
The cultivars die.

Then we die!

You think it will get that far?

I heard the human population is going to max out and stabilize soon.
Thoughts?

Sorce

We see black spot every year...and the native trees don't die. Just lose the spectacular fall colors.

 

[sorce]

We see black spot every year...and the native trees don't die. Just lose the spectacular fall colors.

True.
Nasty though, doesn't seem sustainable.

Sorce

 

[Uncle Robo]

Just curious, I live in central eastern PA and we have had record breaking .... actually shattering amounts of rain. A lot of tree species near me are dying for various reasons, all somewhat besides the point. My point is this year I’m noticing almost 80/90% of maples near me seem to have some sort of fungal disease. Looks like anthracnose but I could be incorrect there. Are you noticing this where you live? It’s a little daunting to estimate the almost every tree in my neighborhood Will be dead in the next couple years. Been noticing this in New Jersey and surrounding PA cities as well. I live in an extremely densely populated part of America and hope our rural areas aren’t looking like this too.

Also, while I’m on the soap box, has anyone noticed every single tree or shrub Lowe’s sells is sick as a dog? Am I late to the party on that one or is that new too?

The trees outside will be fine. Only sick or dying trees might be affected, but they're already dying anyway.
I'm about 100 miles from you, and after prolonged periods of rain, I notice some trees getting taller, so not seeing any epidemic.

As for Lowes, some stores are managed better than others.
But with most chains, they just have any employee handle a dept. as needed, who may know nothing about trees, shrubs, or plants.
I did pick up a nice Andorra Juniper for $4 on clearance there that is now recovering nicely.

 

[penumbra]

Not unusual at all with all the rain this year. Black spot is common on maples. They will survive. The blights affecting oak trees are much more serious. Every year we lose a few more oaks but not so the maples.

 

[GGB]

I'm not talking about black spots on maples, that i've seen my whole life. I'm talking about dead branches and a fungal disease destroying the edges of leaves. I do feel better knowing that a bunch of tree heads aren't too worried (outside of sorce). My first reaction was also that the healthy trees would be fine but I've been taking walks the last couple days trying to find a maple or two without disease and it's not going well. I DO live in a city and maybe that's why it's so pronounced. But this disease started on tilia cordata and those are all dead now. Seems like sycamore are probably next and now this year this disease (if the same one) has hit every maple and fruiting tree. I'm not suggesting this is the end of days, but I am wondering a little I guess.

 

[penumbra]

A picture would have helped. I don't know what you have but anthracnose is running wild this year on sycamore and plane tree.

 

[GGB]

And to echo Sorce, consistently being sick and lacking fall color doesn't seem like a super sustainable cycle. I understand that these things take years to kill a tree so nothing will be over night. But if we can't cure our treasured trees in pots with everything we have I don't see the trees in my city just recovering on their own.

@penumbra I work til sunset tonight but will snap a few pics on different genuses. Hearing you say it is anthracnose hitting sycamore makes me think that's almost definitely what I'm seeing.

 

[coh]

We had a very wet spring and then a rather dry summer. Resulted in lots of fungus on things like crabapples, and really bad mildew on lilacs, oak, etc. However, our big problem is the emerald ash borer. The last year or two I started noticing more and more dead ash trees. This year it seems every mature ash tree in the area is either dead or in the process of dying and over the next few years it is expected that pretty much every untreated ash tree in NY will be gone. They are one of the most common tree species here, making up about 15-20% of the natural forests in this area.

The question is, what do they do when all the ash trees are gone? Do they start attacking other trees? The experts say no but I have my doubts.

We have also been losing vast numbers of pines due to beetles and fungus.

 

[Warpig]

I had ordered a new JM (Shindeshojo) this spring and when it got here i had noticed fungal growth along two of the main branches. I wish i had taken some pics beforehand. I made sure to remove the branches far enough back and proceeded to burn them under the next full moon, as is custom?

Not sure where the tree came from but im sure i could look it up easy.

 

[GGB]

@coh Ive had that same thought. Being just south of you, by a handful of hours, I can say that mature ash is done around me. fourtunately they dont attack young trees so just like DED, nothing is going extinct .. yet. But It's creepy to see so many species on there way down. I have noticed EWP seems to be the only species of pine not ailing right now.
@sorce you were talking about "j-curve populations" no species can can grow in numbers forever. Many diseases have tried to bring our numbers back but we keep solving the problems with medicine. which is awesome! but at some point something will give, maybe it'll be our geo-lungs.
There's no point in predicting the end of humanity if we are currently doing our best. which we aren't. It just kinda seems like mother earth (here in Bethlehem, PA) is throwing her towel in. Hope other counties, villages and states are fairing better.

maybe i'm being over dramatic
maybe i should set the beer down
and take off the tin foil hat
but all these limp tips are making me think

 

[Velodog2]

Just south of you in central Maryland we have somehow evaded most of the rain that has come through in successive waves and drowned Dc and Baltimore.

But this reminded me of my trip to New Hampshire last spring where I saw browning needles an almost all white pines (yes EWP) regardless of size or age from central upstate NY through New England. It turned out to be another fungus caused by consistently wetter springs for the past few years or so.

It doesn’t take much to unbalance an ecosystem.

Sorce, I find myself torn between wanted to die before things really get ugly and wanting to stick around long enough to see the train wreck. It would be interesting to see what comes next I suppose. I’ll have to settle for science fiction I expect although I haven’t seen much of that that deals in a believable manner. The best apocalyptic survival story I’ve read was “Seven Eves”, but that was not based on climate change except in the most extreme way.

 

[GGB]

Left work to pick up lunch downtown. Only walked two two blocks and passed 5 genus and 6 species of trees. Some honey locust thing appeared un-funged. Two were too tall for a decent pick oak and sycamore, but they were badly infected. The other three with leaves at photo height are shown. That’s an infected rate just south of 90%. And now I’m hearing ewp might be dying too. I’m totally done funding the IRA, back to the dive bars and punk shows I go. Been real

 

[GGB]

 

[M. Frary]

We had a very wet spring and then a rather dry summer. Resulted in lots of fungus on things like crabapples, and really bad mildew on lilacs, oak, etc. However, our big problem is the emerald ash borer. The last year or two I started noticing more and more dead ash trees. This year it seems every mature ash tree in the area is either dead or in the process of dying and over the next few years it is expected that pretty much every untreated ash tree in NY will be gone. They are one of the most common tree species here, making up about 15-20% of the natural forests in this area.

The question is, what do they do when all the ash trees are gone? Do they start attacking other trees? The experts say no but I have my doubts.

We have also been losing vast numbers of pines due to beetles and fungus.

Our mature ash have been gone for a while except for a few.
Very few.
The borer isn't attacking other trees yet.
We also have beech bark fungus killing all of the beech.
There is a newer fungus that hits red pines called root rot now.
It travels through the roots once a tree is infected.
And we have oak wilt.
Also travels through the roots.
Then there is spruce bud worm.
They take out whole stands of spruce now but I've heard they will start in on other conifers once the source are gone.
In almost every type of infection/disease all of the trees need to be cleared.
Good for me.
Not so good for the forest.

 

[coh]

Our mature ash have been gone for a while except for a few.
Very few.
The borer isn't attacking other trees yet.
We also have beech bark fungus killing all of the beech.
There is a newer fungus that hits red pines called root rot now.
It travels through the roots once a tree is infected.
And we have oak wilt.
Also travels through the roots.
Then there is spruce bud worm.
They take out whole stands of spruce now but I've heard they will start in on other conifers once the source are gone.
In almost every type of infection/disease all of the trees need to be cleared.
Good for me.
Not so good for the forest.

well aren't you the bearer of good news! LOL.

Pretty soon it will be "forests? yeah, I remember forests..."

 

[AJL]

Have you got Xylella fastidiosa disease affecting trees and other plants in your areas- Its bacterial, spread by sharpshooters( sapsucking insects) and its got a huge host range.
Why dont you report symptoms to your local council Arboriculturalists office and find out from them whats going on?!

 

[AJL]

Here in Britain we are gonna lose most of our Ash to Chalara (Ash dieback) in the next few years then the few that do survive will probably get killed by Emerald Ash borer which isnt here yet but is on its way from Russia into Europe via firewood imports.
Larch and Vaccinium(Blueberry) in Britain is being wiped out by Phytophthora ramorum( AKA sudden Oak Death to you)
Our Veteran Oaks here are being threatened by Acute Oak decline
Then theres Spruce Bark Beetle, Red Band Needle Blight,Elm Yellows Phytoplasma,Asian Longhorn Beetle, Red necked longhorn beetle, Oak processionary Moth......... the list goes on but people still buy plants and plant products and move them all around the world without considering what pests may be hitching a ride on them or in the soil and then ignoring the consequences till its too late... Blame it all on climate change, globalisation of trade, and human greed and indifference GRRRRRRRRR

 

[JudyB]

My ash trees are all gone, it was probably 20% of my forested area maybe more. All the hawthorns that used to grow so happily here are all gone after several years of repeated fungal disease. They can only regenerate so many times. Lost many large haws this way. Pines are on the way out. Dogwoods have been gone for several years now, and I hear that boxwoods should all be gone soon if that blight gets spreading this way.