Conservation / Tree Health

By: Grant Seagull

A tree disease first spotted 9 years ago in Ohio is now a leading threat to one of eastern North America’s most important trees. The poorly understood malady, called beech leaf disease, is spreading rapidly and killing both mature American beeches and saplings, new research shows.

“This study documents how rapidly [the disease] has spread since its first observation in 2012,” says Robert Marra, a forest pathologist at the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station who was not involved with the work.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Richard Barclay opens a metal drawer in archives of the Smithsonian Natural History Museum containing fossils that are nearly 100 million years old. Despite their age, these rocks aren’t fragile. The geologist and botanist handles them with casual ease, placing one in his palm for closer examination.

The Morton Arboretum and United States Botanic Garden (USBG) announce a new partnership to advance the conservation of threatened trees in the United States, with a special focus on native oak species. The partners will develop threat assessments, conduct field work to resolve taxonomic questions and collect seeds for planting in conservation collections, and advance the work of the Global Conservation Consortium for Oak (GCCO).

by Bob Yirka , Phys.org, © Arboretum Wespelaar

By Hudson Heidger, Alex Wolf and Dylan Schwartz

Ryan Russell, the horticulturist for Columbia’s Parks and Recreation Department, is on a mission to bring the endangered quercus acerifolia — maple-leaf oaks — to Columbia.

From seed to forest giant, adopt a tree to conserve the rare, endemic, and vulnerable species in the tropical rainforest of Costa Rica's Osa Peninsula.

Forests are critical for a sustainable future. By planting the right tree in the right place, we can counteract climate change, provide habitat for wildlife, and protect global biodiversity. 

Costa Rica’s newest arboretum (website here) is a combination of innovative conservation technology and cutting-edge botanical research. The Osa Arboretum protects more than 300 native, rare, endemic and threatened tree species in the Osa Peninsula, a Costa Rican biodiversity hotspot. It aims to be one of the largest arboretums in Central America, with a trail network that spans more than 625 acres across old growth, secondary, mangrove and coastal forests.

By: Gregory Moore

Australia is sweltering through another heatwave, and there will be more in the near future as climate change brings hotter, drier weather. In some parts of Australia, the number of days above 40℃ will double by 2090, and with it the tragedy of more heat-related deaths.

In the complex world of plant ecology, however, heatwaves aren’t always a bad thing. Rolling days of scorching temperatures can kill off plant pests, such as elm beetles and mistletoe, and even keep their numbers down for years.