Beech Tree disease or what?

[Radar67]

I have a beech tree next to my creek that started looking peeked this year. It started dropping it's leaves and it's bark.

Some background on the area around the tree...

I had a brush fire burn past it in March of 2006. It blackened the bark some.

I've had a bulldozer working beside it in May of 2008 and March of 2007. No contact with the tree from the equipment.

WDH has seen this tree, as I asked him during a visit if he knew how to test it for hollowness.

Here are some pictures...

This is a healthy beech within 50 feet of the sick tree.



This is a full view of the crown of the sick tree.



This is a little closer.



And this is a close up of the bark near the base of the tree.



Did the fire kill this tree, or is there something else going on with it? If it is dieing, I need to cut it.

[beenthere]

The healthy one looks a little peaked in the top too. The one looks dead. Are any of the leaves or the leaf twigs green?  or are they brittle and break easily?

[pigman]

I think the tree has has a condition I call bulldozer blight. It seem that moving dirt or digging around trees put a lot of stress on trees even if the tree trunk is not touched by the machine.

[Radar67]

You may be right pigman.

BT, I can't reach any of the twigs. Many of the leaves that are still on it are green. We had a little bit of a dry spell this summer.

[SwampDonkey]

There is a white birch across the road from my uncles that is suffering just like that. It was from a grass fire that killed the cambium and it's slowly starving. Killing the roots because they can't get nourishment and the reserves stored up in them are diminishing, thus killing the top because they are loosing their function of water and mineral salt (nutrient) uptake.

Roots may be smothered by the dozing as well.

[ely]

if the fire stayed any longer around the tree than just burning a few leaves on the way by, it could have popped the bark around the base.

if the dozer drove around under that tree it would /could have damaged the root base for the tree so that it would have died also.

bottom line, imo that tree in the picture is dead judging from the base photo.

i would cut it down and use it for something or you could leave it awhile and see if it spalts.

[thecfarm]

From the pictures the tree looks like it's dieing.The one you took of the base of the tree don't look good to me.I suppose you can pull the bark of the tree,like flakes? The beech that I have will not last long dead,out in the weather.

[Radar67]

Yes, the bark can be pulled off like flakes. It is pretty loose in that area.

[WDH]

You can always use it to make a work bench top.  Beech is a traditional wood for that .  I don't see much hope for it, either. 

[VT_Forestry]

I'll agree with what was said here as well.  Beech has a pretty thin bark and isn't too fire resistant, so it wouldn't surprise me if that contributed to it's demise.  The bulldozer, while it didn't touch the tree, probably compacted the soil around the roots, making it difficult to take up water.  The soil compaction, combined with the stress from the fire, is what I would say is the cause of death.  Just my 2 cents   

[flip]

Since we are on the subject.  Why is it every beech over 15" or so start rotting to death?  We had several in the 3'+ range that came down in a big wind storm and all are hollow.  Every beech I've seen has this problem.

[SwampDonkey]

If they are that big  I'd suggest old age.

[flip]

Are they prone to heart rot more than other some others?  I know cherry and sassy-frass are prone to rot too.

[SwampDonkey]

The local growing conditions and pathogens play a role as well as physiological age. I'm not aware of beech being any more prone to heart rot than say a maple or a yellow birch. In my area we have to contend with beech scale/nectaria fungus. It's weird that more southerly areas of beech wouldn't have already been infected. In the far NW of New Brunswick it's too cold for the insect, so the disease is kept in check.

[Radar67]

I'm not sure if this one is hollow or not. When Danny was here a little over a year ago, we smacked it with a big stick and it sounded "sound". I'll have to wait a little while longer before I can cut it down. My list is longggggg. 

[Don P]

SD, Beech bark disease/nectria is doing quite well down here.

[SwampDonkey]

SD, Beech bark disease/nectria is doing quite well down here.

Don, I sure wasn't trying to complain if it wasn't. 

[Don P]

 
I didn't see it around my folks down near Clemson while looking for it a few years ago, I'll try to make a point to look this weekend.

[WDH]

Maybe beech gets hollow because all the critters like to make dens in them......or, maybe the critters like to make dens in them because they get hollow .  Either way, there is a symmetry that seems to work .  Maybe it is just supposed to be that way.

[Don K]

Well, we have confirmation. The tree is dead, it was sound, it has some spalt, and it is on the ground awaiting the opportunity to sacrifice itself to the sawmill gods.    It majestically fell from its lofty stature with a loud boom as it landed. There had been a good rain and there was a sizeable pool of water for it to land in and it went out with a big splash.

Don