Alot of Dead Oaks in NC...

[JTinaTree]

So after removing a dead White Oak a couple of weeks ago, I see more being that Im in the business and always looking while driving. I know ants killed the one I removed, but was curious if it was oak wilt killing the others?? Anybody else noticed this here, or in your state?

I may add it seems the majority of what i see are White Oak's and we have had somewhat of a moderate-severe drought here .

 

[cntrybo2]

we have alot of this in virginia as well. it can be attributed to a couple things i have found.
1. hurricane isabel came into the area pretty hard a couple years back and whipped alot of trees. the oaks in out area are like parachutes and ever since the storm have been in a downward spiral of health due to cambium fracture and internal compression wood and cabium scaring

2. we are in a saw fly epidemic. these little buggers bore into the cambium all over the place and essentially cutting off the nutrients to the tree and they decline, especially in years of severe drought like this one.

 

[Frank Boyer]

In N. CA. Monterey Pines have had a problem with a blight for 10 years or so.

For the last five years or so, Tan Oaks are dying in high numbers in my area, Santa Cruz County, CA. I live back in the hills and we have taken down 20 + trees in the neighborhood. I dropped a 42" diameter one around 120 feet tall last weekend. They start falling down around two years after the leaves turn brown. The wood is to punky for fire wood 1-2 years after the leaves turn brown. They are becoming a safety hazard.

 

[Dadatwins]

So after removing a dead White Oak a couple of weeks ago, I see more being that Im in the business and always looking while driving. I know ants killed the one I removed, but was curious if it was oak wilt killing the others?? Anybody else noticed this here, or in your state?

I may add it seems the majority of what i see are White Oak's and we have had somewhat of a moderate-severe drought here .

Curious why you think ants killed the tree? I usually see ants as an after effect on an already stressed tree. Not sure if I would say it was the ants that caused the death of a tree. There have been a lot of white oaks dying in my area also, but the majority are from construction damage and drought.

 

[treeseer]

Not sure if I would say it was the ants that caused the death of a tree. .

Me neither. Main killer of white oaks is humans who kill the roots.

Cambium fracture and scarring from hurricane winds? A healthy tree will grow new tissue in a hurry. Several years since Isabel to rebound. Mnay other strssors on the trees.

 

[JTinaTree]

Curious why you think ants killed the tree? I usually see ants as an after effect on an already stressed tree. Not sure if I would say it was the ants that caused the death of a tree. There have been a lot of white oaks dying in my area also, but the majority are from construction damage and drought.

Im sure it was ants... the homeowner had stacked firewood around the tree. It was rotten where he never used it, and was full of ants and they borrowed under the tree into the root system. They even came out of hollow limbs that I dropped out of the top..

 

[rb_in_va]

Im sure it was ants... the homeowner had stacked firewood around the tree. It was rotten where he never used it, and was full of ants and they borrowed under the tree into the root system. They even came out of hollow limbs that I dropped out of the top..

Even so, carpenter ants make their nests in dead wood. Or was it a different type of ant?

 

[kennertree]

Im sure it was ants... the homeowner had stacked firewood around the tree. It was rotten where he never used it, and was full of ants and they borrowed under the tree into the root system. They even came out of hollow limbs that I dropped out of the top..

If the ants burrowed under the tree its great. Ants dont eat roots so they are airiating the soil. Something else killed the tree, the ants just live there.

 

[JTinaTree]

If the ants burrowed under the tree its great. Ants dont eat roots so they are airiating the soil. Something else killed the tree, the ants just live there.

Well i was just stated the obvious, I am not a professor of tree health by no means... and I am not a certified arborist, so I will take your statments as knowledge gained.. however are there any ants that do feed on hardwoods??

 

[treeseer]

are there any ants that do feed on hardwoods??

/carpenter ants do burrow in decayed cavities and sometimes seem to extend those galleries into live wood, but it's hard to tell if the decay is doing the advancing or the ants are.

Bottom line, I agree with kenner, ants are not the problem. I dunno what is killing the oaks in nc, and on top of that is a pine beetle outbreak; I had to fell 3 today in my neighbor's yard. Dam Drought.

 

[kennertree]

Alot of the oaks are dieing around here too. The late freeze along with this drought has all the stressed trees in a spiral of decline or death. I've been getting alot of calls that are dead trees.

 

[Farmer Ferd]

Bacterial leaf scorch is killing them by the thousands here in NJ they say it hits mostly the red and Pin. I am not an arborist but do my best.

 

[Fumbler]

I work for the NC Forest Service and we've found oak leaf miners in a lot of oaks (usually white) in the Warren and Franklin county areas (I don't work west of Warren).

Its usually just a defoliator, but I suspect they hit the oaks pretty hard due to the drought stress. Drought stress + early defoliation = huge room for other stuff to kill trees.

Who knows what the real cause is...

 

[OTG BOSTON]

up here too

In the southeastern parts of Massachusetts there are tens of thousands of dead oaks this year. I believe it is due to the drought year we had this year preceded by consecutive years of wintermoth, eastern tent catepillar, and gypsy moth.

My point is it could be the combination of several things.

 

[BostonBull]

Ants are opportunists. Thye go fter dead wood. It is too much for them to digest/eat live wood.

I think this out break has many factors. Drought, vascular diseases, and the normal pests as metioned above....canker worms, winter moth etc etc. I wouldnt pin down ONE source as the casue of death. White Oaks arent the best species to put in compacted soil, nor do they like having their soil compacted. So this may be a cause as well.

 

[lmalterna]

One year later and I find this thread due to seeing the same trend...

Disturbing to drive down the road and see so many large Oaks succumbing. I am going to increase the diameter of my tree rings(they ARE too small) around my yard Oaks to try to bolster them.
The ones I am seeing are mixed yards and roadside/mountainside(to a lesser #) and seem to be singles instead of groups. I suspect increased heat/dry air from traffic on major roads add to the stress of drought.

2Door

 

[Wortown Mick]

I was spotting alot of premature fall colors in the crowns of oaks & maples in central MA earier this month & last month. I was specificly looking for ALB signs, frass & emergence holes but didnt spot any

 

[JTinaTree]

I have come to find out it's not just the White Oak's that have suffered from the drought last year, I dead wooded a Scarlet Oak this weak that had some big wood that was gone.. I got 95% of it out of the tree so we will see how it does from here on out..

 

[kennertree]

Dead wooding is a good thing to do but it's only treating the symptom. Try to find the cause of the dead wood and treat that.

 

[TackleTree]

I noticed a lot of hardwoods (oak specifically) succumb to storm damage (uproot) here. Pines went down too but that is to be expected. Wonder if the drought has weakend them??