Is This Oak Wilt, Oak Rot, General Fungus, Etc.?

[Drak]

Hello. I moved into a property last year, about 1/2 of the 1 acre lot is wooded, and have been assessing the condition of the various Oaks here.

This one in particular, I was working my leaf blower clearing some leaves about a month ago (March), and as I passed the blower by this Oak, a piece of the bark at the bottom just blew right off.

Odd I thought...

I took a hammer and started testing different areas of the Oak, sounding out for hollow and solid areas, and the portion I have now removed as seen in the pic was all hollow sounding. The surrounding areas are all still solid sounding.

As I removed the bark, all the wood directly underneath the bark in the hollow area was rotten and spongy like Balsa wood, down to a slimy black layer as the pic shows. Under the slime coat it is solid sounding (the inner tree)

There is also a white moldy layer directly under the bark. The black layer was 2-3 'layers' in.
I have no idea what this is, I have been doing some internet reading but to no distinct avail.

What I believe is that the smaller tree stump you can see in the pics has stressed the Oak by growing so closely to it, almost directly into it. I cut the offending (much smaller) tree down last fall.

Thanks for any help and advise!

PS, for some reason, this seems like almost a 'pattern' on this lot, what I believe to be smaller Maples (I could be wrong) are growing almost directly out of the main Oak trunks, there are another 4-5 scenarios around the propert where almost exactly the same thing is happening that you can see in the pic, and I think these Maples are highly stressing the Oaks by delivering girdling roots that surround the Oaks and stress them. None of the others has this 'rot', but one is leaning heavily and looks very unhealthy, another isn't leaning so much, but has some obvious girdling roots from the Maple surrounding it...it's pretty weird how it seems like a distinctive pattern has formed, the Maples growing right at the base of the Oaks and stressing them very much...I hope someone can shed some light and give some sound advise , especially as to what to do with this hurting Oak.

 

[Dadatwins]

Is this a newly cleared lot? Typical what you describe is construction damage caused by a new previously wooded lot being cleared for a house, using bull dozers and loaders where a few select trees are left. The property is graded over the compacted and damaged root systems and the homeowner is left with a collection of dead or dying trees a few years later. The worst will be the trees in the open, followed by the border trees of the cleared property. Get an arborist on site to evaluate what is left and suggest treatment.

 

[Drak]

It is not a freshly cleared lot, the house was built and the area landscaped in the mid-80's. At least I wouldn't call that freshly cleared, maybe someone in the industry would look at it that way...

I suspected actually somewhat the opposite, basically just honest neglect on the part of the former owners of not being overly interested in the health of their trees, and just doing nothing much except for raking leaves for 20-something years...but I could be wrong.

Thanks for the advice so far.

 

[Mark Currie]

Were there or are there any fruiting bodies (mushrooms, conks, fungus, etc.) growing around the base of the tree? Any starting on the tree?

 

[Drak]

Were there or are there any fruiting bodies (mushrooms, conks, fungus, etc.) growing around the base of the tree? Any starting on the tree?

No, none on the ground, and nothing on the tree bark.
The tree, for all intent and purpose, looked perfectly normal, nothing out of the ordinary until you tapped it. Once the hollow areas were found out, the bark on the hollow section came off with almost no effort, it almost fell off, and the rotten balsa-like wood directly underneath it came off rather easily as well (since it was rotten).

I honestly cannot positively ID the other type of (offending) tree yet...What is the special note referring to Dogwoods, are they protected, or are they deadly to Oaks?

Sorry for my ignorance, I am just beginning to learn my 'arbory basics'.

Thanks for the help so far.

 

[Mark Currie]

Is roundleaf dogwood protected in Maryland?

I guess this time of the year, there wouldn't be much for mushrooms and stuff anyway.. haha.. wasn't thinking when I first asked that. Most times, they're the best way to identify a fungus, if it's a fungus at all.

I've seen what the picture shows before, but I just can't put my finger on it. If I can track down my book, I will take a look.

 

[Mark Currie]

The spongy wood is basically what's left behind after the fungus eats the lignin and leaves the white cellulose behind. I was thinking of armillaria root rot at first, but I'm not sure. I'm probably way off on that one.

Mark

 

[son of a beech]

i think armillaria is a heartwood rot,and fruiting bodys would be noticable, if this photo is heartwood rot, the trees not being supported by much! It may on the other hand be a sapwood rot which im not all that familiar with in oaks around here. Or.... it could be sun scald ffrom when they cleared the lot some 20 years ago. but i think i would have to lean on the sap wood rot side of things.

 

[Ekka]

Some type of soft rot etc. Could be bacterial and not fungal, you'd have to take a sample to a lab and get it tested.

As the damage is always where the smaller tree was I conclude probably a soft rot fungi, similar to what you get in your house when wood is exposed to weather. The darkness, shade, stiller air/less ventilation, warmth.

http://forestpathology.cfans.umn.edu/microbes.htm

 

[Ed Roland]

The punky material exhists at about the same height as clearing machines.

This could be abiotic in origin.

 

[ArganteDH]

Correct Understory for Oaks

This oak is definitely distressed. Whatever the actual disease or pest, there is another, greater problem. From the photo, I can see that under the oak is bare soil and a bit of grass. Here is a quote from a website that helps people grow plants from the native habitats in California (we have alot of oaks), but the info applies to the growing of most oak species.

"Oak trees in California usually have two types of root systems, one deep (for bringing up water) and one shallow (their nutritional and immune system). Oak trees act as a water lift, pulling water from deeper soils and sharing with their companion plants. Associated plants that grow in the deeper soil openings and under the oak tree canopy have roots in different soil levels than the oak. A shallow oak root system is directly under the litter layer (oak leaf mulch layer). This oak leaf mulch layer, or litter layer, is critical to the health of the oak tree. At the place where the oak leaves contact the soil, a specific group of microorganisms prevent the quick breakdown of the leaves, and so hold that nutrition in so-called storage, and at the same time, slowly break down some of the leaf material, and so extract nutrients as needed, and share these with the oak tree. If the litter layer is replaced by alien plants (alien, annual grasses, vinca, ivy, thistles, and many others) and their litter (dead alien plant parts laying on the ground), this oak leaf- bare soil interface is missing, which is the mini-habitat for the specific group of microorganisms, and so they die out, and are replaced by another group of microorganisms that can live in the thick thatch of alien plants and their litter, and very few oak leaves. Where do the oak leaves go when the alien plants and their litter replace the oak leaf litter? We are not sure, but believe that either they are broken down quickly by the new group of microorganisms, or removed by small fauna, or removed by some other means, or maybe the oak tree, reacting to the stress of losing the litter layer, is not dropping as many leaves onto the ground but holding them on the tree (The answer to this question would be a great thesis for some enterprising student). Anyway, the oak leaf-bare soil interface habitat is gone, and the ability to acquire food or nutrients, is lost, and the oaks are left with essentially only their deep root system and will weaken and be more susceptible to a variety of diseases and decline. "

To sum up:
Oak trees need oak litter under them to remain healthy.

This quote is from:
http://www.laspilitas.com/comhabit/California_Central_Oak_Woodland.html

A more in depth article on the subject:
http://www.laspilitas.com/classes/mycorrih.htm

How to help a sick oak:
http://www.laspilitas.com/groups/oaks/oak_tree_help.html

Hopefully there is a website or similar resource to laspilitas for your region. Find out the exact species of the tree and where it is native from and check with the native plant society for that area for its proper care.

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-Argante