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Wed, May 30, 12 at 19:12
| What is going on with oak wilt? I've read some stuff about it, and from what I can read, it doesn't appear to be invasive from another country. So why has it appeared all of a sudden? Is it really that high of a danger? |
Follow-Up Postings:
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| This one answers all your questions. Red oaks are falling out of favor in the midwest and east. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oak_wilt |
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- Posted by krycek1984 6a/Cleveland (My Page) on Wed, May 30, 12 at 21:37
| I found a study about the oak wilt fungus. The appearance of the fungus in North America is a bit of mystery...the conclusion of the study was that it originated in Central America but that is far from certain. What an odd infection. From what I read, oak wilt doesn't decimate red oak populations like dutch elm disease does to elm trees...it seems to be more of a nuisance or background disease, outside of the upper midwest. |
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- Posted by wisconsitom 4/5 WI (My Page) on Wed, May 30, 12 at 22:03
| For one thing, it does not have the capability of rapid spread that DED has, although the causal agent is a similar fungus. Oak wilt has a tendency toward spreading out from a center to form a patch of infection, unlike DED which could vector both through elm bark beetles and root graft. With oak wilt, it's more just the root graft with a secondary mode being the weak-flying picnic beetle. What's a picnic beetle you ask? It's that little black beetle in your beer. They love yeast. And other types of yeasty fungi, like the one responsible for oak wilt. So don't prune or otherwise wound your oak trees during the growing season. +oM |
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