Evalutation of sugar maple dieback trends in the upper Great Lakes region
| Authors: | Tara L. Bal, Andrew J. Storer. |
| Year: | 2015 |
| Type: | Book Chapter |
| Station: | Washington Office |
| Source: | Potter, K.M., and B.L. Conkling, editors. 2015. Forest Health Monitoring: National Status, Trends and Analysis, 2014. General Technical Report SRS-209. Asheville, North Carolina: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Southern Research Station. 190 p. |
Abstract
Crown dieback and declines in tree health of sugar maple (Acer saccharum) have been reported on various land ownerships in the western Upper Great Lakes region in recent years (MDNR 2009, 2010, 2012). In some areas, the crown dieback has affected high-value crop trees. Historically, sugar maple dieback (g. 10.1) has been reported more frequently in the eastern part of its range and has not been described on the same scale in the Great Lakes region since the 1950s and 1960s (Bal and others 2015, Millers and others 1989). As a result, fewer studies of canopy health of sugar maple exist in the Midwest than in the Eastern United States. Dieback and decline episodes of sugar maple often appear to be driven by local conditions, mainly predisposed or incited by poor soil nutrient status and further exacerbated by severe drought or other weather extremes, local insect or disease damage, or management activities (Horsley and Long 1999, St. Clair and others 2008).