Skip to Main Content
-
Defoliation and oak mortality in Southern New England
Author(s): Jeffrey S. Ward
Date: 2007
Source: e-Gen. Tech. Rep. SRS–101. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Southern Research Station: 214-221 [CD-ROM].
Publication Series: General Technical Report (GTR)
PDF: Download Publication (198 KB)Note: This article is part of a larger document. View the larger documentDescription
Crown class and diameter of 4088 upland oaks have been monitored at 10-year intervals since 1927. Plots had three episodes of moderate to heavy defoliation: 1961-1964, 1971-1972, and 1981. Primary defoliators were gypsy moth, canker worm, and elm spanworm. Mortality peaked during the period of 1957-1967 when there were three years of defoliation. Mortality was higher for white oaks than red oaks, and higher for lower canopy trees than for upper canopy trees. Since the end of the multi-year defoliations in 1972, mortality rates for both species groups and all crown classes have fallen to pre-defoliation levels. Mortality was related to tree vigor for red oaks with higher mortality for slower growing trees. The longer term impact of multi-year defoliation events in oak dominated forests is to accelerate mortality of less vigorous oaks in the lower canopy and slower growing trees in the upper canopy.Publication Notes
- You may send email to pubrequest@fs.fed.us to request a hard copy of this publication.
- (Please specify exactly which publication you are requesting and your mailing address.)
- We recommend that you also print this page and attach it to the printout of the article, to retain the full citation information.
- This article was written and prepared by U.S. Government employees on official time, and is therefore in the public domain.
Citation
Ward, Jeffrey S. 2007. Defoliation and oak mortality in Southern New England. e-Gen. Tech. Rep. SRS–101. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Southern Research Station: 214-221 [CD-ROM].Related Search
- Tree mortality risk of oak due to gypsy moth
- Impacts of oak decline, gypsy moth, and native spring defoliators on the oak resource in Virginia
- Invasive forest defoliator contributes to the impending downward trend of oak dominance in eastern North America
XML: View XML
Show More
Show Fewer
https://www.fs.usda.gov/treesearch/pubs/27829