Increased temperatures and rainfall over the past 30 years, driven by climate change, have allowed beech trees to thrive in the northeastern United States. But when someone moves to a new place, it can be very crowded. The new influx of beech trees chokes out other native woodland species, thus adversely affecting the forest ecosystem as well as the industries associated with it.
American beech (Fagus grandifolia) is easily recognized from a distance by its smooth, steel gray bark and conical surface roots at the base of its trunk. Unlike most other hardwoods, the American beech retains this smooth bark throughout its “mature” years. which is a favorite of children and teenagers who love to carve their initials in The large, smooth trunks.
This large tree species is often used for firewood, but its fine-grained timber is considered of lower commercial value compared to birch or maplewhich they are most desirable for furniture and flooring.
According to scientists at the University of Maine and Purdue University in Indiana, beech trees are expanding rapidly throughout the northeastern US, as well as southeastern Canada. The team led by Aaron Weiskittelassociate professor at the University of Maine, studied data from the US Forest Service for 30 years, from 1983 to 2014. The analysis revealed that the composition of forests in the states of New Hampshire, New York and Vermont has changed dramatically in intervening years.
In particular, beeches dominate, which grow significantly, while red maple, alder and birch decline. The areas most prone to beech expansion were prime tourist areas such as the White Mountains of New Hampshire, the Adirondack Mountains of New York, and the Green Mountains of Vermont.
“There is no easy answer to this. It has a lot of people scratching their heads,” Weiskittel said. “Future conditions seem to favor beech, and managers will have to find a good solution to fix that.”
In the long term, beeches could have a negative impact on the economic activity of local loggers and woodlands. Perhaps most alarming of all, beech trees carry beech bark disease, which kills young trees and also the new trees that replace them. Beech bark disease (BBD) is the result of an insect-fungal complex, which occurs when a non-native beech insect (Cryptococcus fagisuga) it feeds on beech bark, creating cracks through which native fungi (Nectria canker) can enter the tree. 50-85% of infested beech trees will die within 10 years of infestation. Older trees, especially those that have decayed, are also at risk of the disease.
“We're really dealing with the effects of climate change and how we manage to deal with it,” he said.
In addition to the warming and precipitation produced by climate change, Weiskittel says the range of beech trees will likely expand even further because they are unattractive to deer, which eat the seedlings of other tree species.
“Climate-related changes in forest composition have been widely reported, particularly where changes in abiotic conditions have led to high mortality of sensitive species and disproportionately favored some species better adapted to these newer conditions.” the authors concluded in a paper published in Journal of Applied Ecology.
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