The USDA Forest Service manages a division tasked with monitoring forest health via aerial survey. The Forest Health Protection (FHP) staff is responsible for pest detection, reporting and forest management on federal, state and private lands. The FHP aviation program surveys forested land for insects and pests, performs aerial photography and conducts aerial applications, when…
Ground and surface water lost during the extended drought in the southwest are having unexpected and unusual impacts. The 18 month-long drought in southern California has resulted in land upheaval of slightly more than half of an inch, recorded in the mountains. Apparently the estimated 63 billion gallons of water lost has had an effect on…
Several minor, late season turf diseases have been reported found on lawns recently. Leaf spot and blight diseases such as Colletotrichum, Curvularia, Leptosphaerulina, and Ascochyta often develop as the result of long-term exposure to stress, like the end of summer that had variable periods of precipitation and high soil and air temperatures, such as the one we are currently…
The Horticultural Research Institute was established in 1962 to support and promote research benefitting the landscape and nursery industry and horticultural professionals. HRI is the research arm of AmericanHort, which is the consolidation of the OFA, The Association of Horticultural Professionals and ANLA, the American Nursery and Landscape Association. Recently HRI received $200,000 in gifts…
Beech bark disease has been causing mortality of American and European beech (Fagus grandifolia and Fagus sylvatica, respectively) trees since its discovery prior to 1849 in Europe, although until 1914 beech scale was solely being blamed. We now know that the cause is a combination of scale damage and fungal infection. Beech bark disease is…
It’s summer and there are two things we know: – Trees need water – Water (in the form or precipiation) does not always come in predictable amounts and timeframes. There are many great web resources to help you track rainfall (as a proxy for soil moisture). NOAA provides some great tool and tracking precipitation at…
Smokey the Bear celebrated 70 years of helping Americans prevent forest fires on August 9th. And his message remains as relevant today as it was in 1944. The message conveyed by this icon: “Only YOU can prevent forest fires!” proved so powerful that is has helped reduce the number of acres lost to forest fires…
Disease Details First described in the 1990s in the United Kingdom, boxwood blight, was not officially identified until 2002 in New Zealand. The fungus that causes this disease, was itself a newly identified species; named Cylindricladium pseduonaviculatum by finders in New Zealand while also being called C. buxicola when found in the UK. The two names…
The Forest Legacy Program is a cooperative effort between states and the USDA Forest Service which identifies environmentally important forest areas and helps keep them from being converted into non-forest uses. The most utilized tool employed for this process is the determination and delineation of conservation easements. A conservation easement is a legal agreement between a…
Ongoing research at Virginia Technical University performed by Jim Westwood, professor of plant pathology, weed science and physiology, suggests that plants may use a sophisticated method of communication which allows them to share vast amounts of genetic information. Researching and interpreting how plants communicate at a molecular level can provide insight for combating parasitic weeds which…
