Birch Tree Die-Off in the Kilkenny?

[earlylite]

Backpacking in the Kilkenny over the weekend, I was dismayed that a large percentage of the birch trees are dead or dying. Is there some kind of blight going on? Haven't noticed the same thing down south in the Pemi.

 

[erugs]

Did you notice what the trees through Franconia Notch looked like this summer? Not even late summer. They looked like fall had arrived three months ahead of schedule.

 

[Chip]

Backpacking in the Kilkenny over the weekend, I was dismayed that a large percentage of the birch trees are dead or dying. Is there some kind of blight going on? Haven't noticed the same thing down south in the Pemi.

We noticed the same thing leaving Cabot Saturday. Below Unknown Pond, right ? We were happy none of the dead branches landed on us as the front approached. Did we meet you ? To me it looked like something specific to that area that occured before this season, like maybe damage from Irene ?

 

[peakbagger]

The ice storm of 1998 nailed that area, most of the large birches were either entirely topped or seriously damaged. As anyone who cuts firewood knows, white birches rot standing up and they can hang on quite awhile. If you wait until they look stressed to cut them, they are already half rotten. When I revisited Unknown pond trail last year for the first time since the ice storm I was amazed at the new growth in areas that used to be birch glades.

So is the die off on the new trees that have grown in or were your observations about the mature birches?

 

[bikehikeskifish]

An in-law of mine who is a forester told me there was heavy insect damage this year. Not sure if that is related.

Tim

 

[earlylite]

We noticed the same thing leaving Cabot Saturday. Below Unknown Pond, right ? We were happy none of the dead branches landed on us as the front approached. Did we meet you ? To me it looked like something specific to that area that occured before this season, like maybe damage from Irene ?

Maybe - we were a party of 6 doing a full traverse from South Pond to Jefferson.

 

[earlylite]

So is the die off on the new trees that have grown in or were your observations about the mature birches?

I don't recall seeing any young birches. It was mostly big trees that had no leaves, so an old ice storm would make sense.

 

[earlylite]

Did you notice what the trees through Franconia Notch looked like this summer? Not even late summer. They looked like fall had arrived three months ahead of schedule.

But the damage in the Kilkenny was strictly limited to birches. Lots of birch leaves down on the ground too, making me think this is a species specific or insect issue.

 

[DSettahr]

I can't be sure without seeing it myself, but it may just be natural forest succession. Birch trees require a lot of sunlight to survive, and don't deal with competition very well. They tend to only grow in areas where there has been recent disturbance, which allows a lot more sunlight to penetrate the forest. As the forest matures, eventually other species will crowd in and take over, and the birches will become out-competed.

The fact that you didn't see any young birches would seem to support this theory- the forest is simply aging and the birches are dying off as later-succession species become established.

 

[Tom_Murphy]

I can't be sure without seeing it myself, but it may just be natural forest succession. Birch trees require a lot of sunlight to survive, and don't deal with competition very well. They tend to only grow in areas where there has been recent disturbance, which allows a lot more sunlight to penetrate the forest. As the forest matures, eventually other species will crowd in and take over, and the birches will become out-competed.

The fact that you didn't see any young birches would seem to support this theory- the forest is simply aging and the birches are dying off as later-succession species become established.

A good example of this is the corridor along the Flat Mountain Pond Trail; many old huge birch trees that have either fallen or look like they are on their last legs but no young birch.

 

[NeoAkela]

I haven't fact-checked this, but I was told a while back that white birches had about a century lifespan. That being said, we would be approaching the end of the white birch lifecycle since the great forest fires of the early 1900s. So it would seem to be the natural succession of things - those forests will over time convert to softwoods and other hardier low-light trees. (edit: looks like Tom Murphy said just the same thing - thanks, Tom!)

Not my area of expertise by any means, but I heard this in several conversations with folks whose knowledge of this sort of thing I would trust.

Regarding the trees in Franconia Notch - I believe that is a separate issue with a dry summer and new pavement.

Anyone who lives in Bethlehem may have noticed the large amount of maple trees along the top of main street (and Maple Street) with brown leaves. Many of these trees are almost completely brown and have been for several weeks now. Not sure about that - no new paving going on here.

 

[peakbagger]

The Shelburne birches on RT 2 in Shelburne NH were over mature and dying off several years ago. A local made the comment that soon the Shelburne Birches were going to become the Shelburne firs. The solution was to harvest out the worse of the dead or dying birches and clear cut half the lot to allow the birches to grow back. The new growth is just starting to change from red bark to white bark but its still going to be quite awhile until they look very impressive.

There are quite a few bugs who like birches and some years the weather condtions can be just right in one spot to cause an infestation. Usually the trees recover if its local pest.

 

[Lefty E]

The birch groves on Mt Hayes and Cascade Mt., plus the groves on the east side of the Moriah Range, were hit hard in the ice storm of 1998 plus another one a few years later (can't recall the date, not as dramatic as 98) and also true about disease and bugs, as two forestry nephews of mine attest...the Mahoosuc Trail from Cascade ledges over to Trident Col has quite a few rotten white birch blowdowns that are hard to keep up with...and usally in birch groves there are not many other hardwoods...maple groves got hit hard in 98 and other year too...

 

[Barkingcat]

Birch trees do not tolerate heat stress...

Remember, too, that temperature/rainfall conditions the past few months can stress trees -- in particular, birches, regardless of the age of the tree.

 

[Red Oak]

A lot of good opinions here,maybe the answer is a bit of all of the above[choice c usually].Dsettahr seems to have nailed it for the most imho. However, I would add that most of north america including north country n.h. has been in a moderate to severe drought for a long time now[maybe since winter depending on how you look at it].This factor could be playing a large part in the birch and maple die off.Also, another factor could be the role of evaporation;which could become the new buzz word soon enough along with climate change and global warming.This evaporation could be directly affecting our trees in new england in a adverse way.Some trees such as oaks might take longer to show the damage. Imho in a few years this "drought/evaporation complex" could really change up the natural evolution of our mixed forests type here in nh.
Neoakela;Could some of those birches you describe be yellow birches maybe?
Birch is a average firewood at best,more concerned here about beech issues. Some useful info here on firewood ratings http://mb-soft.com/juca/print/firewood.html
note the heat produced per cord[m btu].Oak seems the best bet as far as general availability.
Note that most birches are a pioneer tree.Here is a general link to forest types in northern new england http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_England/Acadian_forests#Northern_hardwood_forests

 

[peakbagger]

The Kilkennies and the north country was one of the rare areas in the country that didnt experience a major drought this year. There are some yellow birches in the kilkennies but the majority by far are white birches. This area used to be and still is to a lesser extent a major area for logging in the WMNF, so I expect the birches in place prior to 1998 were the result of either clearcuts in the past or the fires in the 1940's that burned all over the whites.

When we originally blazed the trail, the forest service had adopted a policy that blazing could not cut the bark of a tree. We were trained by the USFS to just lighly scrape off the loose stuff and paint. That works okay on most hardwoods but is useless on white birch. Granted cutting birch bark does leave a scar but it does make a long lasting blaze.

The blazed birches in combination with the standards for blazing that specified that a subsequent blaze should not be seen from the prior blaze and lack of a established footbed on the route led to many comments on earlier message boards and media that the KRT was poorly blazed. One bit of trivia was that when we went to pick up the spray paint for blazing, the USFS ranger commented that he had found a case of the "good" stuff hidden away which was lead chromate based yellow paint. The KRT may have been one of the last trails in the whites blazed with lead paint. Unfortunately the spray cans were built out of heavy gauge steel and weighed triple what modern cans did when empty. Considering we blazed the route from the junction with Mill Brook trail to Waumbek, we all were lugging an extra 15 to 20 pounds of cans. You can usually tell where lead chromate paint was used on rocks as even though the paint has flaked away, the underlying stone has a rectangular sterile spot where moss and lichen will not grow.

 

[Stan]

Birch is a average firewood at best, ...

... but it looks so nice in the wood stack.

There are many cycles of growth and infestation which are uncontrollable or infeasible to control other than in a home or local landscape scale. Such cycles are inevitable and may be appreciated in terms of the resilience of nature to recover, adapt and flourish ... sometimes in cycles too long for the human lifespan to enjoy. When traced to controllable causes such causes can often and should be addressed but not without consideration of unintended consequences.

We have a cluster of hermlocks, including a 60 footer which was cut in half by a lightning strike, which became infected with the wooly adelgid. Annual treatment with horticultural oil has saved them and they are lush, including the now 30 footer which has grown a new leader. That contrasts with our neighbor's tree which, deprived of this treatment, is dying a slow death and periodically dropping large limbs.

On the other hand, we worked hard to save a beautiful birch, at least four feet at the base with four striking leaders starting about five feet off the ground. A healthy birch can resist birch leaf minor but a tree otherwise weakened will eventually succumb, as our's did when a borer came trhough and killed most birches in the area. That was despite chemical treatment and deep root fertilization. Another birch ultimately came back but it, too, died at about 20 feet high. Our neighbor experienced the same thing, without the treatments, and the tree that came back is doing quite well and has developed those leaders which I can envision a couple generations from now resembling our former gem.

I accept that within that time the epicenter of maple syrup production may move well to the north, eh. But I also anticipate that behind it will be a wave of new natural growth that will inspire the delights of future epicures and poets.

Don't panic.

 

[LivesToHike]

insects?

We live in Southern NH. In the last year, we've lost 5 black birches and 1 white to what appears to be an insect infestation.
I would imagine we'll lose more, as it's impossible to treat all our birches, nor is it possible for us to correct any heat/drought/storm damage wrought on some of our trees in the last 3-5 years.