There are pines standing in a field, a sorry specimen in front of an old farmhouse, and the Black River, which I have never seen so low. It used to be that it was rushing this time of year, from snowmelt, attracting tubers even though the water was frigid. The rest of the collection of trees shows that it's possible to survey, from standing in just one spot, in this case smack in the middle of Oldwick village, tree after tree that is just barely limping along. I could have put in more, but the pictures load so slowly. And I could have picked another random spot and demonstrated the exact same phenomena, but I had to go pick up the mail, so that's where I happened to be.
Perhaps the most incriminating evidence of pernicious climate-chaos-induced tree mortality is in the photo of maple leaves. Look how they are scorched, in the beginning of June.
Another thing I have noticed is that we almost never get the amount of rain called for in the weather reports. I think the weather people are working off of old models, basing their predictions on whatever factors influence precipitation - areas of high and low pressure, temperature, clouds, or whatever. But the elements that used to produce somewhat reliable results don't apply anymore.
That's my guess, anyway.
I hate to break it to you but these trees aren't dying from "drought" or any other climate related stress. They are most likely dying from girdling roots, rootbed compaction, old age, and other natural causes. The maple leaves in your first picture are infected with anthracnose which is typically (and ironically) caused by a cooler and wetter spring than normal.
ReplyDeleteI wish you were correct but I cannot agree. The problem is too widespread, affecting every species of tree and shrub of all ages.
ReplyDeleteSee the next post for a description of drought symptoms:
http://witsendnj.blogspot.com/2009/06/going-al-techy-chlorosis-necrosis-and.html