Control or Consequence: The Plague of American Beech

Cornell University - Forest Connect

Date: June 17, 2020
Time: noon - 1:00 PM, eastern time
           and 7:00 - 8:00 PM

Registration: You need a free personal registration ID to join this month’s webinar:

https://cornell.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_5IRFqn7oSYm5D-Vyqb8-3Q

If prompted for a password use “Cornell”

After registration, which includes a question about whether you want CEU credits, you will receive the link to the webinar and a password. It should go without saying that you should retain this email. The registration email provides the link you will use the day of the webinar. 

Presentation summary:
American beech has historically grown in the understory of northern hardwood forests. Early experiments showed that unless controlled prior to cutting in the overstory, understory beech would interfere with regeneration and development of other species, and come to dominate the smaller size classes. Protracted browsing by white-tailed deer exacerbated the problem in some areas. Further, as Beech Bark Disease spread across the region, the prevalence and density of understory beech root suckers increased, as has their interference with tree seedlings and herbs. As a consequence, ecosystems have become vegetatively less complex. Both herbicide applications and cutting can reduce understory beech interference, facilitating seedling establishment of other species. But new root suckers emerge from residual beech of mid- and upper-canopy positions, and these in turn limit survival and development of non-beech species that may initially become established. Lasting control has depended on complete removal of beech. Otherwise, new understory root suckers develop in the stands, and these eventually come to dominate the stand.

Presented By:
Dr. Ralph Nyland, Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus – Silviculture
SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry

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