Cornell Extension will hold two one-hour Forest Connect webinars on Control or Consequence: The Plague of American Beech on Wednesday June 17th at noon and 7 p.m.
American beech has historically grown in the understory of northern hardwood forests. In these webinars, SUNY Environmental Science & Forestry Professor Emeritus Ralph Nyland will began by discussing early experiments that showed that unless controlled prior to cutting of 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 vegatatively 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.
To take part in one of these webinars, you need to obtain your registration ID via: https://cornell.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_5IRFqn7oSYm5D-Vyqb8-3Q
If prompted for a password use “Cornell”.