Since I have been watching the oaks and other speices of trees die on my own land and in the forests I previously managed, I was intrigued to find a web site ( http://www.efi.joensuu.fi/features/oak_decline.html ) outlining the serious oak decline occurring in Europe. Excerpts from the web page are below. - Gerry Hawkes Woodstock, Vermont **************************** Oak Decline Oak decline causes serious economic problems in Europe. A review of the literature dealing with the latest incidence of oak decline in Europe shows a chronological and geographical progression. In the last 15 years the incidence of oak decline has shown a dramatic increase all over Europe, and by 1989 was reported in every European country. This situation has prompted many investigations in Europe. Oaks in the United States infected by the fungus Ceratocystis fagacearum are also declining and a parallel research programme is going on there. Oak forests are important for the forest economies of many European countries. Are the oak forests generally going to follow parts of the coniferous forest in Europe in suffering from, for example, air pollution or the new oak disease vascular mycosis which is spreading within the European continent? In parts of Europe oak decline is already causing severe losses. Further information: Dr Tomasz Oszako (E-mail Tomasz.Oszako@efi.joensuu.fi) and http://www.efi.joensuu.fi/projects/ Dr Oszako is spending one year at EFI studying the health of European oak forests.
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