Conservation / Tree Health

by Bob Yirka , Phys.org, © Arboretum Wespelaar

By Hudson Heidger, Alex Wolf and Dylan Schwartz

Ryan Russell, the horticulturist for Columbia’s Parks and Recreation Department, is on a mission to bring the endangered quercus acerifolia — maple-leaf oaks — to Columbia.

From seed to forest giant, adopt a tree to conserve the rare, endemic, and vulnerable species in the tropical rainforest of Costa Rica's Osa Peninsula.

Forests are critical for a sustainable future. By planting the right tree in the right place, we can counteract climate change, provide habitat for wildlife, and protect global biodiversity. 

Costa Rica’s newest arboretum (website here) is a combination of innovative conservation technology and cutting-edge botanical research. The Osa Arboretum protects more than 300 native, rare, endemic and threatened tree species in the Osa Peninsula, a Costa Rican biodiversity hotspot. It aims to be one of the largest arboretums in Central America, with a trail network that spans more than 625 acres across old growth, secondary, mangrove and coastal forests.

By: Gregory Moore

Australia is sweltering through another heatwave, and there will be more in the near future as climate change brings hotter, drier weather. In some parts of Australia, the number of days above 40℃ will double by 2090, and with it the tragedy of more heat-related deaths.

In the complex world of plant ecology, however, heatwaves aren’t always a bad thing. Rolling days of scorching temperatures can kill off plant pests, such as elm beetles and mistletoe, and even keep their numbers down for years.

When I arrived years ago at the piece of land I now garden, I saw it as a blank canvas and set about madly planting things, imagining my efforts would bring every square foot to life. I did not understand then that the heavy lifting had already been done — and probably by some blue jay, or maybe a squirrel.

Work has started to fell 5,000 trees infected with ash dieback at Westonbirt Arboretum.

The site's 200-acre Silk Wood has been closed for the removal of 2,000 ash trees over the next four weeks.

A further 3,000 trees infected with the serious fungal disease will be removed at a later date.

New species of other trees will be planted in the next five years to ensure the long-term future of the woodland near Tetbury, Gloucestershire.

COLUMBIA FALLS, Mont. (AP) — The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service last month proposed listing the whitebark pine as threatened under the Endangered Species Act.

For the last 24 years, Glacier National Park has been quietly working to conserve the species over its 1 million acres of wildlands.

It is no small task.

The Park first began collecting cones from “plus” trees in 1997. Plus trees are adult, cone-bearing trees that have shown resistance to blister rust, noted Park vegetation biologist Dawn LaFleur.