You’ve heard of ash borer, and dutch elm, but a new disease is threatening our native tree populations – oak wilt was discovered on the Canadian mainland for the first time in Niagara back in May.
According to Registered Professional Forester, and owner of Thedford Native Plants Jessica Smeekens, the disease has the capacity to decimate native oak populations.
In the past, the spread of ash borer and dutch elm have been exacerbated by human activities, and oak wilt appears to behave similarly, says Smeekens.
Oak wilt also has the capacity to have much more devastating effects than the diseases that came before it, with oak trees serving as a lynchpin in the ecosystem because they’re a great home for native insect species.
As of June 23, the Ontario Invasive Species Center has identified a second infestation in Barrie, and Smeekens says there’s a good possibility that there’s more out there, and we just haven’t found them yet.
She also says that oak wilt is extremely difficult to identify, as the damage that it causes looks a lot like many other types of environmental damage that the trees can experience.
A good rule of thumb is that if you notice an oak tree has some kind of bulging in the bark which has fungus growing beneath it, or if it appears to be in some kind of distress, and is dead within a year, there’s a good chance that it’s oak wilt.
If you notice something you suspect is oak wilt, call the Canadian Food Inspection Agency.
Generally speaking, isolating firewood to the region it comes from is a good practice no matter what type of lumber it is.
It’s important that the public take an interest in preventing the spread of the disease as early as possible, keep an eye on oak trees in your area, and whenever possible, report suspected incidents.
Written by: B. Shakyaver