Abstract
In the 1980s, following extreme winters in the late 1970s and severe droughts in 1976, 1980, and 1983, dead and dying scarlet and black oaks were found on 185,000 acres of the Mark Twain National Forest. That decline event was linked to environmental stresses (Law and Gott 1987). Severe oak decline is now affecting an estimated 500,000 acres on the Mark Twain. High-risk stands are predisposed to severe damage because mature scarlet (
Quercus coccinea Muenchh.) and black oak (
Q. velutina Lam.) dominate in fully stocked stands on droughty sites. The current decline was triggered by serious moisture deficits from 1999 until mid-May, 2001. Insects and diseases contri- buting to tree death and decline include
Armillaria root rot, twolined chestnut borer (
Agrilus bilineatus Weber), red oak borer (ROB) (
Enaphalodes rufulus Haldeman), and insect defoliators.
Parent Publication
Citation
Law, Jay R.; Melick, Ross; Studyvin, Charly; Steinman, James R. 2004. Oak Decline in Missouri: History Revisited. Gen. Tech. Rep. SRS-73. Asheville, NC: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Southern Research Station. pp. 257-258