Oak Decline - Endemic In UK Since 1920s - Wells Up Again, Possibly As Response To Warmth

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The virulent contagion, called oak decline, slowly kills the plant from the top down. It has spread to at least 100 areas around the country, with thousands of trees affected.

Experts fear that warmer temperatures caused by global warming will see the disease extend its reach even more quickly in future years. They also believe that oak decline could prove as damaging to the English countryside as Dutch elm disease did in the 1970s.

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In one hotspot, in Charnwood Forest, in Leicestershire, which was first affected four years ago, 20 trees have died and hundreds more are now infected. Mark Graham, the wildlife officer for Charnwood borough council, said: "We've found 250, but there could be many more. Oaks are the most important tree in the woodland, because of the number of other plants and insects they can support. "Lowland Britain has a lot of oak trees and if other sites have the same experience as us it will be devastating. We would be looking at the same sort of thing as Dutch elm disease."

The first sign that a tree has oak decline is a yellowing of foliage. Leaves start to thin and the plant dies from the top downwards, often taking on a "stag-headed" appearance, where large, leafless branches push upwards like a stag's antlers. Cankers in the trunk can bleed a black, pus-like fluid. It weakens the oak's ability to fight deadly attacks from insects or fungi and means that the trees, which can live for 400 years, are dying as early as 40. Oak decline has been present in the UK since at least the 1920s, when there was an outbreak linked to defoliation of trees by the oak roller moth, which was abundant at the time. There was also an outbreak in the late 1980s and early 1990s, where it was found at about 40 sites.

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http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/main.jhtml;jsessionid=OHYACMHQB1GKNQFIQMFSFF4AVCBQ0IV0?xml=/earth/2008/01/13/eacountry113.xml