Ash Dieback Confirmed In E. Anglia Woods - Mortality Rate Is 90%

[hatrack]

A deadly disease that afflicts ash trees has been discovered for the first time in mature forests in the UK, suggesting it is spreading far faster than expected and raising fears of an outbreak as devastating as the impact of Dutch elm disease in the 1970s and 1990s.

The first British cases of ash trees infected by the Chalara fraxinea fungus came to light earlier this year (at sites that included places in Buckinghamshire, Leicestershire and Yorkshire) but these cases were thought confined to nurseries and recent imports, such as saplings received from garden centres.

A call went out to ban imports of ash plants and seeds, which experts hoped would contain the disease. But this new discovery dashes those hopes, showing that the disease has gained a toehold in mature forests, which makes it much less likely that the contagion can be held back from spreading across the UK.

Conservation campaigners urged the government to hold an emergency summit to discuss how to deal with the problem. Chalara fraxinea causes the leaves of ash trees to turn brown and fall off, and the crown and branches to die back. It is known to kill as many as nine in 10 of the trees it infects, and has devastated forests in other parts of Europe in the past few years, including in Denmark where it has nearly wiped out the ash population, and in Poland where it is believed to have taken hold 20 years ago.

EDIT

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2012/oct/24/ash-dieback-disease-east-anglia

[pscot]

1. It's all part of the divine plan

[hatrack]

2. In fact, one might say that it's a gift from God!

In fact, it's a whole series of gifts from God, one right after another.

Some gifts that we were expecting and hoping for, others that are complete . . . surprises.