Location
CELA & Mary Church Terrell Library, First Floor
Document Type
Poster - Open Access
Start Date
4-25-2025 12:00 PM
End Date
4-25-2025 2:00 PM
Abstract
Beech Leaf Disease (BLD) is a novel, poorly-understood threat to forests across North America. Since its discovery in northeast Ohio in 2012, the disease has affected staggering numbers of beech trees (Fagus grandifolia), resulting in increased sapling mortality. In the near future, mortality in symptomatic mature trees is expected to follow. The symptomatic striped leaves result from the activity of the nematode Litylenchus crenatae ssp. mccannii, but the precise role this organism plays in transmission and infection is currently unknown.
Oberlin College has been conducting forest demography research at Chance Creek, a nature preserve in Lorain county, since 1974. Every tree has been identified, recorded, and measured in plots across the 67 acre park, with data from 1974, 1986, 1998, 2015, and 2024. This timeline includes a previous tree epidemic, the Emerald Ash Borer, which provides valuable insight into how forest demography changes following such disturbances. While our 2024 dataset includes the first measures of BLD at Chance Creek, we are collaborating with researchers at the Holden Arboretum to compare similar datasets collected on forests closer to the epicenter of this disease to make inferences across larger regions.
We are analyzing these combined datasets to identify ecological conditions that may help or hinder BLD, such as localized community composition, tree species diversity and density. By learning which ecological variables affect BLD transmission, we may be able to predict, mitigate and prevent future infections of BLD and outbreaks of similar tree diseases across the country.
Keywords:
Ecology, Beech leaf disease, Forest pathogens
Recommended Citation
Logan, Blake, "Ecology of Beech Leaf Disease: Identifying the Forest Conditions Correlated with Infection in Northeast Ohio" (2025). Research Symposium. 11.
https://digitalcommons.oberlin.edu/researchsymp/2025/posters/11
Major
Biology
Cello Performance
Project Mentor(s)
Evan Hilpman, Biology
2025
Included in
Ecology of Beech Leaf Disease: Identifying the Forest Conditions Correlated with Infection in Northeast Ohio
CELA & Mary Church Terrell Library, First Floor
Beech Leaf Disease (BLD) is a novel, poorly-understood threat to forests across North America. Since its discovery in northeast Ohio in 2012, the disease has affected staggering numbers of beech trees (Fagus grandifolia), resulting in increased sapling mortality. In the near future, mortality in symptomatic mature trees is expected to follow. The symptomatic striped leaves result from the activity of the nematode Litylenchus crenatae ssp. mccannii, but the precise role this organism plays in transmission and infection is currently unknown.
Oberlin College has been conducting forest demography research at Chance Creek, a nature preserve in Lorain county, since 1974. Every tree has been identified, recorded, and measured in plots across the 67 acre park, with data from 1974, 1986, 1998, 2015, and 2024. This timeline includes a previous tree epidemic, the Emerald Ash Borer, which provides valuable insight into how forest demography changes following such disturbances. While our 2024 dataset includes the first measures of BLD at Chance Creek, we are collaborating with researchers at the Holden Arboretum to compare similar datasets collected on forests closer to the epicenter of this disease to make inferences across larger regions.
We are analyzing these combined datasets to identify ecological conditions that may help or hinder BLD, such as localized community composition, tree species diversity and density. By learning which ecological variables affect BLD transmission, we may be able to predict, mitigate and prevent future infections of BLD and outbreaks of similar tree diseases across the country.
