Los Altos Town Crier photographs
Search this gallery:

Sudden Oak Death Epidemic (39 images)

Add to Cart View Slideshow
twitterlinkedinfacebook
View: 50 | All
Managment of Sudden Oak Death (SOD) Workshop
Foothills Park
Los Altos Hills, CA
Nov. 3, 2012

Photos by Ellie Van Houtte/Town Crier

Full story at http://www.losaltosonline.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=44746&Itemid=46
  • Although some Oak trees, including this Valley Oak, are immune to Sudden Oak Death (SOD), many other oak trees in California are increasingly susceptible to the spread of the deadly pathogen. According to some experts, as many as 90% of oak trees in some areas could be dead within 25 years without intervention.

  • At least a dozen residents from Los Altos, Los Altos Hills and the surrounding community gathered at Foothills Park in Los Altos Hills for a Sudden Oak Death Management Workshop Nov. 3.<br /> <br /> Photo by Ellie Van Houtte/Town Crier

  • UC Berkeley SOD Researcher, Matteo Garbelotto leads a Sudden Oak Death workshop beneath a canopy of oak trees at Foothills Park in Los Altos Hills, CA.

  • Garbelotto shows workshop participants an illustration of bay tree leaves that have been infected by SOD. Bay trees are the primary vector for transmitting SOD to oak trees within 1KM.

  • Garbelotto shows workshop participants an illustration of a Coast Live Oak leaf.

  • Coast Live Oaks (healthy leaf pictured) are most vulnerable to Sudden Oak Death, a pathogen that girdles the tree resulting in tree death within 1 to 3 years.

  • A UC Berkeley researcher located numerous infected bay leaves from trees in Foothills Park, pointing out the brown tips that show where water collected during the wet season.

  • A UC Berkeley researcher located numerous infected bay leaves from trees in Foothills Park, pointing out the brown tips that show where water collected during the wet season.

  • Valley Oak trees, lobe leaf type far left is NOT, susceptible to SOD. Coast Live Oak trees, with oval leaf type in center, are highly vulnerable to SOD.<br /> <br /> Infected bay tree leaves, right, transmit SOD to healthy oak trees during the wet and warm Spring months as spores travel.

  • Residents of the Bay Area are concerned about the toll that Sudden Oak Death is taking on their backyards and on the landscape of California. Participants are eager to learn how to treat infection and prevent the spread of SOD.

  • UC Berkeley SOD researcher, Doug Schmidt, mixes up a phosphate solution that can be topically applied to the bark of non-infected oak trees to boost the tree's immune system.

  • UC Berkeley SOD researcher, Doug Schmidt, shows workshop participants the container of Agri-Fos fungicide that can be used to protect oak trees located within close proximity to infected bay trees.

  • UC Berkeley SOD researcher, Doug Schmidt, shows workshop participants the container of Agri-Fos fungicide that can be used to protect oak trees located within close proximity to infected bay trees.

  • UC Berkeley SOD researcher, Doug Schmidt, shows workshop participants the container of Agri-Fos fungicide that can be used to protect oak trees located within close proximity to infected bay trees.

  • Doug Schmidt demonstrates the correct way to apply phosphates via the topical application to the bark of oak trees.

  • Doug Schmidt demonstrates the correct way to apply phosphates via the topical application to the bark of oak trees.

  • Doug Schmidt demonstrates the correct way to apply phosphates via the topical application to the bark of oak trees.

  • Doug Schmidt demonstrates the correct way to apply phosphates via the topical application to the bark of oak trees.

  • Another method of protecting non-infected trees is via the injection of phosphates beneath the bark of tree. Spring-loaded syringes, like the ones featured by Schmidt are typically used.

  • To prepare a tree for phosphate injections, small holes must be drilled into tree. Schmidt uses a cordless drill to demonstrate the correct angle on a piece of wood.

  • To prepare a tree for phosphate injections, small holes must be drilled into tree. Schmidt uses a cordless drill to demonstrate the correct angle on a piece of wood.

  • To prepare a tree for phosphate injections, small holes must be drilled into tree. Schmidt uses a cordless drill to demonstrate the correct angle on a piece of wood.

  • To prepare a tree for phosphate injections, small holes must be drilled into tree. Schmidt uses a cordless drill to demonstrate the correct angle on a piece of wood.

  • To prepare a tree for phosphate injections, small holes must be drilled into tree. Schmidt uses a cordless drill to demonstrate the correct angle on a piece of wood.

  • Participants are fascinated by the process for protecting oak trees against SOD.

  • After drilling holes into the tree, syringes are placed and fluids injected into the tree. Schmidt points to rings of the tree to show how quickly the treatment flows through the tree's cells.

  • Participants ask questions as they learn about managing SOD.

  • A workshop participant gazes up at the Oak trees.

  • Garbelotto answers questions at the workshop.

  • Foothills Park has been hit by Sudden Oak Death. Not 20 yards from the workshop location, one large oak tree shows signs of a slow death from the disease. Although the tree canopy still shows some green, the growth of black charcoal balls and fungi (lower left) are signs that the tree is dead.

  • A sign of Sudden Oak Death is the bleeding of viscous liquids from the bark without any wounds, like pictured above in the dark spots of this oak tree.

  • A sign of Sudden Oak Death is the bleeding of viscous liquids from the bark without any wounds, like pictured above in the dark spots of this oak tree.

  • Schmidt and workshop participants examine the infected tree to be better able to identify the disease in their own yards and other areas of the community.

  • Workshop participants investigate the toll of Sudden Oak Death on a tree in Foothills Park. A danger to park users and trees and nature around it, the oak could fall any time.

  • Bay laurel trees (with oval leaves above)are the vector for spreading SOD to most Oak trees. It is quite possible that the infected oak tree, center above, became infected by the laurels planted just adjacent to it. Although the laurels will continue to live, unaffected by the disease, the oak tree is already dead.

  • Black charcoal balls and fungi populate the bark of a dying oak tree.

  • Black charcoal balls and fungi populate the bark of a dying oak tree.

  • Black charcoal balls and fungi populate the bark of a dying oak tree.

  • SOD takes a toll on one more oak tree in Foothills Park. Some locals have nicknamed areas of the park hardest hit by SOD as the "Trail of Death".

© Los Altos Town Crier photographs |Contact |

For purchase or download information, contact Ellie Van Houtte at ellievh@latc.com or call (650)948-9000. Photos may not be used without express written consent from the Los Altos Town Crier.

Powered by PhotoShelter