Forestcast - Season 2: Backcross - Episode 6: (BONUS) How a Bird influences Beech Resistance

Beech bark disease has been killing American beech trees in eastern North America since the late 1890s. In northern New England, New York, and the Maritimes where the disease is most severe, groups of disease resistant trees occasionally occur. Genetic studies reveal that trees in groups are families, and distribution patterns suggest that they were "planted" by blue jays.

Featured in this episode:

• Dave Houston, Principal Plant Pathologist (Retired), Northern Research Station, Hamden, Connecticut
• Jennifer Koch, Research Biologist
• Laura Kenefic, Research Forester

Information Resources

• Forest Insect & Disease Leaflet 75 (1983)
• Dispersal of Beech Nuts by Blue Jays in Fragmented Landscapes (1985)

In this episode, we used the following recordings from the Macaulay Library at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology: ML526793201 (Kendrick DeBoer, Alberta, Canada)