Assessing native small mammals' responses to an incipient invasion of beech bark disease through changes in seed production of American beech

Abstract

Exotic tree diseases have direct impacts on their host and may have indirect effects on native fauna that rely on host tree species. For example, American beech (Fagus grandifolia [Ehrh.]) is a dominant overstory component throughout its range and, like all tree species, is vulnerable to a broad array of insects and pathogens. These pests include beech bark disease (BBD), a disease complex consisting of an introduced scale insect (Cryptococcus fagisuga [Lind.]) and several species of native and introduced Nectria fungi. Due to the high levels of mortality sustained by American beech (50-85 percent in the areas of highest infection), it is likely that forests in the aftermath of BBD could differ greatly from pre-invasion beech forests. This abstract reports on small mammals' relative preference for European beech (Fagus sylvatica [(L.]) and sugar maple (Acer saccharum [Marsh.]) seed, the direct impacts of BBD on seed production of American beech, and indirect impacts of this disease complex on native small mammals in the Upper Peninsula (UP) of Michigan.

Parent Publication

• Proceedings, 17th Central Hardwood Forest Conference

Citation

Rosemier, Justin N.; Storer, Andrew J. 2011. Assessing native small mammals' responses to an incipient invasion of beech bark disease through changes in seed production of American beech. In: Fei, Songlin; Lhotka, John M.; Stringer, Jeffrey W.; Gottschalk, Kurt W.; Miller, Gary W., eds. Proceedings, 17th central hardwood forest conference; 2010 April 5-7; Lexington, KY; Gen. Tech. Rep. NRS-P-78. Newtown Square, PA: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Northern Research Station: 675-676.