Coast live oaks responding to fire mimicry

The use of repeat photography to document temporal changes in trees and landscapes was one of the many fine techniques I learned from my PhD advisor Prof. Tom Veblen. He taught me the importance of replicating details such the lens focal length, sky conditions, and time of day. My photos don’t always live up to his standards, but it’s not for lack of trying.

Today I would like to show repeat photographs for several coast live oak trees that have been undergoing fire mimicry treatments for exactly four years. Much of the credit for these results should go to Demetrios Sgouros, Leith Carstarphen, and Daniel Brooke who were among the first tree care specialists to recognize the utility of fire mimicry techniques in helping the many sick oaks here in California.

Fire mimicry effects on Douglas firs

As some of you may have observed, it’s not just the oaks that are suffering here in California. Problems are seen in the pines, the bay laurels, the sycamores, and the redwoods. Douglas firs are sick and dying in many places, especially towards the coast. Symptoms such as a thin canopy, a heavy cover of cryptogams (mosses and lichens), and bark deterioration are consistent with problems in soil fertility due to fire suppression and systemic acidification.

Fire mimicry methods were applied to these two sick Douglas fir trees in Woodside, California in May of 2007, with some additional work in 2008. Below are the photos showing the canopy changes after two years. Sorry, no control trees here, the owners rightly want to keep all their trees healthy.

California Agriculture paper on Sudden Oak Death: Can conclusions of treatment efficacy be made in trials where n = 5?

Earlier this year pathologists M. Garbelotto and D. Schmidt from the University of California at Berkeley published a paper in California Agriculture (a journal published by the University of California) in which they claim to have tested my holistic methods, and found that the application of “azomite soil amendment and bark lime wash was always ineffective, and did not reduce either growth or infection rates” of Phytophthora ramorum. Conversely, they report that “phosphonate treatments, legally registered in California to control sudden oak death, were effective in slowing both infection and growth rates”. They pretty much make it seem like it’s an open and shut case. But wait, there’s more.

KQED report on Sudden Oak Death: Fertilizing with minerals could have a “detrimental effect” on sick oaks

Reporter David Gorn recently wrote on the KQED blog about Sudden Oak Death, relaying claims by UC Berkeley researcher Matteo Garbelotto that the mineral treatments I use are “like giving a glass of orange juice to someone with a terminal disease”. Furthermore, Garbelotto says that fertilizing with minerals could have a “detrimental effect” on sick oaks.

I have two questions:

What is the basis for these claims (no sources are given)? Why did the KQED reporter not do a balanced story?  Why was I not contacted by the reporter about these claims against my work?

I know, that’s three – still if anyone can help provide answers to these questions please leave a comment or email me. Let’s not speculate on motives here, just the facts.

UPDATE (May 27, 2009): David Gorn appears to be responding to my request for sources of the above claims in his KQED science blog comment here. He offers no apology for the glaring lack of balance in his piece. As for the claims I questioned him about, he writes:

“California Agriculture is a peer-reviewed academic journal. The research of Matteo Garbelotto is summarized here: http://calag.ucop.edu/0901JFM/resrchNews01.html”

The paper he seems to be referring to is “Phosphonate controls sudden oak death pathogen for up to 2 years” [California Agriculture, 63 (1): 10-17].

I’ll discuss this paper with regards to claims of inefficacy in a post following this update.

With regards to the claim that my treatments could have a “detrimental effect” on the oaks, no data or evidence is given in this paper. So I’m still left wondering if the “detrimental effect” claims have any scientific merit or basis.

This is not merely an academic matter. It’s time to resolve these differences. We need to take what we know and start helping the trees and soils. Countless oaks are at stake.

On the origins of fire scars in California redwoods

Anyone who has spent time with the redwoods has no doubt seen and even ventured inside the giant trees with fire-scarred trunks. Certain trees are so severely scarred that you wonder how they are even able to stand. Some trees contain cavernous fire-carved rooms in their base with multiple entrances and even window-like openings. I’ve marveled at these trees and looked carefully at the orientations and shapes of their scars, and in doing so have found some odd things.

Having worked on fire lines in Alaska, Colorado, and California I’ve seen how fire scars are formed. A large quantity of fuel piled at the base of the tree is usually required to ignite a fire hot enough to penetrate the bark and scorch the cambium.

A characteristic burn pattern is seen on slopes where the vast majority of fire scars occur on the uphill face of the trunk (more than 90% in places)[1]. This is due to a couple of factors. First, hot air currents tend to drive ground fires upslope, especially during the day when fires burn hottest. (Keep in mind we’re talking about large ground fires, not large canopy fires which would more likely kill the tree.) The wind-driven fires tend to burn relatively quickly around the lower parts of the trunk, but eddy effects allow the fire to linger on the uphill side. Second, fallen leaves and branches tend to move downhill and accumulate on the uphill side of the trunk. Together these factors seem to account fairly well for the uphill side tendency of fire scars.

So imagine my confusion . . . 

Sudden Oak Death

In recent years a whole lot of attention has been paid to Sudden Oak Death, a stem canker disease (Phytophthora ramorum) that has sickened countless oaks in California. I, too, believe that Sudden Oak Death is a particularly aggressive pathogen that requires our careful observation and study. To be sure, I often inspect the sick coast live oaks and tan oaks here in Big Sur and at least half have bleeding stem cankers.

Sudden Oak Death casaulty in Big Sur

Still, there are many other problems I am seeing in these forests that cannot be attributed to Sudden Oak Death. Pines are becoming infected with pitch pine canker, sycamores are sick with anthracnose, bays are toppling from a root collar fungus, and redwoods are losing their tops. It seems that something larger is going on . . .

Acid rain in Big Sur

“Having been in my progress so often misled by taking for granted the results of others, I have determined to write as little as possible but what I can attest by my own experience.” – John Dalton, Independent Scientist (1766-1844)

UPDATE (May 2, 2009): In the past 24 hours it has rained 0.93″ here in Big Sur with a pH of 4.56. I have amended the seasonal data accordingly.

UPDATE 2 (May 5, 2009): An additional 0.08″ was recorded, but the sample was too small to obtain an accurate pH reading. The seasonal data have been amended.

Anyone who thinks acid rain does not occur in pristine, unpolluted environments had better think again. Or better yet, go get some litmus paper and check it out for yourself.

Scientists studying Sudden Oak Death have dismissed acid rain as a relevant factor in oak mortality, pointing out that areas of severe decline are near the coast, upwind of the major sources of pollution, thus rainfall could not be acidic. Here along the coast of California storms blow in from the ocean where there are few sources of manmade pollutants. Rainfall pH, then, is not expected to be any more acidic than about 5.6, which is the theoretical pH of unpolluted rainwater in equilibrium with atmospheric CO2.

Acid precipitation in southeast Alaska

However, I have learned from past research that rainfall in pristine environments can sometimes be quite acidic[1]. So for the past three years I have been recording rainfall at my home in Big Sur using a Stratus RG202 rain gauge. Readings of rainfall pH have been made with a high-precision Beckman (Model Φ250) pH meter using a standard two-point (4.00 & 7.00) calibration. The rain station is located 1.2 miles from the coast at 36° 16′N; 121° 49′W, and 922’ (281 m) elevation.

Here are the results:

Sudden Oak Life Announcement, Earth Day 2009

Hope for California’s dying oaks

Findings reveal ‘fire mimicry’ practices improve oak health

Big Sur, Calif. – Despite being devastated by wildfires and ravaged by sudden oak death there is some hopeful news coming out of the oak forests of Big Sur. Results of a multi-year study show that the health of sick and diseased oaks is significantly improved with the use of mineral fertilizers and other fire mimicry practices.

According to case studies of 152 sick coast live oaks conducted by Dr Lee Klinger, an independent scientist and oak specialist living in Big Sur, improved canopy health was observed in 8 out of every 10 trees that were treated.

Photo caption: Recovery of a treated coast live oak at Hearst Castle, California State Park. Photo on the left was taken January 4, 2006, photo on the right was taken January 2, 2008. (Photos by Lee Klinger)

Welcome to Sudden Oak Life!

For all of you who have been following this work over the years – many thanks for your steadfast interest and support.

As you may have noticed the Sudden Oak Life website has recently changed. Being the moderator of this website I have decided to switch to a blog format, which I believe will serve folks better by making the site more interactive. Many thanks to Luis A. Frigo for his dedicated effort in the design and construction of the new site.

All pertinent information and documents on the former website can still be found here under the About, Case Studies, Newsroom, and Resources tabs.

I will be periodically posting stories on topics relevant to oak health, green tree care, veteran trees, organic farming, master gardening, ethnoecology, forest decline, acid rain, climate change, and Gaia. Posts are now open for comments. Critical opinions are welcome. Please keep all comments respectful. If you have the urge to submit a guest post, then send me an email (lee@suddenoaklife.org).

Oh yes and – the opinions expressed on Sudden Oak Life, other than those expressed by Lee Klinger personally, are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Sudden Oak Life or myself.

One final caveat, I live off the grid where electricity and internet are not always available. So I’ll probably be asking for your patience at times while comments are in moderation.

Today the sun is shining.

Testimonials

October 25, 2005

Dear Lee,

It has been almost a year since you treated our oaks. I thought you might be interested in what has transpired in that year. As you will recall I was skeptical of your assessment and treatment methods, but since we were losing our oaks by the score to P. ramorum we had to do something. In short, the improvement with treatment has been remarkable! Every tree has responded with new growth. Instead of the painful sight of our trees slowly dying, we now see new life in the form of phenomenal leaf growth. One tree is particularly noteworthy. This mature tanoak has been “dead” for years. There was not one leaf on this tree. Even though it was dead, we treated this tree just to explore the limits of your treatment program. To our surprise there is astonishing new growth. We are now asking ourselves, are there any limits? We can’t thank you enough.

Sincerely,

Ken Palmer