Beech Leaf Disease Training
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June 11, 2021 Update: The monitoring project office has decided not to hide the pins on the master project map that locate the surveys that were conducted in 2020, because many people are resurveying the same locations this year. Leaving the 2020 pins in place allows people to accurately place their new pins for the 2021 surveys. Unfortunately, the dataform does not include a field for "survey date", so no one but the site administrator can tell when the surveys were performed. Therefore, please include your survey date in your Additional Notes. |
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| # | Training Statement | Illustration |
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| 1. | Beech leaf disease (BLD) mainly affects the native American beech (Fagus grandifolia) but has also been found to affect European beech (F. sylvatica) and Oriental beech (F. orientalis). European beech are commonly planted as landscape trees like tri-color, copper, and weeping beech. | 
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| 2. | BLD affects beech of all sizes, but impacts saplings the most. Mortality can occur in saplings within a few years, but larger trees take longer to decline and can occasionally die. Often, symptoms will first be found in the lower canopy. | 
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| 3. | Beech leaf disease (BLD) was initially discovered in Lake County, Ohio in 2012. Since then, it has been found in 40 counties across Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York,
Connecticut, and Ontario, Canada. As of June 2021, it has spread much further. The map at right has been updated to show 2020 data.. |
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| 4. | The bark of American beech is smooth and light gray. | 
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| 5. | The leaves have serrated edges and a pointed tip. In fall, leaves turn golden in color and may stay on some smaller trees through winter. | 
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| 6. | American beech leaves are simple. This means they have an undivided blade and not composed of leaflets. | 
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| 7. | Beech leaves are arranged alternately on the stem. This means that one leaf is attached to the stem at a node. | 
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| 8. | Beech can also be identified by its very long (1 inch) buds, which are pointed and thin. | 
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| 9. | The fruit of American beech are triangular nuts surrounded by a prickly covering. | 
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| 10. | The leaves may appear normal in shape or may be shrunken and curled which indicates presence of beech leaf disease. | 
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| 11. | More advanced symptoms are characterized by heavy bands covering more than two-thirds leaf surface or solid dark green leaves that are shrunken in size, thickened, and leathery in texture. This is in stark contrast to asymptomatic or healthy beech leaves which are thin and light green. | 
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| 12. | If you want to collect multiple points, record only when you see different symptoms more than 50 paces apart. Example: one area is asymptomatic, one area has lightly infected trees, and a third area has several heavily infected trees = take at least 3 points. A general rule is to record one point for every 25-50 acres regardless of symptoms. Example: a 300 acre plot of land might have up to 6-12 records. | |
| 13. | Make sure to submit observations of health beech too! Knowing if they do not have BLD is just as important as knowing that they do. | |
| 14. | Make sure your location services are on so we can accurately find your tree. |
You may send me an email at province-lake-water@cox.net .
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