Kew Gardens Removes Dozens Of 150+ Year-Old Oaks Killed By Pests - "Seasonality Disappearing"

[hatrack]

Dozens of oaks, many of them as old as 150 years, have had to be cut down at Kew in the last few years because of a beetle infestation which leaves the inside of the trunk looking "like honeycomb". Outdoor vegetable patches have been under attack all year round from pests previously only found in greenhouses.

Meanwhile new invaders, such as a fingernail-sized insect which attacks wisteria, have been spreading as a result of milder winters and a looser controls on plants coming into the country from abroad, he added. Dr Nigel Taylor, curator of the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew, said that despite cold weather in recent days, a succession of mild winters had helped both native and exotic pests to gain a foothold. "The impression is becoming more and more confused," he said.

"The seasonality is disappearing so that apart from day length, which is a clue to what time of year you are in, sometimes it is hard to guess when you look at the weather." The full effect of a series of heatwaves earlier this decade, including the record summers of 2003 and 2006, are only now being felt with an spate of giant oak trees dying.

Kew has lost about 40 trees in the last three years because of infestation by thousands of oak pinhole borers, a beetle larvae which have been spreading undetected since the droughts originally weakened the plants' natural defences.

EDIT

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/environment/conservation/4045774/Oak-tree-deaths-herald-new-pest-threat-to-traditional-plants-Kew-curator-warns.html

[xchrom]

1. oh my god -- that is so sad -- 150 years old. nt