Rivers drying up and now our trees are dying

Not only are the rivers drying up but our trees(elms and oaks) are now beginning to die and i have no doubt in my mind this is the beginning of the end for life as we have known it in this country.
We have now had three consecutive droughts and another dry winter and it will be standpipes in winter.

Mountain Ash are dying in the woods local to me John(

Yes its true Ian also the Birch is an endangered species.The fellow who was talking about the trees was an expert from Kew Gardens.
I have a Mountain Ash at the bottom of my garden and its a beautifull tree.
This current weather is no good for man nor beast

Are you sure they're dying?
It's natural for trees to shed leaves, in times of drought.
www.rfs.org.uk

I am dreading the Autumn and Winter.
The reason being that the trees at the moment are getting very little moisture to strengthen them against the Autumn and Winter gales. This is the time they should be building their strength up.

Once we do get into the Autumn and Winter the trees will be too weak to withstand any severe weather including rain. And down they will come.

That's why they're shedding leaves Baz, so they put all their strength into the roots.


Doom doom we're all doomed!

Fred, the trees are dying mate, they haven't had any leaves on them this year, and the branches/trunk are VERY brittle and easy to break.

That's dead then! ;o)
Ok,I agree to some extent, as I have recently noticed, that there were more dead younger trees in the hedgerows.

If I remember rightly, a mature oak tree, requires 375 gallons of water PER DAY to survive !!!.

so chop down all the oaks and our water shortage problems are over

The fellow from Kew had lost trees through no water and made the statement that we would have to plant tropical trees in the near future.
I have not used my lawnmower for about 6weeks,in fact the petrol has problably evaporated

And the w*nkers in the 4 wheel drives will continue to queue at the car wash.

John
Whilst undoubtedly we will lose some trees through the drought conditions, the situation may not be as bad as is feared. Fred?s correct, trees throw off their leaves in droughts and shutdown. As in winter the only life in the tree remains in the root ball stock. They go into emergency life support mode. A bit like humans when they get very cold, all the heat generated in the human body withdraws to protect the core organs heart, lungs, liver, etc. But again like humans if relief doesn?t come in the form of heat or in the case of trees, water, they die.

However the tree Ian talks about is dead. End of!

There is an upside to this drought?.the Manchester Poplar Populus nigra betulifolia throughout the NW has been suffering with a disease called Ventura for 5 years and many have died. The Experts said it was likely they?d all die if we didn?t get several summers of hot weather, we?ve had them over the last two years, and many trees that were on their last legs are well on the way to recovery. Those that were less affected have as good as recovered.
Another year of hot weather and the stocks will be safe from what is a very virulent disease with a 90% kill rate.

So what some might say, ?they?re only scraggy pops!? Well 1. They?re British native trees 2. They?re one of rarest native British trees, of which half the national stock (7000) is in Manchester and were threatened with the disease and felling by the City council because of it.

That from maintaining a native biodiversity point of view both here in M/C and the nation as a whole is a good news story from this drought. Interestingly, many butterflies that were only ever seen in the south have been seen more northward over the last two summers.

Baz
In general it?s not the structural integrity of the tree that?s affected but the ground around them. The tree in drought conditions extracts the moisture from the soil around it, causing it to collapse the tiny pockets where it was stored. When it re-hydrated in the winter, the pockets don?t form in the same places, destabilising the ground and tree making it vulnerable to wind throw toppling.

And the w*nkers in the 4 wheel drives will continue to queue at the car wash.

...and people burn hydrocarbons just to fly to india to catch a fish......

Point taken Frothey.

The world's aviation industry are probably the biggest polluters of the lot.

In very hot desert climates, trees and scrub can survive for many many years without water. Then along comes a very rare downpour, and in a day or two, all the trees are growning tall and there is grass 3 feet high, and the desert flowers are something to behold.

And the strangest sight of all is to see an old dry river bed flooded and full of catfish.

Poplars are a very dangerous tree.
They might look okay but they rot from the inside. You could be half way up one and it will just snap like a match stick.

Phil, it isn't just one mountain ash, there seems to be quite a lot of them dying mate. I don't know why it is though? As the other trees seem to be OK.

So dont go half way up a poplar......

And the national population is set to reach 70,000,000

Bring on bird flu!