dying large ponderosa

[yahoo2]

Hi. New here. Great site, should have joined years ago. Hoping someone can help. Anyone tell me possible reasons this large ponderosa is dying from the top. Has been rapid. No recent root disturbance, though has a farm access road beside and underneath is open to cattle grazing. Tree is in lower south island of New Zealand so unsure what pests and diseases would be around. Is in a stand of others which show no dieback at this stage and location is isolated. Bark at base shows no disease. Have climbed up to first foliage which also shows no pests or diseases. Happy to climb to dieback area to inspect if it is needed. Any ideas much appreciated. Is (or was) a trophy tree.

 

[clearance]

Welcome to the site.

Pine beetle perhaps? It is a huge thing here, an narea much larger than Europe.

 

[BC WetCoast]

I think you need to look for borer (pine beetle) damage, either by climbing or binoculars. You can also look for needle insect damage.

It's not uncommon here, for large mature Ponderosa pines to have a dead top. Just the way the species reacts when it's old. How old do you think the tree is?

 

[yahoo2]

Thanks for your input. Be 100 plus old. Pines do grow well in our country, not as severe winters etc. Actually wilding pines are a real problem here as they grow where they aren't supposed to an our govt spends much time and $ getting rid of them.
I will look for a beetle in the dead crown. I did notice one on the lower bole before the foliage when I was climbing up. Only one and the lower tree is very healthy.
When you say older trees may have a dead top, is that a common reaction to the beetle or just a common charactarisitc of an older tree? If is a beetle, is there anything can do? Especially in protecting the others in the stand?
Thanks.

 

[clearance]

Thanks for your input. Be 100 plus old. Pines do grow well in our country, not as severe winters etc. Actually wilding pines are a real problem here as they grow where they aren't supposed to an our govt spends much time and $ getting rid of them.
I will look for a beetle in the dead crown. I did notice one on the lower bole before the foliage when I was climbing up. Only one and the lower tree is very healthy.
When you say older trees may have a dead top, is that a common reaction to the beetle or just a common charactarisitc of an older tree? If is a beetle, is there anything can do? Especially in protecting the others in the stand?
Thanks.

I know the little bastids can fly well but I don't know if they made it down there. Maybe a tree guy brought them to get some removal work! If its the beetle, its over, they cannot be stopped. Look it up on the 'net, lots of information type in "mountain pine beetle". Sometimes the tops on mature trees just die off, like Wetcoast says, could be normal, I hope so.

 

[(WLL)]

Hi. New here. Great site, should have joined years ago. Hoping someone can help. Anyone tell me possible reasons this large ponderosa is dying from the top. Has been rapid. No recent root disturbance, though has a farm access road beside and underneath is open to cattle grazing. Tree is in lower south island of New Zealand so unsure what pests and diseases would be around. Is in a stand of others which show no dieback at this stage and location is isolated. Bark at base shows no disease. Have climbed up to first foliage which also shows no pests or diseases. Happy to climb to dieback area to inspect if it is needed. Any ideas much appreciated. Is (or was) a trophy tree.

:jawdrop:my deepest sympathy's, that sure was a good looking trophy tree. i wish you the best of luck finding the cause or culprit and a solution. welcome to a/s

 

[Little Monkey]

am jst back from new zealand , used to live there, noticed ALOT of dying trees, apperently there has been abit of a drought there the last 3 years so
i reckon thet has alot to do with it.

 

[joesawer]

There was a 7 year drought here and a pine beetle epidimic at the same time. A lot of trees looked like that. Quite a few survived, the top will eventially fall out and a limb will become dominant and start a new top. They are common around here.
There is more than one kind of beetle that will attack pines. The most common around here leave "hits" that look like popcorn stuck to the bark.

 

[beastmaster]

I don't know what kind of pest you all have out that way, but I would check with your local forestry service and ask them if there is a beetle problem in your neck of the woods. Some borers prefer the tender tops of pines(ibs) for easy access. Look for pitch tupes up in the top, especially at the branch collars, or frass (fine sawdust) and tiny exit holes. Are there other pine with similar symptom in the area? It could be any number of things. All you can really do is wait and see. If it was a type of beetle doing it the tree can still maybe fight them off. Some times If its really infested the tree should be removed and sprayed or wrapped in plastic to keep the beetle from going to other stressed trees. But first find out if there is a beetle in NZ.

 

[M.D. Vaden]

Was curious if that land was cultivated with plows in the past. But that may not matter for what I had in mind.

Any history of grazing there from cattle, sheep, etc.?

What kind of soil?

Is the road treated with anything?

 

[yahoo2]

Ta all for comments. Will climb and inspect dieback. The feedback I have had here from other arborists in NZ is that is likely it was a lightning strike. There has been a few trees over here that look similar. Is amazing that doesn't earth all the way through and blow out at the bottom etc. But appears can go in and out in the upper canopy etc. Would explain as to why would die so rapidly at the top but leave rest alone. Tree happy as underneath, new cones etc growing rapidly. Other same specimens in the stand happy as etc.
If anyone has experience of lightning strikes on large trees that leave little evidence on the lower part be grateful to hear. I can't understand how it would happen but there would be smarter boffins than me out there that can shed some light.

 

[chewbacca]

Never seen lightning jump out of a tree to an adjacent tree. I did remove a ponderosa pine once that was a victim of lightning strike. This particular tree was cool because you could see the stripe/scar spiraled from the top down the trunk and ended at exactly the same height as a basketball hoop pole about 2 feet away from the trunk. We figure the electricity jumped from the tree trunk to the steel pole - very cool!

 

[treeoperations]

as chew bacca said there will be a burn mark down the tree up here in auckland ive done a few pines that have been hit, but there will be broken branches where it hit the tree and a burn mark to the ground, i dont think it will have jumped out of the tree, the other possibility is that the pines just reached the end of its life, a lot of cone development would suggest to me that it knows its dying so its producing lots of fruit in preperation of its death...

my 2 cents