Date: Mon, 19 Apr 2010 10:19:53 -0800
From: Tom Glendinning
Subject: Subject: Slippery Elms dying
Kira;
Decline of elms, slippery or Chinese, is a common occurence. Elms do not seem to live long in the Piedmont. Root rot, trunk cankers, borers are more likely invaders. The variable oak leaf caterpillar, green striped maple worm, the elm leaf beetle and the gypsy moth have a taste for elm. However, observations of this genus indicate a general weakness in NC.
I also suspect that extended droughts weaken the elm, more suited to northern forests, longer winters, and shorter droughts. The tree is not part of the climax forest in our region and, thus, may have decided to bow out of competition with other genus early in the forest development process.
Dutch Elm Disease (Ophiostoma ulmi) is not a major factor here, as in the north. In this disease, the Scolytus beetle is thought to carry the fungus.
Tom Glendinning