ERICDAVIES

Beech trees (Fagus sylvatica) are currently being wiped out across North America due to the introduction of Beech Bark Disease (BBD):

 

City of Toronto's Beech Bark Disease Handout

 

Recently, we mapped out and estimated the impact of BBD over the 500,000 hectares encompassed by Muskoka's 16 subwatersheds, and presented our findings at the 2014 Muskoka Summit:

 

Muskoka Summit

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our findings yielded two key points:

 

1) approximately 18 000 hectares of forest will be lost to BBD, which accounts for around 9 million trees;

 

2) only 2-5% of Muskoka's trees will be genetically resistant to BBD - approximately 500 000 trees.

 

The links to the left lead to two sets of maps. Each presents information on the 16 Muskokan subwatersheds, with one set referring to percent beech forest composition, and the other referring to beech stand age. Note that subwatershed 1 has no maps, as no beech is present in that region.