White Pine Needle Decline in Walden Woods and Weston MA 2017-2018

White Pine Needle Decline (WPND) is a suite of four fungal pathogens that attack third, second and in extreme cases first year needles of eastern white pine (Pinus strobus). Premature needle shedding reduces photosynthetic activity and in turn reduces growth rates and overall health of the eastern white pine, an ecologically and economically valuable species in the Northeast United States.
Our long-term forest dynamics plots in Weston and Walden Woods are ideal for monitoring these pathogens’ effects on overstory and understory pine. The unique aspect of our study sites is the dense population of understory pine. Many of our plots are typical old-field white pine stands and are densely stocked from lack of cutting. Densely stocked stands have been shown to be more affected by WPND than more open stands (McIntire, 2017).