Oak wilt: A changing landscape is a project to understand long term impacts of oak wilt on plants and fungi. This webpage is a work in progress. Please be patient with us as we are working to update this page with information about the project.
Project Background
Oak-dominated forests support a wide range of ecosystem services, including clean air and water, wildlife habitat and food sources, biodiversity, timber, recreation, carbon sequestration, and adaptation to future climate change (Cavender-Bares, 2016). Given these important ecological and economic roles, maintaining oak ecosystems is a high priority for the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (MN DNR) and other land stewards. Pests and disease, such as oak wilt, are a major threat to oak-dominated ecosystems in the eastern United States.
Oak wilt, a pathogen of oak trees caused by the fungus Bretziella fagacearum, is recognized as the most destructive oak pathogen in the Upper Midwest and is responsible for large-scale oak death. The disease can infect any species of oak, and oak trees in the red oak group (those with pointy leaves) are most susceptible, showing more extreme symptoms and often dying within weeks of the onset of symptoms. You can learn more about oak wilt in Minnesota, including how to recognize, prevent, and manage it, on the University of Minnesota Extension’s oak wilt page.
In Minnesota, maintaining and increasing the amount of oak forests has been identified as an important management priority. To do this, when oak trees die new oaks must be able to grow and take their place. This is called natural oak regeneration. Oak wilt and its management creates openings in the forest canopy that increase light and could potentially foster oak regeneration, but our prior research suggests that oaks are being replaced by shade tolerant species such as red maple and buckthorn. These species are abundant as juveniles in the forest understory in part due to lack of fire and high deer browsing.