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Posted June 5, 2000

White Spruce on Great Cranberry Island Damaged by Hemlock Looper

White spruce trees are dying at a high rate on some of Maine's coastal islands, and many residents are concerned about the health of their forests. Fortunately for two University of Maine undergraduates, these concerns evolved into a unique opportunity for their senior research project.

Anthony D'Amato, a senior from Franklin, Massachusetts, and Josh Roy, a senior from South Berwick, will give a presentation about their research to residents of Great Cranberry Island from 12 noon to 2 p.m. June 10 at the Fire Hall.

Residents of the island and a representative of the Island Institute of Rockland had contacted the university in 1999 to request a study of the dying trees, says William Livingston of the UMaine Dept. of Forest Ecosystem Science (FES). They were concerned that continued tree mortality would lead to an extreme fire hazard on the island. D'Amato and Roy were enthusiastic about the chance to study the problem. They spent much of their spare time that summer on the island studying two separate tree stands.

What they found was a mixture of good and bad news for the island residents. They found that a stand of white spruce and balsam fir that appears to occupy an abandoned field has been decimated by the hemlock looper, an insect pest. Unlike most other forest sites in Maine, there was little natural regeneration of spruce to replace the dead trees. The future of this stand, they concluded, is bleak.

In contrast, a nearby stand made up of red spruce trees has fared well by comparison. They are not as vulnerable to the loopers which are responsible for defoliating a large portion of island spruce trees. Red spruce thrive in the shady understory, and this stand appears to have been forested continuously for a long period of time. Red spruce seedlings appear to be plentiful in this stand, and thus, its future as a healthy forest seems to be secure. The forest health problem appears to be restricted to the old field.

The students were advised by Livingston and Alan White, also of FES. “We were quite impressed with the work by the students,” says Livingston. “Their results may help our understanding of forest health on other islands which have suffered from bark beetle outbreaks and dwarf mistletoe as well as hemlock looper infestations.” More field observations are needed to confirm the results of this initial study, Livingston adds.

The UMaine researchers gave a presentation on their work at the Northeastern and Southwide Forest Disease Workshop in Shepardstown, West Virginia, May 31 to June 2.

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