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Once common across eastern North America, the American elm is deeply ingrained in our nation's history. However, a large portion of the tree population was affected by Dutch Elm Disease beginning in the 1930s. Today, short-lived elms can still be found in forests, but because they tend to be much smaller, they no longer play such an important ecological role. A multifaceted collaborative effort is underway to restore the stately and once dominant American elm to persist on the landscape of the nation's forests.

Forest tree diseases are often caused by infectious pathogens such as fungi and bacteria. Changing climate conditions can influence the spread of infectious diseases and their carriers, and add stresses to trees, making them more susceptible to diseases. Tree disease can also be caused by abiotic conditions such as air pollution, though this page deals primarily with biotic factors. Read the synthesis paper to learn more about these climate-disease interactions and how management strategies can address the potential shifting patterns of tree disease.

From the forefront of forest research, the Northern Research Station invites you inside the largest forest research organization in the world — the USDA's Forest Service. In each podcast episode, you’ll hear stories, interviews, and special in-depth anthologies of the science that's studying, questioning, and solving some of today's most compelling forest issues.

Non-native invasive insects and pathogens are causing significant ecological damage to forests worldwide.  The first season explores biological invasions — and their repercussions — in the Midwest and the Northeast. The second season examines tree breeding and selection to promote resistance to invasive insects and diseases.

See also: Forester Forums for more fact sheets

Published by: University of Georgia. Bugwood Network; USDA. Forest Service.

"Almost all North American bats rely on forests for survival," says Roger Perry, USDA Forest Service research wildlife biologist. Perry recently led the team that updated Forest Management and Bats, a booklet designed for private landowners and anyone managing forests. It was first published in 2006 by Bat Conservation International, and Daniel Taylor of BCI wrote the original version and contributed to the update. The updated publication is a 2020 product of the White-nose Syndrome National Plan.

ForWarn is a satellite-based forest disturbance monitoring system for the conterminous United States. It delivers new forest change products every eight days and provides tools for attributing abnormalities to insects, disease, wildfire, storms, human development or unusual weather. Archived data provide disturbance tracking across all lands since 2000.

Four new publications have been added to the 'Pacific Invasive Battler Series,' and are now available for free download from the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP), to help Pacific practitioners, environmental managers, government and community members in specific areas of invasive species management.

Developed through the Pacific Regional Invasive Species Management Support Service (PRISMSS), the Battler Series is an important resource for those working to restore ecosystems and manage invasive species. It provides tested best practice approaches through step by step guidance, case studies and visual aid for those battling invasive species. The series provides information and case-studies that can assist those working in the field and is written in a user-friendly way. There are now 15 publications in the Pacific Invasive Battler Series, and they are available for download on the Battler Resource Base.

The purpose of the project was to develop a framework for monitoring the impacts of invasive tree species on biodiversity in rural communities of Ghana (Project No. 162/9/019; 2000-2003).
Submitted by: Centre for Natural Resources and Development, NatureBureau International; Environmental Change Institute, University of Oxford; Forestry Research Institute of Ghana; Ghana Organic Agriculture Network; Suntaa-Nuntaa Agroforestry