Effect of Bark Removal Above and Below Wounds in Red Maple on Bark Dieback and Discolored Wood Columns. Curt Leben, Professor, Department of Plant Pathology, The Ohio State University, Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center, Wooster 44691. . Plant Dis. 73:565-566. Accepted for publication 30 January 1989. Copyright 1989 The American Phytopathological Society. DOI: 10.1094/PD-73-0565.

Horizontal saw kerf wounds were made in stems of pole-sized red maples in the spring and autumn. A test wound (bark removed above and below the kerf in a biconvex lens pattern) and a control wound (corresponding bark left intact) were made on each tree. After two growing seasons, trees were dissected for observations of bark dieback and wood discoloration above and below wounds. Bark dieback was less around wounds made in the spring than around those made in the autumn. Discolored wood columns were shorter when wounds were made during a period of vigorous tree growth in the spring than when they were made early in the spring or in the autumn. Removal of bark increased the length of discolored columns regardless of the time of wounding.

Keyword(s): tree decay, tree wound healing, tree wound occlusion, wood stain.