Monday, December 12, 2011

The Unneccessary Extinction of the Redbay Tree

'An Undefended Buffet: The Unnecessary Extinction of the Redbay, a Defining Southern Tree' is an excellent article written for The Nature Conservancy by writer and naturalist Susan Cerulean. Ms. Cerulean lives in Tallahassee, Florida, where she keeps watch over the still-healthy redbays along the Wakulla and St. Marks Rivers. Through interviews with Chip Bates, Georgia Forestry Commission, and other experts she tells of the threat to redbay trees across the its range in the Southeastern United States.
Sign of a redbay tree infected with the redbay ambrosia beetle
photo by James Johnson, Georgia Forestry Commission, Bugwood.org