Range extent, symptom progression, and identification of the causal agent of undiagnosed beech leaf disease-final report

Through USDA Forest Service Northeastern Area State and Private Forestry, Cleveland Metroparks was awarded Emerging Pest and Pathogen funding to address gaps in knowledge surrounding BLD. Through this work, Cleveland Metroparks has tracked the spread of BLD since 2018, leading to increased awareness, search efforts, detections, and standardized reporting. Annual and semi-annual distribution maps were shared widely with the forest health community. Cleveland Metroparks led several research projects to better understand BLD detection, stand impacts and treatment. Staff contributed to the creation of a long-term monitoring protocol which was used to create over 300 permanent BLD monitoring plots across the United States and Canada.  This paper serves as the grant final report and highlights the results of all survey and research projects.