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To What Extent is the Severity of Oak Tatters Affected by the Trees’ Proximity to an Agricultural Field?

Elizabeth Smith

Oak tatters affect trees across the Midwest, but especially so in Iowa, because oak forests are the more predominant type in the region. The exact cause of the tatters is unknown, but one possibility is the use of herbicides on agricultural fields. While the tatters themselves do not cause tree death, the resulting energy loss has the potential to render the tree more susceptible to things like diseases or other pests, which can lead to death. Oak trees are relied upon by many animals, like squirrels, birds, raccoons, and many more. Without a strong presence of oak trees, those animals face a depleted food supply, and the ecosystem as a whole suffers. Over the course of approximately a year, three separate studies were done concerning oak tatters. The first study compared the average severity of oak trees in six plots at one site, and the second study looked at how tatters vary when kept at multiple sites. In the second study, an extension of the first, the trees were observed from the planting of the acorns, allowing for observation of the tatters’ effect on the oaks from the beginning of the trees’ life. Results from three field studies and a personal experiment showed a positive correlation between distance and severity: the closer the oak trees were to an agricultural field, the more severe the tatters were likely to be.