Treelady

As far as my DVD source goes, the ants stall decay or rot in building
products as well. The problem, in understanding the process is that the
research started with the product and not the trees. The good doctor did
his studies starting with the trees. When a wound takes place on the trunk,
a barrier zone is formed. The wood to the inside of that barrier zone is
chemically altered. It may not be noticable by the naked I but can be
detected with a SHIGOMETER. Termites and ants know, we do not know how they
know, that the wood is altered. That is the fisrt plave ants and termites
will go. Now the termites will eat the wood after they predigest it . The
ants do not eat wood they just push it out of their galleries. The
galleries control the environment inside the tree or building product. Too
wet or too dry will stall the decay pathogen. The galliers stall further
rot in trees and building products. It was verbally mentioned many times
that if it was not for the ants many trees would not be standing. We have
large woodpeckers here and they go after the ants.
As far as fungi, bacteria and others, here are some pithy points.
175. Less than 1% of the insects and fungi are harmful to humans. Think
about that when you use a product that kills everything.
We believe the fungi gain nutrients not only from the tree, but from dead
leaves and wood. This is why composted leaves and wood as mulch is so very
important for healthy trees.

--
Sincerely,
John A. Keslick, Jr.
Consulting Arborist
http://home.ccil.org/~treeman
and www.treedictionary.com
Beware of so-called tree experts who do not understand tree biology.
Storms, fires, floods, earthquakes, and volcanic eruptions keep reminding us
that we are not the boss.


"Treelady" wrote in message
oups.com...
On Aug 10, 2:52 am, Ann wrote:
"symplastless" expounded:

In fact many healthytreeshave ants. An understanding of
compartmentalization or decay intreesis a must. Treeswall off areas and
within the areas the wood is symplastless. A new tree grows around the
old
tree every year. You really need to understand CODIT which means
compartmentalization of decay intrees, to understand the role of ants.
Do
you also proclaim that a healthy tree has no relationship with fungus as
well? Why without mycorrhizae manytreeswould not maintain a symplast.
Ants andtreeshave been around long before us and will remain an
associate
oftreeswhen we are long gone. Ants stay the decay pathogen which can
lead
to a healthy tree. I mean healthy in a mechanical manner as well as a
biological manner.

I give up. If you thinktreeswith decay, fungus and ants are healthy
then you must be right.....ya.
--
Ann, gardening in Zone 6a
South of Boston, Massachusetts
e-mail address is not checked
******************************

He is correct: not all fungal activity is detrimental to trees. The
relationship between trees and fungii is complex.
Before insulting the integrity of someone, perhaps you should enhance
your own study, then you would be in a position to argue the point
with more grace and lucidity.
My practical experience (in south east of England) with Cherry trees
is they are poor compartmentalisers, and are notorious for rot when
wounded.
Cannot say anything about ants really, as I know little. Can say
though, I live in a house built in 1867, which was left unattended for
years ( became quite decrepit), was revamped, then not looked after
much, recently two different types of ants became visible, red and
black (with wings) both left small mounds of the substance in which
they were staying (brick, plaster etc.). It is entirely possible, and
probable that there is rotten wood in the house.