How many times have you walked down one of the many state park trails and find this type vandalism on massive beech or hickory trees? We see it much too often, huge gashes and carvings in the tree bark.
The overall health of the forest depends on the care of the trees by humans and nature. When people take sharp instruments and gouge into the sensitive bark of a tree it is about the same as carving on a person's skin. Trees have no one to patch them up and treat the wounds so to speak, because that is essentially what they are...wounds. Once the tree has been carved, these wounds do not heal. The scars remain until the tree dies. These wounds leave the tree susceptible to numerous pathogens from insects to fungal infections, and various tree diseases.
The inner bark or "phloem" of the beech tree is very thin. When the phloem is damaged from carving near the trunk of the tree it can alter the natural course of water uptake and nutrient supply from the tree to the root system, such as would accumulate and disperse through photosynthesis. Tree carving is a huge detriment to the overall health of trees.
Beech trees play a vital role in the ecosystems of our parks as well as non park related forests. They provide food and shelter for wildlife, plus the root systems help prevent soil erosion and help keep natural land formations in tact.
The next time you are walking a nature trail at one of Kentucky's state parks take time to enjoy all the beautiful trees, but please if you must leave your mark, sign our guest book and keep our trees beautiful and alive.
Written by : Kathy Myers LCSRP Volunteer
Photos by: Brooke Barenfanger LCSRP Volunteer
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