What’s Happening to All the Elm Trees?

The tale of a fungus, a beetle, and Dutch Elm Disease

Beetle damage on a dead American Elm (Photo taken by me)

What are all the squiggly lines on this tree? They are part of a cycle that is destroying the American Elm.

It all started around 1930, when a shipment of logs arrived from the Netherlands carrying a hitchhiker — the European Elm bark beetle. The beetles infected native American Elms with the fungus that causes Dutch…