Christmas tree farms try to adapt to climate change - Omaha World-Herald

Christmas tree farms try to adapt to climate change

CHICAGO — Christmas tree breeder Jim Rockis knows what it looks like when one dies long before it can reach a buyer.

Rockis farms trees in West Virginia and Pennsylvania, where he and other producers often grow their iconic evergreens outside their preferred habitat higher in the mountains. But that can mean planting in soil that's warmer and wetter — places where a nasty fungal disease called Phytophthora root rot can take hold, sucking moisture away from saplings and causing needles to crisp to burnt orange.
Gary Chastagner, a Washington State University professor called "Dr. Christmas Tree," shows an example of a less-desirable tree due to fewer top branches. The tree was grown in a small plantation of Turkish fir trees to produce disease- and insect-resistant Christmas trees at the school's Puyallup Research and Extension Center on Nov. 30 in Puyallup, Wash.

"After a while, it just gets to the core of it," Rockis said. "They just wither away."

Christmas tree growers and breeders have long prepared for a future of hotter weather that will change soil conditions, too. People buying trees may not have noticed a difference in availability this year and may not even in the next couple; the average Christmas tree takes eight to 10 years to reach marketable size.

People are also reading…

But that means the trees being grown right now are the beloved holiday traditions of tomorrow for millions of families.

"You've got to start thinking about how you are going to adapt to this," Rockis said.
Washington State University professor Gary Chastagner demonstrates a needle-loss test on a Turkish fir sample Nov. 30 in Puyallup, Wash.

That's why researchers like Gary Chastagner, a Washington State University professor called "Dr. Christmas Tree" for his decades of work on firs and other festive species, have been working with breeders like Rockis to see if species from other parts of the world — for instance, Turkish fir — are better adapted to conditions being wrought by climate change.

In the past two years, surprisingly high numbers of evergreens died of fungal disease outbreaks in Washington and Oregon. Chastagner has been concerned that changing soil temperature and moisture "may change the frequency at which we would see some Phytophthora that are more adapted to warmer soil conditions." Some may attack trees even more aggressively, he added.

Chastagner and his team are doing more sampling work to understand the causes of these outbreaks and whether they represent a pattern that could extend into the future.
Christmas tree farm owner Ralph Edwards sprays flocking on a tree to give it a snow-covered appearance Dec. 4 in La Mirada, Calif.

But some scientists say there isn't enough research on warming soil temperatures that could affect Christmas trees and many other crops, especially trees.

A European study this year in the journal Nature Climate Change found that soil heat extremes are increasing faster than air heat extremes, which can affect the health of grasslands, forests and some agricultural areas.

The same weather conditions that can put trees under stress favor many pests and diseases that can attack them, such as insects and fungi. The changes in forests and farm fields might not happen overnight, said Bert Cregg, a professor of horticulture and forestry at Michigan State University. But over time with a warming climate, "some trees may become more difficult to grow," he said.
Lab technician Taylor McNees removes DNA samples of landscape trees from a centrifuge to determine if the fungus that causes sooty bark disease is present at the Washington State University Puyallup Research and Extension Center.

Changes in soils also have implications for soil carbon storage, a climate change solution that the U.S. has already put a lot of money and effort into researching. Warmer soil temperatures reduce its long-term carbon storage ability, partly because microscopic life underground is affected, researchers say.

"The activity of these microbes usually increases with temperature, so it's less stable to store carbon there," said Almudena Garcia-Garcia, one of the Nature Climate Change authors and a postdoctoral scientist at the Helmholtz Center for Environmental Research — UFZ in Leipzig, Germany.

Although getting more information on how changing soils will affect crops and carbon alike is vital, scientists sometimes struggle to get enough data, said Melissa Widhalm, associate director and regional climatologist at Purdue University's Midwestern Regional Climate Center. Since soil temperature is measured differently than air temperature, the records don't go back very far, making it difficult to understand long-term trends.
Plant pathology researcher Marianne Elliott talks about the effects of the fungus Armillaria and Phytophthora on tree stump samples Nov. 30 at Washington State University.

Widhalm, who was not involved with the Nature Climate Change research, said she wished more studies like it existed in other places like North America, and that the results are compelling because they combined physical observations in the ground with satellite data and computer simulations. "This paper did a nice job quantifying soil temperature-moisture relationships that scientists know exist but are difficult to measure," she said.

Garcia-Garcia said her team plans to study soil temperature changes more in the future, in more locations if they can. "All the sources of information indicate this is happening," she said. "We are always studying extreme events from measurements in the air. But what is happening below our feet?"

National Christmas Tree lit in spirited celebration after toppling earlier in week

President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden listen to performances after lighting the National Christmas Tree on the Ellipse, near the White House Nov. 30, 2023, in Washington. The president and his wife, Jill, participated Thursday in the annual tradition of lighting the National Christmas Tree on the Ellipse, an area known as President's Park, on the south side of the White House.

President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden walk to their seats after lighting the National Christmas Tree on the Ellipse, near the White House Nov. 30, 2023, in Washington. This year's tree is a 40-foot Norway spruce from West Virginia’s Monongahela National Forest.

President Joe Biden speaks Thursday, Nov. 30, 2023, alongside first lady Jill Biden after they lit the National Christmas Tree on the Ellipse, near the White House. There was a moment's doubt earlier this week about whether the 101-year-old tradition would go ahead as planned after the tree was felled by strong gusty winds Tuesday. But the tree was upright again within hours after a cable securing it was replaced, according to the National Park Service.

Country singer Mickey Guyton performs after President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden lit the National Christmas Tree on the Ellipse, near the White House Nov. 30, 2023, in Washington. Guyton hosted the ceremony, which included musical performances by Dionne Warwick and St. Vincent, among others.

President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden listen to performances after lighting the National Christmas Tree on the Ellipse, near the White House, Nov. 30, 2023, in Washington. Earlier in the week, the first lady helped open Washington's holiday season by unveiling the White House holiday decorations. On Wednesday, she opened a holiday ice rink on the South Lawn for children to skate and play hockey throughout December.

President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden watch performers after they lit the National Christmas Tree on the Ellipse, near the White House, Nov. 30, 2023, in Washington.

Mickey Guyton performs after President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden lit the National Christmas Tree on the Ellipse, near the White House Nov. 30, 2023, in Washington.

Mickey Guyton performs after President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden lit the National Christmas Tree on the Ellipse, near the White House Nov. 30, 2023, in Washington.

President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden get set to light the National Christmas Tree on the Ellipse, near the White House in Washington, Nov. 30, 2023, with the help of Mickey Guyton.

Dionne Warwick performs after President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden lit the National Christmas Tree on the Ellipse, near the White House in Washington Nov. 30, 2023.

Dionne Warwick performs after President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden lit the National Christmas Tree on the Ellipse, near the White House in Washington, Nov. 30, 2023.

Interior Secretary Deb Haaland speaks after President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden lit the National Christmas Tree on the Ellipse, near the White House in Washington, Nov. 30, 2023.

Samara Joy and Antonio McLendon perform after President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden lit the National Christmas Tree on the Ellipse, near the White House in Washington, Nov. 30, 2023.

Interior Secretary Deb Haaland speaks after President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden lit the National Christmas Tree on the Ellipse, near the White House in Washington, Nov. 30, 2023.

Maddie & Tae perform after President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden lit the National Christmas Tree on the Ellipse, near the White House in Washington, Nov. 30, 2023.

Darren Criss performs after President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden lit the National Christmas Tree on the Ellipse, near the White House in Washington, Nov. 30, 2023.

Dionne Warwick and Ledisi perform after President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden lit the National Christmas Tree on the Ellipse, near the White House in Washington, Nov. 30, 2023.

Dionne Warwick and Ledisi perform after President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden lit the National Christmas Tree on the Ellipse, near the White House in Washington, Nov. 30, 2023.

President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden speak after lighting the National Christmas Tree on the Ellipse, near the White House in Washington, Nov. 30, 2023.

With the White House in the background, Dionne Warwick and Ledisi perform after President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden lit the National Christmas Tree on the Ellipse, near the White House in Washington, Nov. 30, 2023.

Dionne Warwick performs after President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden lit the National Christmas Tree on the Ellipse, near the White House, Nov. 30, 2023, in Washington.

St. Vincent performs after President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden lit the National Christmas Tree on the Ellipse, near the White House, Nov. 30, 2023, in Washington.

Ledisi performs after President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden lit the National Christmas Tree on the Ellipse, near the White House, Nov. 30, 2023, in Washington.

Interior Secretary Deb Haaland speaks after President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden lit the National Christmas Tree on the Ellipse, near the White House, Nov. 30, 2023, in Washington.

National Park Service director Chuck Sams speaks before President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden light the National Christmas Tree on the Ellipse, near the White House in Washington, Nov. 30, 2023.

Joe Walsh and St. Vincent perform after President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden lit the National Christmas Tree on the Ellipse, near the White House in Washington, Nov. 30, 2023.

Darren Criss performs after President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden lit the National Christmas Tree on the Ellipse, near the White House, Nov. 30, 2023, in Washington.

Joe Walsh and St. Vincent perform after President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden lit the National Christmas Tree on the Ellipse, near the White House, Nov. 30, 2023, in Washington.

Maddie & Tae perform after President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden lit the National Christmas Tree on the Ellipse, near the White House, Nov. 30, 2023, in Washington.

Maddie & Tae perform after President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden lit the National Christmas Tree on the Ellipse, near the White House in Washington, Nov. 30, 2023.