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August 2021

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August 12, 2021

Study: For Trees, Carbs Are Key to Surviving Insect Defoliation

close-up of Lymantria dispar caterpillar

A study published today in Functional Ecology by HF Senior Ecologist Audrey Barker Plotkin and colleagues sheds light on why some oak trees in our region survived a recent severe outbreak of invasive moth, and some did not. The key? Carbohydrates.

The new study reveals the specific threshold of reserves necessary for the trees to survive: 1.5 percent carbohydrates