Mystery horizontal lines on trees

[Chris]

P1150380 TreeLinesBW.jpg (270.37 KiB) Viewed 19154 times

P1150379 TreeLinesBW.jpg (239.2 KiB) Viewed 19154 times

These trees are in the BHA reserve at Liffey. The marks didn't look like the kind of wounds left by axemen, though the area has been logged in the past.
I'm sure there's an obvious answer but haven't come up with it yet. Any suggestions?

[GPSGuided]

Looks artificial, man induced.

[DanShell]

Looks like wire strap scars from many years ago.

[biggbird]

Agree with DanShell, look like wire marks.

[wander]

Might be wire marks in this instance.

But it might be a parasitical grub that feeds on the tree. Pretty common across Australia. Name eludes me right now (never good at remembering complex Latin names) but will endeavor to find the details.

[Chris]

Thanks for all the answers so far. You have pretty well covered our ideas, but none of them really seemed to fit when we were there.

Couldn't imagine why there would have been so many wire marks on the same tree. From the height of some of the affected trees they would have been inflicted over many years.

Would a parasitic grub only work horizontally?

[MickyB]

I think wander could be correct. Here is a link to some info on engraver beetles which does similar damage (although the lines are not as big)

http://seabrookeleckie.com/2010/01/31/c ... -art-work/

[GPSGuided]

Different characteristics.

[corvus]

Chris,
Saw exactly the same thing on many Trees in the Don Reserve the other day,most certainly not Man made with wire, will be pleased if you come up with an answer

[Chris]

Chris,
Saw exactly the same thing on many Trees in the Don Reserve the other day,most certainly not Man made with wire, will be pleased if you come up with an answer

That's very interesting Gerry. You've never seen any thing like this before?
Would the Don reserve have been logged at some stage?
It looks like I had better try QVMAG next, unless someone else here comes up with a convincing solution.

[RonK]

They've been used as fence posts.

[corvus]

Chris,
Saw exactly the same thing on many Trees in the Don Reserve the other day,most certainly not Man made with wire, will be pleased if you come up with an answer

That's very interesting Gerry. You've never seen any thing like this before?
Would the Don reserve have been logged at some stage?
It looks like I had better try QVMAG next, unless someone else here comes up with a convincing solution.

G'day Chris,
That specific area which is right on the the river bank would not have been logged ,hope you get an answer

[corvus]

They've been used as fence posts.

Very droll and unhelpful Rk must have been to fence in Tigers and Devils eh!!

[AndyP]

I saw a very similar (ie probably the same) thing on some trees on the track up Western Bluff from Urk's Loop in January. Thought it odd at the time - had been up there a couple of years ago and hadn't noticed them. Old logging scars wouldn't explain it - as the trees hadn't been cut. Wondered if it was vandalism but it didn't really look like it, and who'd bother. Seeing the photos at the start of this post makes you think parasite. Horizontal bark grub maybe?

[Chris]

I saw a very similar (ie probably the same) thing on some trees on the track up Western Bluff from Urk's Loop in January. Thought it odd at the time - had been up there a couple of years ago and hadn't noticed them. Old logging scars wouldn't explain it - as the trees hadn't been cut. Wondered if it was vandalism but it didn't really look like it, and who'd bother. Seeing the photos at the start of this post makes you think parasite. Horizontal bark grub maybe?

This is getting even more interesting. I'm certainly leaning towards that theory, and might be tempted to do a bit of discreet digging into the scars next time. Surely BHA wouldn't object in the spirit of scientific enquiry
Hoping to hear back from QVMAG and will post their suggestion/solution.

[MickyB]

Horizontal bark grub maybe?

I think it is some type of grub but I don't think this particular grub is in Australia (happy to be corrected though). I did find some info on this site

http://www.archives.act.gov.au/__data/a ... he_ACT.pdf

GLOSSARY
Chop marks Horizontal marks (as though chopped with an axe) caused by grubs.

Too tired to look into it further but it could be an answer

[Thornbill]

I'm curious to hear what QVMAG says too. Saw a very similar thing on the track to Lake Rhona on the weekend, close to the Gordon River. Seemed unlikely to be man-made, it was just the odd tree here and there with no real pattern to suggest wire scars. Also, some trees had marks quite high up on the trunk.

[Chris]

I'm curious to hear what QVMAG says too.

The résponse so far:

The council arborist has offered the following explanation -
'These marks would be caused by a species of wood borer, unfortunately I can't give you the exact Genus or species.
There are numerous beetles/grubs that cause this kind of damage and they all have a specific method of feeding and nesting that causes a lot of different scaring to the host.
Sorry I can't tell you more.'

That confirms our thoughts but of course raises more questions - which particular borers are they and more intriguing, how do they manage to maintain such beautifully straight horizontal lines?

I'm still hoping to get more info.
If no-one knows the mechanism it would be a great topic for a PhD

[greyim]

From Simon Groves TASMAG
http://www.tfic.net.au/SpeciesPages/Pel ... ersus.html

[Chris]

Thanks Greyim. That certainly seems a good candidate, but obviously not extensively studied.
Plenty of potential for more work, maybe starting with adding dots on to the distribution map.
Probably unlikely to be much interest from FT in their current state, but will try.

[NathanaelB]

I see this sort of insect damage to eucalyptus trees in the ACT, especially Candlebark (E. rubida)

There's a good accessible example of this on a street tree on Bandjalong Crescent in Aranda.

[NathanaelB]

See an example on p 235 of Photographic Guide to Native Plants of the Australian Capital Territory by Meredith Cosgrove, although she doesn't attribute the "chop marks" to a specific beetle but does highlight that they're a common feature of Candlebarks.

[vicrev]

Possible drag line marks ?...wrap a wire rope sling around the tree & winch the log from different directions to a central loading point ?...that would account for the different positioning marks up & around the tree..Sleeper cutters around Cohuna used to do something like that....

[greyim]

Hammocks "damage can be done if they are attached to trees"

[Chris]

Hammocks "damage can be done if they are attached to trees"

That one's certainly out of left field
Hammocks aren't too popular in Tas, and the mind boggles rather at the thought of so many hammocks over so many years

Just to confuse the issue, I noticed a large fallen tree on Higgs Track yesterday with horizontal lines which I would be fairly sure were man-made, though I don't know whether there was any logging done there in the past.

P6030024 TrunkSmaller.jpg (349.47 KiB) Viewed 17945 times

Trying to be objective, can't quite work out why I believe these lines are and those on the original photos are not man-made.

I'm still hoping to hear from Simon Groves.

[vicrev]

Maybe chain marks ?...

[corvus]

Maybe chain marks ?...

What don't you understand about this ??

[corvus]

Possible drag line marks ?...wrap a wire rope sling around the tree & winch the log from different directions to a central loading point ?...that would account for the different positioning marks up & around the tree..Sleeper cutters around Cohuna used to do something like that....

What do you not understand about this ??

[corvus]

[youtube]
\[/youtube]

Hammocks "damage can be done if they are attached to trees"

You obviously cannot understand what this about ??

[MickyB]

This morning I found a tree down the bottom of our property with similar markings.