15 - Temperature Stress

Abstract

Publisher Summary The extremes of temperatures can be injurious to trees. Shade trees are exposed to larger variations in temperature and are much more susceptible to temperature injury than trees growing in the forest. The effects of temperature are most severe on newly planted trees that have not adjusted yet to their new environment. The trees, whose environments have hanged around them because of the activities of human, are likely to be injured by extremes and rapid changes in temperature. Whenever trees growing in deeply shaded locations are exposed to intense sunlight, it results in stress on the newly exposed bark from rapid increase in temperature. Two events may occur as a result of this type of stress, summer sunscald and winter sunscald. Summer sunscald is heat injury to the exposed bark during the summer and results in bark killing with subsequent canker formation. Winter sunscald is injury from rapid changes in bark temperature during cold and sunny winter days.