For the second time this term, a memorial plaque rests next to the stump of a tree that was once dedicated to a deceased member of the Dartmouth community.
This time, it was an epidemic that took the life of a memorial tree on the southwest corner of the Green dedicated by Jacques Harlow '50 to his mother. Five other elm trees have also died as a result.
The Dutch Elm disease, which affects the vascular system and shuts down the circulation of infected elm trees, appears on campus every summer, usually taking a few trees victim.
Although last year the campus greenery survived with no losses, the disease has been especially pervasive this year.
"We're really getting hit hard," Tree Warden David DiBenedetto said.
The College's felling of the elm marks the second memorial tree cut down this summer, following the chopping of a cherry tree planted in memoriam of David Wolfson '92 in front of Alpha Chi Alpha fraternity.
The Alpha Chi tree was cut as a prank against the house by two members of Sigma Phi Epsilon and was not a result of it being affected by a disease.
According to DiBenedetto, when an elm tree that is considered significant to the campus is killed, the school replaces it with a disease-resistant variety.
The Harlow tree will probably be replaced in the spring.
The grounds crew routinely plants elm trees to maintain a healthy population on campus.
According to DiBenedetto, a beetle carries the disease and introduces it to elm trees when it feeds on a branch.
One way of controlling the disease is to spray insecticide to kill the beetle. However, due to the toxicity of the spray, the College does not use that method.
DiBenedetto is in charge of a program that attempts to protect the campus trees from disease, by pruning the dead branches that the beetles feed on.
Also, every two years fungicide is injected into the trees.
When part of the branch is affected, the diseased portion dies and collapses. DiBenedetto and his staff routinely look for collapsed branches to cut down.
If his team cuts the portion off soon enough, the disease does not reach the root stem of the trunk, and the tree can be saved. DiBenedetto compared it to catching a human's cancer in time, before the disease reaches the bloodstream.
"It's a race against time," he said.
He added that numerous trees have been saved in this manner. This year, between 10 and 12 were saved, he said.
