timbillo's Identifications

This is at the IslandWood environmental education center on Bainbridge Island. I volunteer as a docent there and noticed this apparent example of dieoff while leading a walk on 5 May. One photo shows the dieoff area (about 50 feet across) the other shows a sick fern that's not making any new fronds (it's May; all the healthy ferns have a crop of new fronds by now). Coordinates taken from GPS, not the most accurate since site is under a forest canopy. I did average two readings.

In an approx. 80 year-old, and otherwise very healthy forest that is part of the Dabob Bay Natural Area Preserve, I encountered a portion of the forest understory where patches of Sword Fern appear to have died, and others around them were showing signs of leaf stress and death. The affected area was just a hundred square meters or so, hundreds of meters from any regular human activity, and not near any trail. It's a about a 20-minute bushwhack to get there from the nearest road. There's an old homestead clearing about 100 meters from the site. The only human activity in the area is DNR ecologists performing invasives control at most probably once a year, maybe some occasional hunters, and annual conservation monitoring by Jefferson Land Trust.

Pin location on map is approximate. The Dabob Bay Natural Area Preserve has expanded beyond the green area indicated on the map baselayer.

Area identified by Al Smith in 2016. Stressed, dead, and healthy sword seems present. Area is roughly 1000 soft. Easy to find from Hazelnut Trail at large cedar stump. Visited previously, and not obviously growing.

I noticed this area today while on my way to document the site I found on the 5th of this month. This is also on IslandWood property. It's near the buildings along a paved path and is a larger area of dieoff than the other one. Some ferns seem to be surviving, but a lot have died. Coordinates from GPS, and they should be pretty accurate since there was an opening to the sky overhead. E-mail info@islandwood.org to get permission to visit and mention that I am the one who reported this.

I am not 100% sure if this is the same thing that is happening in Seward Park or not, but I noticed some sickly, dying, and dead sword ferns in this area recently. It's disturbing in that it's a very rural area without a great deal of human impact. There is an abandoned road grade which elk evidently use in the immediate area; perhaps the elk carried the pathogen in on their hooves.

The worst area (pictured) is about 50' across. There are sickly/dead/dying ferns scattered through the area here and there (not just where pictured). There are no large areas hundreds of feet across with no surviving ferns.