Forest Health, an expert advisory system for assessing foliar and crown health of selected northern hardwoods

Forest Health, an expert advisory system, provides a diagnostic module and two training modules. The diagnostic module provides guidance in identifying foliar symptoms and the common insects, diseases, and abiotic disorders found on leaves of sugar maple Acer saccharum, red maple Acer rubrum, black cherry Prunus serotina, northern red oak Quercus rubra and white oak Quercus alba. The Foliar Severity routine trains users to categorize injury (percent leaf area) on single leaves using a modified Horsfall-Barratt scale. The Crown Dieback routine displays different types and degrees of crown injury that users must identify and classify. Each crown is unique, generated in "real time' using tree-branch parameters selected by the user. Since the crowns are created on a three-dimensional basis, multiple views are possible. -from Authors