Nurse Log Protected on Campus

110+ year old Ash tree on the Sherbrooke Street side of Dawson was infested with the emerald ash borer, a beetle introduced from Asia, that has killed 10’s of millions of ash trees in Eastern North America. These marks are left by the feeding larvae.

Dawson College is leaving this tree standing as part of its a micro-habitat project to increase biodiversity on site. Many animals and plants depend on standing dead trees, hollow trees, stumps and logs. They need them for food, to make dens, for shelter, to nest inside and to roost. These trees become “nurse” logs for the species that inhabit them.

This outdoor sign beside the ash tree explains how dead trees, as nurse logs, are important to many forms of life.