ORONO, Maine (AP) - Researchers with the University of Maine say hemlock trees will be at risk of accelerated decline as winters warm in the Northeast.
The university says an estimated 26 percent of the region's groups of hemlock trees are at high risk of decline. They are threatened by a warming climate and an invasive pest, the hemlock woolly adelgid.
A team of researchers led by UMaine professor of forest resources William Livingston says that figure could get worse. The researchers say 43 percent of hemlock tree groups will be at risk as winters get warmer.
Eastern hemlocks are towering trees that live from southern Canada to Alabama. They can live to be more than 500 years old. The trees have economic value as they're used in the lumber industry.
