VIEW ARTICLE

Measurement of Electric Currents in Clear, Discolored, and Decayed Wood from Living Trees. Terry A. Tattar, Assistant Professor of Plant Pathology, Shade Tree Laboratories, Department of Plant Pathology, University of Massachusetts, Amherst 01002; Phytopathology 64:1375-1376. DOI: 10.1094/Phyto-64-1375.

Electric currents, that were generated by polarizing metal electrodes and measured in microamperes, increased progressively from clear to discolored and to decayed wood of red maple and red oak. These currents varied inversely with resistance to a pulsed electric current. There were, however, no statistical differences between the resistance or current measurements of sapwood and discolored heartwood of red oak. The pattern of electric currents could be used to detect discolored and decayed wood from living trees.