We believe that most of the trees that died so suddenly in this complex did not die of natural causes.

The protective ground cover that had been planted throughout the complex was destroyed once gardeners used weed whackers and poisoned the soil with chemicals instead of pulling weeds.

Many trees could not survive after they were topped to open up the views for upper units. After the groves they grew in were destroyed many trees died or blew down to the ground in the wind because they could not stand alone.

The following extracts were taken from a Paper Birch fact sheet funded by the S.D. Department of Agriculture, Division of Forestry, Pierre, SD.

http://www.northern.edu/natsource/TREESA1/Paperb1.htm Paper birch is a transcontinental species with a continuous natural range from the Atlantic to the Pacific shore. It is a cold climate species, so it is primarily found in Canada and bordering states... Life Span: Birch, as with many pioneer species , is rather short-lived. In their natural environment, birch generally live about 80 to 100 years. In the stressful environment of a typical lawn, birch only live about 30 to 40 years... Size: Paper birch does not become a very large tree... Planted in a South Dakota lawn, paper birch generally becomes only 30 feet (9 m) tall before dying of birch dieback...characterized by the slow death of twigs and branches until the entire tree is killed. It is due to the stressful conditions for birch in most planted sites...The average yard is too hot, since the soil is not covered by leaf litter. Leaf litter keeps the soil cool and moist, and without this insulating layer, the birch roots become too hot and die... As the roots die, the branches receive less water and they begin to die...Finally, a small boring beetle, called the bronze birch borer (Agilius anxius ) begins to lay eggs on the tree. The eggs hatch and the young larvae burrow into the tree and feed on the phloem , the food-conducting tissue. This combination of stress, warm soils and the boring beetle eventually kills the tree.

Most of the trees that were planted at Sunridge Estates by the original landscape architect were of the Paper Birch type, which seems to be known and described as various names. Planted in groves and surrounded with shrubs and ground cover, as they were, we expected them to live longer than we would - if provided with reasonable care and maintenance.