As part of the "Lebendige Luppe" project, sooty bark disease was recorded on more than 1500 sycamore maples (Acer pseudoplatanus) (trunks >5cm breast hight diameter) on 60 plots (each 2500 m²) in the late summers of 2020 to 2024. The selection of trees (according to their size) was based on 2 forest inventories (2016 and 2020) (Rieland et al. 2024, Scholz et al. 2022). As a result, new trees were added for recording in 2021. Tree damage caused by sooty bark disease was assessed via five damage classes according to the methodology outlined by Burgdorf and Straßer (2019). Trees that could not be found again were described as NA if there were no signs of felling.

Damage classes of the sooty bark disease (SBD) caused by the fungus Cryptostroma corticale with Burgdorf & Straßer (2019)0 - vital tree, no symptoms of SBD1 - weakened tree, water shoots and crown dead wood2 - significant loss of vitality, first small patches with chipped bark and Stromata of Cryptostroma corticale 3 - severe loss of vitality with big patches of chipped bark and Stromata, a lot of crown deadwood4 - dead tree with Stromata patches of Cryptostroma corticale, white rot or other secondary decomposing fungi are possible