decay

(of wood)

The progressive decomposition of wood caused by specialized fungi, which consume it as a food source. The main modes of decay are white rot, brown rot, simultaneous rot and soft rot outdoors, and wet rot and dry rot in wood in service.

brown rot (wood decay),
carbon:nitrogen ratio,
decay (external signs in trees),
decomposition,
Ganoderma spp.,
Heterobasidion annosum,
honey fungus,
Kretzschmaria deusta,
simultaneous rot,
soft rot,
white rot

This definition is abridged from A – Z of tree terms: A companion to British arboriculture.
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