Once a pine tree's needles begin to turn yellow, the tree may wither and die within the space of two weeks. "It spreads so fast that where this year you see a few spots of brown, next year all the pines in the area will be dead," says Bruce Hua of Yangmingshan National Park's conservation and research section, who has watched the pines of Yangming-shan die before his own eyes.
當松樹針葉一變黃，幾乎兩個禮拜就枯死，「散播之速，讓一片樹林今年見到點狀枯黃，明年就全軍覆沒了」，親眼觀察陽明山上松樹死去的國家公園保育課花炳榮說。