In addition to detracting from the beauty of forests, dogwood anthracnose can contribute to significant ecological disturbance, since many wildlife species depend on dogwood for food and cover.
Losses are heaviest at higher elevations and on shaded, north-facing slopes.
Yard and garden dogwoods have sustained less damage, since conditions are less favorable to the disease and control methods can be accomplished more easily. Spring forests dotted with flowering dogwoods. In the East, infections have been reported on flowering dogwood in Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Delaware. Recently, the disease has been detected in Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, North and South Carolina, Tennessee and Georgia.