What is this black film on the leaves of my shrubs and trees

[carlos]

The black film you are seeing may be sooty mold, a fungus that grows on the honeydew secreted by plant-sucking insect pests such as aphids, mealybugs, or scales that feed on the sap inside leaves. The water and sugars ingested by the insects are excreted as honeydew, which adheres to leaves and also drops to objects below. Sooty molds are not plant parasitic,

[sanrob]

What I found on plantanswers.com was a virtual "treasure trove of information and answers to all the questions I might have regarding not only my tree damage, but other plants as well. You see, I had a tree that had grown wild in a V shape in my back yard, and summer storms caused the tree to split on one side exposing the rotted wood within.

[sanrob]

Wanting some answers as to why a tree starts to rot and how to save it once it begins to rot, I found myself yet once again looking for information. As we all know, the internet is a treasure trove of information and sometimes the hardest part of a search is to know what site to check out and how much to trust the advice found there.