Arbutus Extinction?

I've noticed recently that there seem to be a lot of dead or dying Arbutus trees. These are a native tree here and I have often photographed them over the last 8 years. There seems to be a popular belief that many more are dying than is normal but there is no consensus as to the reason or even as to whether this is true. Some scientific opinion is that the trees are dying due to a variety of fungus diseases. Others think that these diseases are more common now because of environmental changes such as global warming and fire control. It may also be that those I see along the walkway are all more or less the same age and are leftovers from when the area had more wild bush. I quite like that the city is not rushing to remove the dead trees since they are like silvery tree sculptures but I hope that there will be young replacement Arbutus trees visible soon.