Department gives update on Phytophthora ramorum Monitoring

The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine is continuing to survey forests and control outbreaks of the EU regulated plant disease Phytophthora ramorum, a fungus like organism that can damage and kill infected trees and plants. Under EU requirements, annual forest surveys for Phytophthora ramorum have been ongoing since 2003. Until last year, there had been no findings on tree species and P. ramorum had only been detected in forest areas on wild invasive rhododendron shrubs. Following the initial findings in Japanese larch in Ireland in July 2010, an extensive national aerial and ground survey was conducted. These forest surveys have now confirmed the disease in Japanese larch at eleven forest locations in five counties.

Japanese larch appears to be particularly susceptible to the disease, affecting all age classes and locally causing significant dieback and deaths. Noble fir, beech and Spanish chestnut growing in close proximity to the infected Japanese larch have also been found to be infected at a number of the sites and it is likely that the Japanese larch is the source of the infection. The infected trees are being removed to prevent the disease spreading.

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Killer disease found in two new species of Irish tree

Two thirds of Northern Ireland's forests are under threat from a killer tree disease.

The fungal disease P. ramorum (often called Sudden Oak Death) has already infected tens of thousands of Japanese larch trees.

This has led to the felling of over 200 hectares across nine woodlands.

The disease may have jumped species and has infected a Sitka spruce in the Republic of Ireland and several beech trees in County Down, in the north.

If the disease spreads to other Sitka trees it could be a disaster for the Northern Ireland Forestry Service. The species makes up two thirds of all government-owned forests in Northern Ireland.

The disease was already known to be able to infect beech trees. It has also been confirmed that the infection has been found in European larch in England.

BBC News

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Sudden Oak Death is not going away

A good description of SOD in California, its hosts, and behavior:

Earlier this month I had the pleasure of visiting the campus at UC Berkeley to attend a training session on Sudden Oak Death (SOD), the disease that has killed many thousands of trees in California and other parts of the world. Losses include many coast live oaks here in Napa County.

To see for yourself, take a short drive up Partrick Road, where the woods are dense. You are likely to spot a number of dead coast live oak trees in this area where SOD was confirmed fairly early in the onset of the epidemic.

The UC Berkeley Forest Pathology and Mycology Lab, which originally identified the disease when it was new to California, continues to refine our understanding of it while it also leads community volunteer efforts to map and mange the disease. The lab sponsors ongoing training for those who are interested in the problem or directly involved in its management.

The March 9 training session, held in the shadow of a large coast live oak by the Tolman Hall portico, was led by lead researcher Matteo Garbelotto, the associate extension specialist and associate adjunct professor who heads the lab research. The lab also sponsors a unique community involvement effort known as “SOD Blitz” days, one of which will be held in Napa on June 4.

Prof. Garbelotto summarized the history of the disease in California from its beginnings to the current state of the research on its biology and management.

Read more here - Trees & People by Bill Pramuk, Napa Valley Register, Saturday, March 26, 2011

Oregon bill targets firewood pests

Officials want to ensure that ruinous insects aren’t inadvertently imported into the state
By David Steves

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SALEM — One way to keep forest-ravaging insects and diseases from hitching a ride into Oregon is to make sure they don’t hide out in firewood brought by out-of-state campers.

That’s the idea behind a proposal that got its first hearing Monday. House Bill 2122 would give the Department of Agriculture authority to regulate out-of-state firewood. Imported wood would have to be treated, most likely with insect- and disease-killing heat. Labels on commercial firewood would have to list the source of the wood and describe its anti-pest treatment if it’s from outside Oregon.

The Register-Guard
Published: Tuesday, Feb 8, 2011 05:01AM

Estimated losses from Sudden Oak Death in CA, USA

Predicting the economic costs and property value losses attributed to sudden oak death damage in California (2010-2020)

Kovacs et al. 2011. Predicting the economic costs and property value losses attributed to sudden oak death damage in California (2010-2020) Journal of Environmental Management Volume 92, Issue 4, April 2011, Pages 1292-1302. doi:10.1016/j.jenvman.2010.12.018

Abstract

Phytophthora ramorum, cause of sudden oak death, is a quarantined, non-native, invasive forest pathogen resulting in substantial mortality in coastal live oak (Quercus agrifolia) and several other related tree species on the Pacific Coast of the United States. We estimate the discounted cost of oak treatment, removal, and replacement on developed land in California communities using simulations of P. ramorum spread and infection risk over the next decade (2010-2020). An estimated 734 thousand oak trees occur on developed land in communities in the analysis area. The simulations predict an expanding sudden oak death (SOD) infestation that will likely encompass most of northwestern California and warrant treatment, removal, and replacement of more than 10 thousand oak trees with discounted cost of $7.5 million. In addition, we estimate the discounted property losses to single family homes of $135 million. Expanding the land base to include developed land outside as well as inside communities doubles the estimates of the number of oak trees killed and the associated costs and losses. The predicted costs and property value losses are substantial, but many of the damages in urban areas (e.g. potential losses from increased fire and safety risks of the dead trees and the loss of ecosystem service values) are not included.

UK House of Lords debate on SOD

Trees: Sudden Oak Death — Question
House of Lords debates, 10 February 2011, 11:21 am

Lord Greaves (Liberal Democrat)

To ask Her Majesty's Government what action they are taking to counter the spread of sudden oak death in trees.

Lord Henley (Parliamentary Under Secretary of State, Environment, Food and Rural Affairs; Conservative)

My Lords, the Forestry Commission and the Food and Environment Research Agency, working in partnership with other organisations, are delivering a five-year programme in England and Wales against Phytophthora ramorum. The Government take this very seriously. Infected Japanese larch is being cleared from 7,920 acres of woodland in an effort to halt the spread of the disease.

The rest of the debate

First Report of Phytophthora ramorum Infecting California Red Fir in California

G. A. Chastagner and K. L. Riley, Department of Plant Pathology, Washington State University Research and Extension Center, Puyallup 98371

September 2010, Volume 94, Number 9
Page 1170
DOI: 10.1094/PDIS-94-9-1170B


Read the article in Plant Disease