Articles by Tauno Kallio

The purpose of the study was to find out whether Fomes annosus (now Heterobasidion annosum) growing in a Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) H. Karst.) stump can, with its mycelium, take up the radioactive isotopes ³H, ³³P and ¹²⁵I in the heading, and whether it transfers them via the sporophores in situ to its basidiospores. Wood material in close proximity to active sporophores was injected with radioactive isotopes. All isotopes could be verified from the basidiospores. The production of viable basidiospores by sporophore was reduced by the isotope injections. This latter result may be of importance e.g. in meteorology for observation of the movements of air masses.

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• Kallio, E-mail: tk@mm.unknown
• Selander, E-mail: js@mm.unknown
• Uusi-Rauva, E-mail: au@mm.unknown

A growing stand of Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) H. Karst.) marked for cutting was investigated in the winter of 1971–72 in Helsinki in Southern Finland in order to determine the economic loss caused by decay. Taking a sample from growing spruce trees with increment borer is not a reliable method of determining the frequency of decay. The decayed stems were twice measured for assortment cutting into lengths; the first time disregarding the decay and the second time doing the actual assortment cutting according to the grade of timber. The direct economic loss caused by decay was 13% of the price for standing timber. The indirect loss may be as great as the direct loss.

The PDF includes a summary in English.

• Kallio, E-mail: tk@mm.unknown

The study was carried out in a Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) H. Karst.) stand in Southern Finland which was to be clear-cut due to decay. The species composition and incidence of decay fungi were investigated from the cut surfaces of the stumps. In addition, the colour and size of the decayed spot was observed.

About 28% of the total number of trees were decayed. Fomes annosus (Heterobasidion annosum) was the most common decay fungus. It was identified from 75% of the decayed trees, and was the sole agent in 43% of these trees. Armillaria mellea was the second commonest decay fungus. It decayed trees mostly in combination with Fomes annosus. The most common colours of the decay produced by F. annosus were reddish or yellowish brown. The decay caused by A. mellea was blackish brown. The causative agent cannot be reliably identified on the basis of the colour of the decayed part.

The PDF includes a summary in English.

• Kallio, E-mail: tk@mm.unknown
• Norokorpi, E-mail: yn@mm.unknown

A ten-year old stand of hybrid aspen (Populus tremula x Populus tremuloides), growing in Southern Finland on about 1.5 ha of Oxalis-Myrtillus type (OMT) soil and affected by crown blight, was examined in 1971. The study revealed that almost all trees, both those removed by thinning and the remaining growing stock, were decayed. A number of bacteria, Fungi imperfecti species and ascomycetous fungi were isolated from the discoloured heartwood of the affected trees. No fungus of the Bacidiomycetes was found in the discoloured wood material.

The PDF includes a summary in English.

• Kallio, E-mail: tk@mm.unknown

The aim of this investigation was to clarify aerial infection of Fomes annosus (now Heterbasision annosum) in the cross-sections of stumps of Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) and Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) H. Karst.) in Southern Finland. In addition, an attempt was made to study possibilities to reduce an eventual aerial infection by means of spreading various protecting substances on the cross-section of the stumps immediately after cutting. The stumps were treated withs creosote, ceruse (lead white) and a product named ”Ventti”, which active constituent is copper. The effect of prescribed burning of the site on the aerial spreading of the fungus was studied.

Five sample plots were located in spruce stands and one in a pine stand. One of the spruce stands was prescribed burned. Samples were taken from the stumps 14–17 and 24–29 months after cutting. To identify the fungi, the samples were cultivated on a nutrient substrate in laboratory conditions. The results show that Heterobasidion annosum had spread by air to cross-sections of stumps of spruce. 11.5% of the samples taken from the spruce stumps 14–17 months and 17% of samples taken 24–29 months after cutting were infected. Burning of the site reduced strongly the aerial infection of stumps by the fungus. The stumps of Scots pine were not infected by Heterobasidion annosum in this study. The infection could be limited by treating the cross-sections with substances that are used to prevent growth of mould.

The PDF includes a summary in English.

• Kallio, E-mail: tk@mm.unknown

The paper is a continuation of an earlier report by the author on the same subject (Acta Forestalia Fennica 133, 1973). Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) H. Karst.) wounds were inoculated with Peniophora gigantea (Phlebiopsis gigantea) and the discolorations starting from the wounds were investigated three years after the wounding. Fomes annosus (Heterobasidion annosum) had infected 17 % of the total number of wounded trees. If no microbes were growing at the furthest point of the discoloration that had started from the wound, the discoloration advanced upward from wounds made at breast height at a rate of 61 cm/year in the dominant and 36 cm/year in the suppressed trees. In the dominant trees, a year after the wound was inflicted the discoloration had advanced at a rate of 50 cm/year and after three years the rate was 61 cm/year. This difference is not significant. Where microbes were present at the furthest point of discoloration, the discoloration had advanced 27 cm/year in one year and 42 cm/year in three years. Also, this difference is not significant.

A microbe was isolated from the furthest point of discoloration in only 13 out of 42 possible cases. The most common microbe was Stereum sanguinolentum. Bacteria showed the fastest rate of advance.

The PDF includes a summary in Finnish.

• Kallio, E-mail: tk@mm.unknown

In 1972, all Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) H. Karst.) trees of a minimum 7 cm diameter at breast height growing in the sample plots of the Sixth National Forest Inventory were examined on the main island of Aland, Finland. The soundness of standing trees was estimated by means of external characteristics and increment borer chips. The trees were then felled and measured. They were cut into lengths, and the type and extent of decay were studied.

30% of the trees examined was affected by butt rot, ca. 3% by wound decay. A comparison of the results with those of the Sixth National Forest Inventory justifies the estimate that in Aland 23% of spruce trees exceeding 7 cm in diameter at 1.3 m had butt rot.

The proportion of decayed trees in the cubic volume was 31%. Decayed wood material accounted for 5% of the volume including bark. Butt rot increased towards the mature stands. The reduction in the number of timber trees due to decay was 14.5%, in their volume 21.5%, and in the volume of sulphite pulpwood 12%. The share of sulphate pulpwood increased from 1 to 10%. The total reduction in usable wood was 6.3%. The stumpage price of the trees fell by 10.3%. As the degree of decay increased the increment percentage of the trees decreased. The most common cause of butt rot was Fomes annosus (Heterobasidion annosum) found in 46% of the number of decayed trees. Armillaria mellea was found in 16%. Bacteria were found in 50% of the decayed trees.

The PDF includes a summary in Finnish.

• Kallio, E-mail: tk@mm.unknown
• Tamminen, E-mail: pt@mm.unknown

Infection of living Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) H. Karst.) trees by bacteria, and the properties of these bacteria were studied. Bacterial antagonism to three decay fungi was also studied in laboratory conditions.

Bacteria could be found in 26% of all spruce injuries. Bacterial infection was most frequent in injuries made in March–April and June, and least frequent in December–February. Bacteria infected most often sapwood injuries in roots above soil level, 55% of the bacterial colonies were isolated from these injuries. 27% of the colonies were isolated from injuries made by increment borer at breast height, extending to heartwood, 16% from sapwood injuries at breast height, and 2% from injuries at stump height. The main bacterial groups were gram-positive rods (55%) and gram-negative rods (29%).

In 65% of the bacteria the metabolism was fermentative, in 14% slowly fermentative, in 7% oxidative, in 8% slowly oxidative, and in 6% alkalizing. 19% utilized cellulose, 15% in the presence of organic, 3% in the presence of inorganic nitrogen.

One bacterial strain was the only micro-organism growing in the injury a year after the damage, although the injury had been infected with Peniophora gigantea (Phlebiopsis gigantea). In laboratory experiments, this rod bacterium, gram-negative strain proved to be antagonistic to Fomes annosus (Heterobasidion annosum), Stereum sanguinolentum and P. gigantea. It had no capacity for cellulose utilization.

The PDF includes a summary in Finnish.

• Kallio, E-mail: tk@mm.unknown

The study material was collected from 10 localities in South Finland in 1971–72. The material comprised 816 damaged Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) H. Karst.) trees with a total of 978 injuries.

Decay (discoloration) spread upward from the damaged point was about three times as fast as downward. The mean rate of advance upward was 21 cm/year. The decay spreading at the quickest rate started from above-ground root collar injuries. The size of the damaged area (surface area, width and depth) correlated positively with the rate of increase in decay initiated by the injury. For the first 10 years the decay advanced at the same rate after which the advance became slower though not ceasing. Damage produced in the early summer caused a faster spread of decay than that produced in the late summer or winter. The rate of advance was the greater the larger the stem involved. When decay started from trunk damage its rate of advance was greater the faster the growth of the trees. With a better soil type, the rate of advance in decay increased. Fertilization increased the rate of advance.

The widest stem injuries reduced tree growth by about one-third, and severed roots by nearly half of the growth of trees where the width of the injuries was 0–4 cm. Fomes annosus (Heterobasidion annosum) infected spruce injuries especially in the southern coastal district. The farthest tips of discoloration proved in most cases to be sterile. The most common fungus isolated from these sites was Stereum sanguinolentum.

The PDF includes a summary in Finnish.

• Isomäki, E-mail: ai@mm.unknown
• Kallio, E-mail: tk@mm.unknown

The purpose of the present study was to investigate the success of infecting Norway spruce (Picea abies) wounds with a mycelial suspension of Peniophora gigantea (now Phlebiopsis gigantea). In an approximately 100-year old spruce stand on Myrtillus type soil in Southern Finland, two dominant and two suppressed spruce trees were wounded each month during one year, and infected with P. gigantea. Control trees were only wounded. One year after wounding the trees were sawn into discs near the wound. Samples of the discs were cultured to identify the microbes.

In the suppressed trees, the P. Gigantea infection had been successful in 75 % of the wounds extending into heartwood. For dominant trees, the percentage was 50. In sapwood wounds the infection was considerably less successful. In two wounds of the control trees were noted airborne P. gigantea infection, and in four Fomes annosus (now Heterobasidion annosum).

Discoloration starting from the wounds was not a reliable proof that microbes were present. According to the variance analysis, the upward advance of discoloration without microbes showed a greater correlation with the crown class than with the type and site of the wounds. The downward advance depended more on the type of the wounds than the crown class.

A total of 37 fungi were identified by species or family, from the damaged trees. A large number of bacteria were also found. The most common fungi were the Penicillium species, and they had most often advanced farthest above and below the wound. Of the actual decay fungi, Stereum sanguinolentum showed the highest incidence and fastest growth. Coryne cylichnium and Cephalosporium species were also relatively common.

The PDF includes a summary in Finnish.

• Kallio, E-mail: tk@mm.unknown

The incidence of the conidiophores of Fomes annosus (Heterobasision annosum) was investigated in Helsinki in 1967–71 in a Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) H. Karst.) stand growing on a site of Oxalis-Myrtillus type. The investigation comprised stump surfaces of spruce and pieces of wood, decayed by F. annosus, placed on the ground.

Conidiophores and conidia were seen during a few weeks in May-June on the surfaces of stumps covered by spruce branches. Conidiophores were sometimes seen on the stump surfaces even later in the summer and autumn, but by that time they were only very few. Their occurrence on the stumps that had not been covered was extremely rare, and the conidiophores were always very few in number. Surfaces of trees felled the year before showed no conidiophores. Conidiophores were also found below the pieces of decayed wood lying on the ground.

When spruce trees decayed by F. Annosus were felled in the summer and autumn, the surfaces of stumps covered with spruce branches showed the first conidiophores one week after the felling. The occurrence continued almost uninterruptedly until the winter.

The PDF includes a summary in Finnish.

• Kallio, E-mail: tk@mm.unknown

An attempt was made to restrict the aerial distribution of Fomes annosus (now Heterobasidion annosum) through the cut surfaces of spruce stumps by inoculating the surfaces, immediately after felling, with mycelial suspension, grown in the laboratory on malt agar, of Fomes pinicola, Lenzites sepiaria, Peniophora gigantea (now Phlebiopsis gigantea), Polyporus abietinus and Trichoderma viride. Trees were felled once a month for a year. Samples were taken from the cut surfaces of the stumps approximately one year after the felling and the inoculation.

P. gigantea inhibited the infection of cut stump surfaces by airborne F. annosus. P. gigantea cut down both the total number and the number of the species of fungi infecting the stump through aerial distribution. T. viride had a parallel but less marked effect. F. pinicola, L. sepiaria and P. abietinus proved to be weak colonizers of spruce stumps. When they were used to inoculate the stumps, the number of fungi infecting the cut surfaces was larger than that infecting the stumps treated with P. gigantea and T. Viride. A year after the inoculation some stumps were excavated with their roots. Fungi from the discoloured spots of wood in the stumps were cultured for identification. It was found that many different fungal species from the soil and the points of root grafting had infected the roots of the stump in the course of the year. The majority of the identified microbes were non-Basidiomycetes fungi, and bacteria.

A year after the felling and inoculation, a white mycelial sheet was seen between the wood and bark of many stumps. Several fungi, including Armillaria mellea, Trichoderma viride, Penicillium species, and Peniophora gigantea were isolated from this sheet.

The PDF includes a summary in Finnish.

• Kallio, E-mail: tk@mm.unknown

Fungal diaspores were caught in Southern Finland (Helsinki, Turku, Jyväskylä, Lappeenranta) and in Northern Finland (Oulu, Ivalo) in 1967—68 on exposed discs of Picea abies (L.) Karst. wood. In the laboratory, the diaspores on the discs developed mycelia which stained the wood. A month after exposure fungi and bacteria were isolated from stained areas.

The number of identified fungal species was relatively high and included fungi of different taxonomic groups. The most common fungi identified were Peniophora gigantea and Trichoderma viride. The most common Agaricaceae obtained were species of Hypholoma. Of the fungi imperfecti, relatively high numbers of not only Trichoderma viride but also of the Alternaria and Fusarium species were isolated. According to the investigation, species of several fungal groups seem to participate in the early stages of the decayed process of spruce.

The PDF includes a summary in Finnish.

• Kallio, E-mail: tk@mm.unknown

An investigation into the aerial distribution of Fomes annosus (now Heterbasidion annosum) in Finland was carried out. Prevalence of the fungus in the air was estimated from cultural counts of mycelia produced by diaspores which had fallen onto spruce discs and agar plates. The influence of climate on deposition of diaspores was determined from weather recordings.

For the main study, F. annosus diaspores collected from spruce stands in Helsinki, Anjala and Jokioinen were recorded at weekly or fortnightly intervals throughout 1968. Diaspores fell during the 24-hour periods almost continuously at all three observation sites from April to November, but the deposition was most frequent from late May to the end of October. The amounts of deposition varied greatly with the observation sites, seasons of the year, and time of the day. The fall was heaviest at Anjala and slightest at Jokioinen.

Throughout the season of deposition, more diaspores were trapped on all observation sites at night than during the day. A significant positive correlation was found between the fall of F. annosus diaspores and the air temperature. Diaspores of F. annosus were found in the forest on needles and leaves, and underneath the humus layer in mineral soil. The fall of diaspores decreased as the distance from sporophores increased.

The aerial distribution of two antagonists to F. annosus, viz. Peniophora gigantea and Trichoderma viride, was also studied. It was found that the diaspores of the former fell mainly during the same seasons as those of F. annosus.

• Kallio, E-mail: tk@mm.unknown