Articles containing the keyword 'root rot'

A total of 146 Norway spruce-dominated clear-cutting areas and 140 of the sample plots included in the 7th National Forest Inventory in Finland were examined during 1974–78. The micro-organisms causing decay in Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) H. Karst.) sample trees were identified. The most common causal agent of butt-rot was Heterbasidion annosum (Fr.) Bref. Other fungi causing decay in the spruce trees were Armillaria mellea (Vahl.) Quél, Stereum sanguinolentum (Alb. & Schw. ex Fr.), Resinicum bicolor (Alb. & Schw. ex Fr.) Parm. and Climacocystis borealis (Fr.) Kotl. & Pouz. Species of Ascocoryne were very often present in the decay. The decay caused by H. annosum was considerably more extensive than cases of decay where the fungus was not present.

The PDF includes a summary in Finnish.

• Hallaksela, E-mail: ah@mm.unknown

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.

The PDF includes a summary in English.

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

Fomes annosus (Fr.) Cke. (now Heterobasidion annosum (s.str.)) has proved highly adaptable to varying conditions. Thus, the fungus is able to alter the pH as well as in alkalic as acid direction according to the original pH-grade. The fungus spreads mainly by basidiospores or by the sterile mycelium, but maybe also by the conidiospores. The fungus has spread through the temperate zone; in the tropical and sub-tropical zone it is found sporadically. There is a mention in the literature of at least 136 species in which it has been found. It is found in hardwoods but is most disastrous in conifers. The economic losses are considered biggest in England, Germany and Scandinavia.

The research has not been able to find a safe way to protect the trees growing on an infected site. The only way to limit the damage seems to be the use of mixed stands. Stump-protection has proved to be a relatively effective way to prevent the spread of the fungus to uninfected sites. The formerly used creosote has been mainly substituted by new chemicals, such as sodium nitrite. They act by altering the stump in a way that is favourable for antagonists to Fomes annosus, such as Trichoderma viride and Penicillium sp., or the recently presented Peniophora gigantea.

Although the fungus is found in many tree species, there is a difference in the relative resistance of different species. Among the conifers, the Abies-species (with exception of Abies grandis, A. alba and A. sachalienensis) are considered comparatively resistant. The species of Larix and Pseudotsuga are more resistant than those of Picea and Pinus.

The PDF includes a summary in English.

• Palmberg, E-mail: cp@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

Observatons of drying of Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) Karst.) stands increased in 1930s in Southern Finland. The aim of the study was to analyse the advance and causes of drying. The work was begun in 1930s before the Second World War, and the damages caused to the forests by the war was used as supplemental observations in the study. A special method, drying analysis, was developed to study the process. It was used both in cases of insect and fungal diseases in the four research areas in Raivola and Ruotsinkylä. In addition, 7 observation areas were studied.

Several causes for drying of the trees were observed in the Norway spruce stands. These included European spruce bark beetle (Dendroctonus micans), root rot (Heterobasidion annosum), pine weevils (Pissodes sp.), bark beetles and honey fungus (Armillaria mellea).

The role of primary and secondary causes for drying, resistance of the trees and the drying process are discussed. Finally, the influence of forest management in drying process is analysed. Forests in natural state can be considered to be in an ideal balance. On the other hand, forest management can be used to maintain the vitality and resistance of the forests. Drying of Norway spruce stands can be taken into consideration when the stands are managed.

The PDF includes a summary in German.

• Kangas, E-mail: ek@mm.unknown

The article presents the studies about antagonistic influence of insect pathogenic fungi Beauveria bassiana (Bals.) Vuill. and B. tenella (Delacr.) Siem. against root rot diseases. The experiments were conducted in laboratory where the fungi were grown in Petri dishes. The results show that these fungi are antagonistic with each other. The used stem of B. bassiana was proved as strongest antagonist against all studied F.annosus.

The PDF contains a summary in German. 

• Laine, E-mail: ll@mm.unknown
• Nuorteva, E-mail: mn@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

Pathogenic wood decay fungi such as species of Heterobasidion are some of the most serious forest pathogens in Europe, causing rot of tree boles and loss of growth, with estimated economic losses of eight hundred million euros per year. In conifers with low resinous heartwood such as species of Picea and Abies, these fungi are commonly confined to heartwood and thus external infection signs on the bark or foliage of trees are normally absent. Consequently, determining the extent of disease presence in a forest stand with field surveys is not practical for guiding forest management decisions such as optimal rotation time. Remote sensing technologies such as airborne laser scanning and aerial imagery are already used to reduce the reliance on fieldwork in forest inventories. This study aimed to use remote sensing to detect rot in spruce (Picea abies L. Karst.) forests in Norway. An airborne hyperspectral imager provided information for classifying the presence or absence of rot in a single-tree-based framework. Ground reference data showing the presence of rot were collected by harvest machine operators during the harvest of forest stands. Random forest and support vector machine algorithms were used to classify the presence and absence of rot. Results indicate a 64% overall classification accuracy for presence-absence classification of rot, although additional work remains to make the classifications usable for practical forest management.

• Allen, Faculty of Environmental Sciences and Natural Resource Management, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, P.O. Box 5003, NO-1432 Ås, Norway E-mail: benjamin.allen@nmbu.no
• Dalponte, Department of Sustainable Agro-ecosystems and Bioresources, Research and Innovation Centre, Fondazione E. Mach, Via E. Mach 1, 38098 San Michele all’Adige (TN), Italy E-mail: michele.dalponte@fmach.it
• Hietala, Norwegian Institute of Bioeconomy Research, Innocamp Steinkjer, Skolegata 22, NO-7713 Steinkjer, Norway E-mail: Ari.Hietala@nibio.no
• Ørka, Faculty of Environmental Sciences and Natural Resource Management, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, P.O. Box 5003, NO-1432 Ås, Norway E-mail: hans-ole.orka@nmbu.no
• Næsset, Faculty of Environmental Sciences and Natural Resource Management, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, P.O. Box 5003, NO-1432 Ås, Norway E-mail: erik.naesset@nmbu.no
• Gobakken, Faculty of Environmental Sciences and Natural Resource Management, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, P.O. Box 5003, NO-1432 Ås, Norway E-mail: terje.gobakken@nmbu.no

Five Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) progeny field trials, each established in different Lithuanian regions of provenance in 1983, were studied. Each progeny field trial consists of 140 half-sib families from seven populations (20 families from each population). The evaluation was carried out in 2012 and 2018 to assess the families resistance to Heterobasidion annosum (Fr.) Bref. An index of resistance in the infected plots was calculated. To verify the accuracy of the method, total phenolic compounds (TPC) was chosen as key parameter to compare with the plant resistance index. During the six years between the two assessments, the percentage of living Scots pine trees in the progeny field trials decreased up to 20 percentage points (range: 4 p.p. to 20 p.p.). In 2018 the area of H. annosum damaged plots (in percentage from total field trial area) varied from 17 to 27%. Tree mortality in the trial correlates with site soil fertility – more fertile soils were distinguished by higher tree percentage loss and vice versa. Using analysis from combined data of all progeny trials, the family variance component reached 13.3 ± 2.2% and family heritability was 0.81. Family heritability estimates for root rot resistance show possibilities of high breeding effectiveness. The correlations between the trials in family resistance estimates were negligible (ranging from 0 to 0.28). The significant high correlation coefficient was determined between the resistance index and TPC concentration (r = 0.77, p = 0.0003). This allows us to assume that plant resistance is directly linked on TPC synthesis. The results indicate that the chosen methods of chemical resistance for identification of root rot-resistant genotypes are applicable for the selection of Scots pine half-sib families in the field trials with higher resistance to pathogens.

• Marčiulynas, Institute of Forestry, Lithuanian Research Centre for Agriculture and Forestry, Liepų str. 1, LT-53101 Girionys, Kaunas District, Lithuania E-mail: adas.marciulynas@mi.lt
• Sirgedaitė-Šėžienė, Institute of Forestry, Lithuanian Research Centre for Agriculture and Forestry, Liepų str. 1, LT-53101 Girionys, Kaunas District, Lithuania E-mail: vaida.seziene@mi.lt
• Žemaitis, Institute of Forestry, Lithuanian Research Centre for Agriculture and Forestry, Liepų str. 1, LT-53101 Girionys, Kaunas District, Lithuania E-mail: povilas.zemaitis@mi.lt
• Jansons, Latvian State Forest Research Institute “Silava”, Department of Forest Tree Breeding, Rigas St.t. 111, Salaspils LV-2169, Latvia E-mail: aris.jansons@silava.lv
• Baliuckas, Institute of Forestry, Lithuanian Research Centre for Agriculture and Forestry, Liepų str. 1, LT-53101 Girionys, Kaunas District, Lithuania E-mail: virgilijus.baliuckas@mi.lt

In the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula, Phytophthora cinnamomi Rands is causing irreversible damage to populations of the two most common species of Quercus, the holm oak (Quercus ilex L.) and the cork oak (Quercus suber L.). Although the symptoms are similar in the two species, the mortality rates are different. We found significant differences in the post-infection growth of the root system as a function of tree species, as well as initial plant size, and inoculum level. We observed a marked decrease in the growth of new roots in Q. ilex with increasing inoculum level, while in Q. suber, we found longer but thinner roots with a moderate inoculum level. In both species, we observed a worsening in the water status of the plants from the lowest inoculum level.

• León, University of Huelva, Agroforestry department, Calle Dr. Cantero Cuadrado, 6, 21004 Huelva, Spain E-mail: isabel.leon@dcaf.uhu.es
• García, University of Huelva, Agroforestry department, Calle Dr. Cantero Cuadrado, 6, 21004 Huelva, Spain E-mail: juanjose.garcia@dcaf.uhu.es
• Fernández, University of Huelva, Agroforestry department, Calle Dr. Cantero Cuadrado, 6, 21004 Huelva, Spain E-mail: nonoe@uhu.es
• Vázquez-Piqué, University of Huelva, Agroforestry department, Calle Dr. Cantero Cuadrado, 6, 21004 Huelva, Spain E-mail: jpique@dcaf.uhu.es
• Tapias, University of Huelva, Agroforestry department, Calle Dr. Cantero Cuadrado, 6, 21004 Huelva, Spain E-mail: rtapias@uhu.es

• Kurkela, Finnish Forest Research Institute, P.O. Box 18, FIN-01301 Vantaa, Finland E-mail: timo.kurkela@metla.fi

• Rönnberg, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Southern Swedish Forest Research Centre, P.O. Box 49, SE-230 53 Alnarp, Sweden E-mail: jonas.ronnberg@ess.slu.se