Sent at the request of Nancy Taylor, Ohio State diagnostician. Please reply directly to Nancy.
Thanks!
Enrico
Pierluigi (Enrico) Bonello, Professor
Dept. of Plant Pathology
The Ohio State University
Tel: (614) 688-5401
http://plantpath.osu.edu/bonello - http://esgp.osu.edu/ - http://cmib.osu.edu - http://caps.osu.edu
Would you like to support my program to foster research on woody plant health with a tax-deductible charitable donation? Pleaseclick here<https://www.giveto.osu.edu/igive/onlinegiving/search_results.aspx?fundnum=3…>
From: <Taylor>, nancy <taylor.8(a)osu.edu<mailto:taylor.8@osu.edu>>
Date: Tuesday, November 6, 2012 2:34 PM
To: Enrico Bonello <bonello.2(a)osu.edu<mailto:bonello.2@osu.edu>>
Subject: Fungus on Spruce Needles, help ID?
>From Nancy J. Taylor, Ohio State University diagnostician, taylor.8(a)osu.edu<mailto:taylor.8@osu.edu>
This is from a spruce, not a blue spruce, I think it is Norway. I saw this last year but since I'm seeing it again this year I thought I would ask if anyone recognizes? The browning needles are predominately older needles, 4+ years, but there are a few younger needles also showing symptoms. 2012 needles not affected.
Upon initial examination the needles showed what looked like banding. These fruiting structures are very distinct, the spores are pretty unremarkable. I've included 40X and 100X images of the spores. Initially I thought this might be one of the spore stages of Phyllosticta but the spores do not have the barbell shape I associate with Phyllosticta. Please ignore the moldy fungi; this has been incubating a few days.
Anyone seen this? Or more importantly, know what this is?
We had a severe drought in Ohio in 2013, I do wonder if this is an endophyte on senescent needles.
Nancy J. Taylor
C. Wayne Ellett Plant & Pest Diagnostic Clinic
Ohio State University
8995 E. Main St., Bldg. 23
Reynoldsburg, OH 43068
614-403-1640
taylor.8(a)osu.edu<mailto:taylor.8@osu.edu>
http://ppdc.osu.edu<http://ppdc.osu.edu/>
Dear colleagues,
A 2-years postdoctoral position is available at INRA
(http://www.international.inra.fr/) in Nancy, France, starting from
March 2013. The research proposal is focused on the study of the
adaptation of the poplar rust fungus (/Melampsora larici-populina/) to
the poplar varietal landscape. Our goal is to integrate approaches of
population genetics, landscape epidemiology and evolution of life
history traits of the poplar rust fungus in order to: (i) identify
genetic signatures of adaptation of the pathogen's populations to the
poplar varietal landscape; and (ii) assess the ability of the pathogen
to adapt to quantitative resistances (see details in the attached file).
Candidates should have a good background in ecology, evolutionary
biology, and population genetics. Knowledge of host -- parasite
interactions, especially plant pathology, is not mandatory but would be
appreciated.
The postdoctoral position will be funded by the INRA Metaprogramme SMaCH
(Sustainable Management of Crop Health) and AgreenSkills. The selected
candidate(s) and the hosting lab will build a detailed research project,
which will subsequently be evaluated by AgreenSkills. The AgreenSkills
eligibility requirements and selection procedure are detailed at
http://www.agreenskills.eu/
<http://www.agreenskills.eu/agreenskills-cms/> Applicants should send a
letter of interest and a CV, including the names and contact details of
two or three referees, to Pascal Frey (frey(a)nancy.inra.fr
<mailto:frey@nancy.inra.fr>) before November 1^st 2012 (deadline for
application at AgreenSkills November 15^th 2012).
If you know of anyone who might be a good fit for this position please
pass on this information to him or her. Thank you. Apologies for cross
postings.
Best regards,
Pascal
----
Dr Pascal FREY
INRA, University of Lorraine
Forest Pathology Group
UMR1136 "Tree - Microbe Interactions"
F-54280 Champenoux
FRANCE
Phone: 33 383 394 056
Fax: 33 383 394 069
E-mail: frey(a)nancy.inra.fr
http://mycor.nancy.inra.fr/EFPFteam/?page_id=26
The Missouri Department of Conservation is hiring a forest health specialist in the Forest Health Program (Columbia, Missouri, USA) to support the forest pathologist and forest entomologist. Specific duties and responsibilities will be dependent on the skills of the successful applicant but would include insect and disease diagnostics, coordinating gypsy moth and other forest health survey activities, GIS mapping, and assisting with outreach efforts. We encourage candidates with a background in plant pathology, entomology, plant biology, forestry, or closely related natural resource degree and GIS work experience to apply. Training and experience gained in the position would prepare the selected candidate to continue in this position or move to advanced forest health positions. Closing date for applications is October 31, 2012.
For more information see: Resource Forester Assistant, Columbia (Job Number 2012-070) at: https://mdc5.mdc.mo.gov/recruitment/Recruitment.aspx?strRoute
---------------------------------------------------
Simeon Wright
Forest Pathologist
Tel. 573-815-7901, ext 3947
Simeon.Wright(a)mdc.mo.gov<mailto:Simeon.Wright@mdc.mo.gov>
Rob Lawrence
Forest Entomologist
Tel. 573-815-7901, ext 3946
Rob.Lawrence(a)mdc.mo.gov<mailto:Rob.Lawrence@mdc.mo.gov>
Missouri Dept. of Conservation
3500 East Gans Road
Columbia, MO 65201
---------------------------------------------------
Dear All,
The August 2012 edition of the Div 7.02.00 Pathology Newsletter has been posted to the IUFRO website. It contains the following articles:
Message from the Coordinator
Congratulations Jolanda
XXIV World Congress
Proceedings Published
IUFRO - FORNESSA Congress in Nairobi
Communication of Forest Pathology Issues to a Broad Audience
Position Announcement
Forest Invasive Species Network for Africa (FISNA)
Upcoming Meetings
IUFRO Spotlight
Enjoy, and if you would like to add something to the next newsletter, please send an e-mail to either Jolanda or I.
The August 2012 newsletter can be downloaded directly from here:
http://www.iufro.org/download/file/8887/2759/nl70200-120801_pdf/
The August 2012 and past issues are available here:
http://www.iufro.org/science/divisions/division-7/70000/70200/newsletters/
All the best, Tod and Jolanda
Tod Ramsfield, PhD
Research Scientist Forest Pathology | Chercheur, Pathologie forestière
Natural Resources Canada | Ressources naturelles Canada
Canadian Forest Service | Service canadien des forêts
Northern Forestry Centre | Centre de foresterie du nord
5320 122 Street
Edmonton, Alberta T6H 3S5
Canada
Tel : (780) 435 - 7394 Fax : (780) 435 - 7359
Email : Tod.Ramsfield(a)nrcan-rncan.gc.ca
Jolanda Roux (PhD)
Professor
DST/NRF Centre of Excellence in Tree Health Biotechnology (CTHB)
Tree Protection Co-operative Programme (TPCP)
Forestry and Agricultural Biotechnology Institute (FABI)
University of Pretoria
Pretoria
South Africa
Tel: 012 420 3938/9
Cellular: 0829093202
Email: jolanda.roux(a)fabi.up.ac.za<mailto:jolanda.roux@fabi.up.ac.za>
KEEPING TREES HEALTHY
POSTAL ADDRESS
FABI
Private bag X20
Hatfield, Pretoria
0028, South Africa
ADDRESS FOR PHYSICAL DELIVERIES
FABI, University of Pretoria, Cnr. of Lynnwood and University Rds, Hatfield, Pretoria, 0083, South Africa
Dear colleagues,
We have a position available in Rotorua for an experienced Forest Pathologist who will undertake a wide range of tasks including diagnosis, risk analysis, initiating field trials and contributing to the development of our pathology research programme. Please forward to anyone who you think may be interested and is not on this list.
https://scionresearch.careercentre.net.nz/Job/Forest-Pathologist/Rotorua/14…
Best regards, Lindsay
Lindsay Bulman
Science Leader
Forest Protection
http://www.scionresearch.com/research/forest-science/biosecurity
DDI: 07 343 5533
Fax: 07 343 5507
49 Sala Street
Private Bag 3020, Rotorua 3046
New Zealand
[cid:image001.jpg@01CD5ACC.72B33DB0]<http://www.scionresearch.com/>
________________________________
This e-mail and any attachments may contain information which is confidential or subject to copyright. If you receive this e-mail in error, please delete it.
Scion does not accept responsibility for anything in this e-mail which is not provided in the course of Scion's usual business or for any computer virus, data corruption, interference or delay arising from this e-mail.
Dear all!
Please note a vacant position in the Finnish Forest Research Institute. It will be filled from September 3rd, 2012 in
Suonenjoki Unit<http://www.metla.fi/su/>, Juntintie 154, 77600 Suonenjoki, Finland.
http://mesi.metla.fi/metti/ilm_tyopaikatmetla/2042/haku-138-astiapply-by-13…
The researcher to be hired will work on problems related to alien forest pathogens and tree diseases in forest nurseries. He/she is expected to produce scientific data on tree diseases to be used in evaluating the risks they cause to the Finnish forestry, and to solve practical problems associated with pathogens in forest nurseries. The researcher will also disseminate new scientific knowledge to practical forest nurseries.
We expect the hired researcher to have a doctoral degree in a relevant field for the position. In order to succesfully manage the job, balanced many-sided skills in the modern forest pathology research are needed, and an overall control of research process is necessary. Also good social skills are needed.
In addition to normal scientific criteria, we appreciate experience in working with practical forest nurseries as well as experience on international scientific networks.
The salary will be based on the level 11 of the Metla payroll system, composed of basic salary (3612.61 euros) and personal increment based on the succesfulness of the employee in his/her job.
The deadline will be August 13, 2012 at 16.00 Finnish time.
The applications are expected to the electric recruitment system<http://www.valtiolle.fi/valtiolle/fi/index.jsp>, but applications may also be sent to
Metsäntutkimuslaitos
PL 18/ Jokiniemenkuja
01301 Vantaa
Finland
Please include both in the application itself and on the envelope identifier "työavain 400-132-12"
Further information
Professor Jarkko Hantula<http://www.metla.fi/pp/JHan/>, p. +358 29 532 5419, +358 40 801 5419
The 5th Sudden Oak Death Science Symposium is next week, June 19 to 22, 2012!
For those of you who aren’t able to attend the conference in person, we will be providing a live video stream of the indoor talks on our UStream channel : http://www.ustream.tv/channel/fifth-sudden-oak-death-science-symposium.
In conjunction with the talks, we will also have a live chat and blog with real-time summaries and discussions.
You can check out the link now and find it again on our conference page (http://ucanr.org/sites/sod5/) when video streaming begins on Wednesday, June 20 and Thursday, June 21 from approximately 8:00 am to 5:15 pm, Pacific Daylight Time.
Please forward this message to anyone that might be interested.
Regards, Susan
Susan J. Frankel
Biologist, Sudden Oak Death Research
Urban Ecosystems and Social Dynamics Program
USDA-Forest Service, Pacific Southwest Research Station
Mailing address:
PO Box 245
Berkeley, CA 94701
Street address:
800 Buchanan Street, West Annex Building,
Albany, CA 94710-0011
Phone: 510-559-6472 FAX :510-559-6440
sfrankel(a)fs.fed.us
This electronic message contains information generated by the USDA solely for the intended recipients. Any unauthorized interception of this message or the use or disclosure of the information it contains may violate the law and subject the violator to civil or criminal penalties. If you believe you have received this message in error, please notify the sender and delete the email immediately.
Dear FORENT, FORPATH and FORCLIMAIR subscribers,
First, let me apologize for cluttering the inboxes of those of you not interested in IUFRO matters. I know these lists are well-used for other useful stuff, so if you are not interested in IUFRO you might want to delete this message right now...
To my IUFRO colleagues, I want to share some information about a shift in leadership that we anticipate here in Division 7, "Forest Health". I was honored to be selected to serve as coordinator of Division 7 and in August, 2010 I started my term in that position. However 9 months later I was notified by my employer, the USDA Forest Service that I must resign because USDA "ethics" officers revoked their approval and decided that my service in this role was "unethical" stating it would amount to an implicit endorsement of IUFRO by the USDA Forest Service. Personally, I disagreed with their assessment but I did not receive support for my service in IUFRO from US Forest Service headquarters and they insisted that I resign. We anticipated that this rule would be relaxed, but after over 1 year of waiting, that has not happened so among IUFRO leaders, we decided that the Division 7 coordinator position should not remain empty any longer.
It turns out that there is a very happy solution to this story, namely Dr. Ecki Brockerhoff from Scion (Forest Research Institute), New Zealand has agreed to take on the Division 7 coordinator position. Ecki is currently coordinator of IUFRO Research Group 7.03 "Entomology" and if Ecki's nomination is approved later this month by the IUFRO Board (I anticipate this will be the case), then he will become the new Division 7 coordinator, and I will switch back into Ecki's position as coordinator of Research Group 7.03. I'm sure many of you know Ecki and agree that he will make an excellent Division coordinator. Personally, I'm thrilled that he can do this.
I apologize for any confusion that this episode may have created. It is a source of personal embarrassment and it certainly does not make me proud of the USDA Forest Service. I want to thank all of the great people I've had a chance to work with during my very brief stint as Division Coordinator and I'm looking forward with great excitement to returning to serve as Entomology Research Group leader. Thanks!
-Sandy
--
Andrew Liebhold http://sandyliebhold.com
Northern Research Station 304-285-1512
USDA Forest Service 304-285-1505 FAX
180 Canfield St. 724-317-8668 mobile
Morgantown, WV 26505 USA
This electronic message contains information generated by the USDA solely for the intended recipients. Any unauthorized interception of this message or the use or disclosure of the information it contains may violate the law and subject the violator to civil or criminal penalties. If you believe you have received this message in error, please notify the sender and delete the email immediately.
Hi Forpathers,
Thanks to everyone for your helpful -- and diverse! -- responses to how best to handle treating tree cores to prevent spreading decay. As suggested, I've removed the identifying information and combined the answers here as a compiled reference for all. The responses are from Jim Worrall, Dave Houston, Matteo Garbelotto, Brian Geils, Kevin Smith, Martin MacKenzie, Linda Chalker-Scott.
I'm afraid the clear message is that there is still not a clear message for how to handle this. We'll do our best in this project to follow impacts and report back what we find.
Thanks to all!
Greg Gilbet
***************************************************
Below are some references, and of course there are lots more. The evidence does suggest that wound treatments/disinfectants are likely to be ineffective or harmful.
Although foresters often replace cores after examining them, with the idea it will prevent entry of insects and pathogens, at least one paper has shown that plugs are deleterious. That makes sense because they may interfere with wound closure at the cambium, prevent drying, and provide substrate for buildup of inoculum in the hole before invading the wound.
I’m not aware of a paper showing that sterilization of borers and bark surface reduces infection, but it can’t hurt. Carrying bits of infected wood from one tree to another certainly provides more inoculum potential than a spore. If there is concern by managers, it seems a logical thing to do.
One paper in the list below (Weber) concludes that boring into a decay column does not result in long-term expansion of the decay column, but of course that could vary with tree species.
Unfortunately, there are lots of published examples of increment borer wounds leading to disease, so it is difficult to assure people that it won’t.
Berry FH. 1978. Decay associated with borer wounds in living oaks. Broomall, PA. Research Note NE-268. 2 p.
Clark FB. 1966. Notes and observations: Increment borers cause serious degrade in black walnut. Journal of Forestry 64(12):814-814.
Dujesiefken D, Rhaesa A, Eckstein D, Stobbe H. 1999. Tree wound reactions of differently treated boreholes. Journal of Arboriculture 25(3):113-123.
Hepting GH, Roth ER, Sleeth B. 1949. Discolorations and decay from increment borings. Journal of Forestry 47(5):366-370.
Houston DR. 1971. Discoloration and decay in red maple and yellow birch: reduction through wound treatment. Forest Science 17(4):402-406.
Kessler KJ, Jr. 1974. An apparent symbiosis between Fusarium fungi and ambrosia beetles causes canker on black walnut stems. Plant Disease Reporter 58(11):1044-1047.
Lorenz RC. 1944. Discolorations and decay resulting from increment borings in hardwoods. Journal of Forestry 42(1):37-43.
McQuilkin WE. 1950. Effects of some growth regulators and dressings on the healing of tree wounds. Journal of Forestry 48(9):423-428.
Weber K, Mattheck C. 2006. The effects of excessive drilling diagnosis on decay propagation in trees. Trees - Structure and Function 20(2):224-228.
You may have found this study that quantifies, for one tree species, the efficiency of decay detection by this method.
Stenlid J, Wästerlund I. 1986. Estimating the frequency of stem rot in Picea abies using an increment borer. Scandinavian Journal of Forest Research 1(1-4):303-308.
**************************
Gregory, for what it is worth, you might check out an ancient pub. of mine that looked at what happened to yellow birch and red maple increment borer wounds treated with various substances. The upshot was that discoloration and decay readily occurred if nothing was done to the wounds, and that various chemicals affected the extent of these consequences in different ways in the different species. The substances which reduced discoloration and decay the most were those that blocked the entrance of air and which had little to no effect on wound closure.
(Houston, D.R. 1971. “Discoloration and Decay in red maple and yellow birch: reduction through wound treatment”, Forest Science 17 (4): 402-406.)
*****************************
the main issues arise when the hole is freshly drilled. An
application of a fungicide without tarring or sealing will ensure
most fungi will not take hold for a few days while allowing the wound
to dry. A dry wound is much less susceptible and you will get , as
you know, a few decay fungi that may use it as infection court, but
overall not many.
I suggest apply a fungicide after you drill the hole and do not seal.
*****************************
I am not the source for information to address your question, but I can make to suggestions. 1) the USDA Forest Service Forest Products Lab at Madison, WI and 2) the Tree Ring Lab at the University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ. I don’t know who at either place would be the best contact, but that knowledgeable person may not be on the Forpath list.
*********************************
This topic is frequently discussed and occasionally even directly investigated by the dendrochronology community. You might want to search the archives of the International Tree Ring Database Forum for past discussions and references. The forum and its archives are linked to: <http://web.utk.edu/~grissino/forum.htm>.
I give the above reference to past discussions on the topic because there are definitely different points of view.
Here is my point of view as a pathologist and dendrochronologist that occasionally dissects trees with deep wound caused by increment borers:
1. How important is the information to be gained? Obviously, this is a judgment call. I discourage increment boring as a class project. It can provide information useful to forest research and management. For me, the choice is less about comparing the effects of increment boring to no injury and more about comparing the relative value of collecting increment cores versus stem disks.
2. Less injury results from coring healthy, vigorous trees than declining trees. Reduced injury results from better compartmentalization of infection and decay on the inside and more rapid closure of the wound.
3. Do not treat the borer wound. Disinfection even if possible would last only a very brief time. Disinfecting agents (bleach, alcohol, etc.) will kill living wood, bark, and cambial cells near the wound. There is likely no value in plugging the hole with dowels, wax, etc. That can obstruct closure of the wound by the formation of new wood.
4. Use sharp tools, both to save your back and shoulders (or motorized power head) and to provide a cleanly cut wound.
5. Disinfection of the borer between trees is likely not necessary *except* with a small set of diseases such as, perhaps, fire blight. There are lots of differences of opinion here. My view is that inoculum of wood-inhabiting fungi is ubiquitous, particularly the insect-vectored sort, so host response is more important than pathogen exclusion.
6. Keep in mind that boring may release previously compartmentalized, well-develop decay infections in the core of the tree that can then be released by mechanically breaching that boundary with the borer.
I have a few citations associated with the above (and a picture of #6) in my article at http://nrs.fs.fed.us/pubs/9076.
*************************
As I have been asked the same question more than once, and still do not have an answer I would be interested in what you find out. Can I ask you to compile the responses you get and send it to all of those who respond. In the past when I have used this mailing list , I made a compiled response removed all identifying E-mail addresses and sent the compilation to all who responded. This way each respondent can recognize her/is response and see what unnamed others thought.
My thoughts are. (!) slight down slope on core to prevent filling with water.
(!!) fill hole with a non-biodegradable plastic core, cut flush with the surface. Rationale, as hardwood will seal over the hole eventually and the circular closing of callus tissue from opposite sides will conflict at the centre. Fill the hole with inert sterile plastic rod and we get that conflict in the first year of growth. So all we have bought with the plug is that the hole is sealed over at time zero. But then again if the tree’s natural growth rate is such that the hole would be closed in one growing season would we gain anything?
(!!!) Document your results on subsequent decay and publish it so that others who have to subsequently have to answer the same question have a substantiated source to quote.
******************
Attached is a summary put together by John Pronos, retired Plant Pathologist with USDA Forest Service Forest Health Protection (California). It does not address tropical trees but has been helpful over the years for answering this question.
********************
Like you, I’ve not found a lot on what, if anything, to do with the holes from coring. My inclination would be to treat the corer like we do pruning tools – sterilize with Lysol or some similar household disinfectant (not bleach!), let dry, then core. The argument would be that pruning like coring can introduce pathogens, but sterilized tools all but negate that possibility. Pruning wounds also take longer to seal and open up more living tissue than corers do. For your project, it would be especially important since your core samples will likely be contaminated with fungi.
*************************************************************************************************************************
Gregory S. Gilbert, Ph.D. Director, SCWIBLES GK-12 Training Program
Professor and Pepper-Giberson Chair tel: (831) 459-5002 http://scwibles.ucsc.edu
Environmental Studies fax: (831) 459-4015 Co-Director, CenTREAD
1156 High St. ggilbert(a)ucsc.edu http://centread.ucsc.edu
University of California Research Group
Santa Cruz, CA 95064, USA http://people.ucsc.edu/~ggilbert
Si no usas la cabeza, alguien por ti la va a abusar. Rubén Blades
*************************************************************************************************************************
Office hours Spring: Wednesday 2:00-3:30; Friday 9:00-10:30 in 439 ISB
Responses regarding the orange-stained white pine query I posted last week.
Thank you to all who responded!
Most of the people who weighed in felt that this could be "red heart," or "red ring rot," caused by early stages of infection by Porodaedalea (Phellinus, Fomes) pini.
A few others suggest that the coloration is not necessarily caused by an infectious agent, but is rather just something peculiar to white pines, or perhaps associated with wet sites, slow growth, or suppression.
I will try to culture out of some of the colored wood, onto media selective for Hymenomycetes (thank you to Nick Brazee for media recipes).
All the responses follow.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hi Bob, how about something simple like red heart caused by Phellinus pini? - Kevin T. Smith, Ph.D., USDA Forest Service
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hi Bob: Just saw your FORPATH posting on the white pine problem.
From the looks of it, I think it could be the start of red ring rot caused by Phellinus pini (Fomes pini). The early stage of discoloration varies a bit from reddish to pinkish before the wood is severely decayed (real soft). The fruiting bodies of the fungus come out below old branch stubs....you might also see some pitch flows from branch stubs ...an early symptom of the disease. The fungus attacks many conifer species but in our area older growth white pines are commonly diseased....the cross section of the stem you provided appears to be quite old and slow growing due to no thinning in the
past....also, a stress on the trees and to the advantage of P. pini.
That would be my best guess without seeing the trees and poking around a bit. Hope this helps...let me know what others think. Hope all is well. Have a good day and greet those I know. - Dale R. Bergdahl
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The color, and the pattern in the lower picture, are the same as red ring rot caused by Phellinus pini (or whatever the correct name is at the moment). I don't see any of the white pocket rot you usually get with more advanced infection. Although this fungus is famous for infecting through branch stubs, it is happy to take advantage of wounds, as in the small cookie. - Barbara Burns, Vermont Department of Forests, Parks, & Recreation.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I have seen the orange wood in a local woodlot, and foresters refer to it as "pumpkin wood". There is no apparent relation to infectious disease or tree health. The coloration just seems to be peculiar to white pine in certain stands and locations. - Bill Livingston
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
If this is from a butt disk the most likely explanation is the tree is infected with Tomentosus root disease (TRD) caused by Inonotus tomentosus. This is a very characteristic stain pattern, associated with this root disease, which is expressed, up the stem from the roots, well in advance of any signs of fungal degradation. In the advanced stages of decay this fungus causes a very distinct type of pocket rot (see stump image). This a serious root disease most often associated with Picea spp causing stand opening disease, but also affecting other conifer spp. Pinus, Abies, Larix, Thuja, Tsuga. Where I. tomentosus infects the root system this can easily explain the dieback and decline in the stand. Most infection takes place underground through root grafting between infected and healthy roots. Roots systems of stressed trees are susceptible to infection as they cannot wall off the fungus penetration from an infected adjacent root, often resulting in disease/mortality centres and eventual stand openings. Visible signs (fruiting bodies) of the disease are evident only in the late fall, on the ground sprouting along infected roots and sometimes present at the root collar of severely infect trees (see fruiting body images). Some of these fruiting bodies may still be evident in the stand now, but will deteriorate relatively quickly once the weather warms up as this is an annual leather type fruiting body. - Gary Warren, PhD , Canadian Forest Service
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In Boyce, reads : The heartwood of sugar, western white, and eastern white pines often becomes a pink, light-red or vinousred color on dying. Have you observed the presence of the fungus Porodaedalea pini (Fomes pini) that cause Red ring rot? - Guy Bussières
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I asked a recent PhD grad who did a lot of research on EWP (Dr. Philip Marshall). Here is what he said: "Yes I have seen this a number of times, especially in trees from wetland sites. It seems to be associated with suppression/stagnation/slow growth, and the color is from an accumulation of resins in the wood (so there may be a stress response involved). " - Ann Camp
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It is hard to tell for sure using photos but what caught my eye was the beginnings of a ring pattern just inside the sapwood region and that is quite common....with ref ring rot. Anyway, good to hear about the other comments and that Kevin agrees with me...I guess.... Wasn't aware of the name change again...that makes 3 scientific names during my career. Looking forward to hearing more comments...once you get them all maybe provide a brief summary and send to FORPATH. Hope all is well. - Dale R Bergdahl
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Below is my explanation for "pumpkin pine" sent to Karen Bennett, Extension Forestry Professor and Specialist, University of New Hampshire, Durham, 9 April 2012, in response to her question about its cause.
A whole range of colors occur in columns of wound-initiated discoloration during the early pre-symptomatic stage of decay in white pine. For example, early stages of decay by Phellinus pini is often called "red heart". The color that is caused by oxidation of phenolic extractives of heartwood and can vary with pH. Pioneer bacterial associates of decay fungi can make wood more basic if the oxygen content of wood is low because they feed on proteins and produce ammonia, and more acidic at high oxygen content because they feed on carbohydrates. Pioneer fungi associated with early wood decay can grow as budding spores and may produce pigments of their own depending on pH and trace metal content. Once the oxygen content increases near the open wound as exposed wood dries, the decay fungi begin to actively decompose wood to produce typical symptoms of decay such as the white pocket rot of P. pini and then spread through the discolored wood over time from years to decades. The size and shape of the discoloration stage proceeding symptomatic decay varies with the number and size of woods exposing wood to infection. The loss of branches leaves a stub wound that exposes the central portion of the tree to aeration and infection; the loss of bark yields a scar wound that exposes sapwood and live inner bark to dehydration, aeration and infection. Color variations depend on complex interactions of phenolic compounds produced by the tree, the degree of dehydration and aeration, the types of pioneer bacteria and fungi associated with the decay pathogen which colonizes the exposed live, dying, and dead wood. Some decay pathogens like P. pini attack and kill live outer sapwood and inner bark causing a canker that continues to expose live tissue, other pathogens can attack only sapwood, but not inner bark, and yet other non-pathogenic fungi attack only dead heartwood. The living sapwood and inner bark is protected to varying degrees by compartmentalization, the protective system in tree which varies genetically and with environmental conditions. Trees with poor compartmentalization have larger columns than those with strong compartmentalization. The light brown pine boards with unusual yellowish-golden or reddish brown hues known in the trade as "pumpkin pine" is likely found only in larger, older trees because it takes time for large columns to develop in the heart of trees likely exposed by smaller stub wounds keeping the oxygen content relatively low so decay will not spread quickly through the discolored wood. The same colors can be seen in association with lots of smaller columns in smaller, younger trees, and occur as isolated patches in boards cut from them. It is easy to imagine red heart altered to the colors of pumpkin pine by adjusting the pH and perhaps the trace metal content during the early stage of decay when pioneer bacteria and fungi are active before advanced decay begins. So there is my explanation of pumpkin pine. - Walter Shortle
Robert E. Marra, Ph.D.
Forest Pathologist
Department of Plant Pathology and Ecology
Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station
123 Huntington Street, P.O. Box 1106
New Haven CT 06504-1106
http://www.ct.gov/caes/cwp/view.asp?a=2812&q=394858
E-mail: robert.marra(a)ct.gov<mailto:robert.marra@ct.gov<mailto:robert.marra@ct.gov%3cmailto:robert.marra@ct.gov>>
Phone: (203) 974-8508
Fax: (203) 974-8502
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