The black cottonwood, Populus balsamifera, native to the northwestern United States and western Canada are under a new threat from a deadly fungal disease. The black cottonwoods along coastal British Columbia are integral to the ecosystem; they provide habitat and forage for wildlife, prevent erosion and improve water quality, however, unless researchers can determine a…
Collaborative research conducted by scientists from U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) and scientists from the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry (ESF), funded by the American Chestnut Foundation has found that the addition of a gene from a wheat variety to the American Chestnut’s genome produces increased resistance…
Oak wilt is a tree disease affecting oak trees caused by the fungus Ceratocystic fagacearum. The disease has been found in 21 states causing the most damage in the midwest. It was first found in Wisconsin in 1944 where localized pockets of mortality were found; nearly half the oaks an area of less than…
Thousand Canker Disease (TCD) is the result of a tiny bark beetle which burrows in the bark and creates large and multitudinous galleries, making these trees susceptible to fungal disease and canker formation by creating an entry point in the bark. TCD earned its name from the huge number of cankers associated with dead limbs and…
The quaking or trembling aspen (Populus tremuloides) is one of the most widely distributed tree species in North America. Its range extends from New England through the lakes states to the Rocky Mountains and throughout much of Canada, however they are susceptible to tree diseases, pathogens and pests across their range. Although the pathogens that cause…
White pine (Pinus strobus) is a critical member of eastern forests, ecologically and economically. There are currently 3 tree diseases threatening the health and sustainability of white pine co-dominant forest systems. The first affliction facing white pines is white pine blister rust (WPBR); introduced in the 1900s this disease continues to seriously threaten forest and…
Eastern spruce dwarf mistletoe, Arceuthobium pusillum, is a flowering plant which parasitizes black spruce, Picea mariana, and is the causal agent of its most serious disease. This parasite enjoys a broad range, thriving throughout the southern Canadian provinces, from Minnesota east to Maine and south to Pennsylvania. However, it is rarely found in New Jersey,…
Apple Proliferation Phytoplasma (APP) is a bacterial disease affecting mostly apples although pear trees with proliferation symptoms have been identified, but it has not been positively confirmed that they are suffering from APP. Apple cultivars seem to vary in terms of the degree of their reaction to the disease, Belle de Boskoop, Gravenstein, Starking, Golden Delicious and…
In 2012, China’s General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (AQSIQ) suspended importation of apples produced in Washington State due to repeated incursion of diseases. The red and golden delicious apples purchased were afflicted with Sphaeropsis rot, bull’s-eye rot and speck rot. It wasn’t until this year, just last month, after intensive work with the…
Plum Pox Virus (PPV) is a pathogen with the potential to devastate populations of peach, plum and other stone fruit trees. The United States and Canada maintain strict protocols and implement zero tolerance regarding discoveries of PPV in any nurseries or orchards. Aggressive and effective, but costly, eradication efforts have taken place in Pennsylvania, New…
