Pine Fungal Diseases and Their Management in Public and Private Nurseries

Abstract

Concerns over the health of trees in the Europe has increased dramatically in recent years with the appearance of several emerging fungal pathogens previously unknown in the European countries which can affect growth and cause mortality of many trees species. Public urban green spaces (parks, forests, green roofs and community gardens) have played an important role in reducing the level of pollutions and creating the better living conditions for people. A good management at private and public nurseries is important to ensure growth of good quality plants. Nursery managers are responsible for the day-to-day operations of a nursery. In the present study, we have established questionnaire to analyze and evaluate information from managers responsible for forests containing a substantial component of pines in their mix of tree species. The key questions were related with the susceptibility of pine to Dothistroma septosporum and Lecanosticta acicola pathogens and knowledge about how they spread. These fungal pathogens cause needle necrosis and premature needle loss, resulting in substantial growth loss. In February of 2017, the 32 public and private land managers were interviewed. The analysis of questionnaire answers shows that Pinus sylvestris, Pinus mugo, Pinus nigra are the main pine species grown in Lithuania. The respondents indicated Pinus strobus and Pinus ponderosa pine species as having the lowest resistance for fungal diseases. Some nurseries are imported pines seeds and seedlings in Lithuania from the southern and central parts of Europe. Pines growing in Lithuania are exported to the northern, eastern, southern and western European countries. This is the potential disease pathways. Respondents’ answers demonstrated that a lot of private and public nurseries have not enough knowledge about fungal diseases (their spread, plant susceptibility, and etc.).[...]