Chapter 5. Damage, effects, and importance of dwarf mistletoes

Abstract

All dwarf mistletoes are parasites that extract water, nutrients, and carbohydrates from the infected host; they are also pathogens that alter host physiology and morphology (Gill and Hawksworth 1961, Hawksworth and Wiens 1996). Disease or direct effects are reductions in diameter and height increment, survival, reproduction, and quality; witches’ brooms are formed in many pathosystems (Knutson and Tinnin 1980). Where dwarf mistletoe populations develop significant, long-term infestations, cumulative tree damages have various ecological and evolutionary effects. Depending on management objectives and priorities, these effects are interpreted as positive, negative, or usually of mixed consequences.

Parent Publication

• Mistletoes of North American conifers

Citation

Geils, B. W.; Hawksworth, F. G. 2002. Chapter 5. Damage, effects, and importance of dwarf mistletoes. In: Geils, Brian W.; Cibrián Tovar, Jose; Moody, Benjamin, tech. coords. Mistletoes of North American Conifers. Gen. Tech. Rep. RMRS-GTR-98. Ogden, UT: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station. p. 57-65