Interactions between western gall rust and its Pinus hosts, P. jeffreyi and P. contorta, in Sierra De San Pedro Martir National Park, Northern Baja California, Mexico

Abstract

The Sierra de San Pedro Martir is a mountain range in north-central Baja that comprises the southern-most extension of the Californian coniferous flora, including Pinus jeffreyi, P. contorta, P. lambertiana, Abies concolor, and Calocedrus decurrens. These forests are similar to those in the State of California, with many of the same pathogens present in both the U.S. and Mexico. In the western U.S., attempts to understand the historic roles that pathogens played in forest development and sustainability have been frustrated by more than a century of fire control and logging. The latter have so altered the ecological context that it is difficult to assess the roles of pathogens as other than pests that cause economic and aesthetic damage. Thus, we can only guess at the pristine state of most western U.S. forests, and are obliged to speculate about the abundance and diversity of pathogens before fire control and logging so dramatically transformed the landscape.

Citation

Vogler, Detlev R.; Geils, Brian W. 2008. Interactions between western gall rust and its Pinus hosts, P. jeffreyi and P. contorta, in Sierra De San Pedro Martir National Park, Northern Baja California, Mexico. In: McWilliams, Michael; Palacios, Patsy, comps. Proceedings of the 55th Annual Western International Forest Disease Work Conference; 2007 October 15-19; Sedona, AZ. Salem, OR: Oregon Department of Forestry. p. 87-88.