Pinus strobiformis gene conservation and genecology

Abstract

Southwestern white pine (Pinus strobiformis, syn. Pinus flexilis var. reflexa) is a high elevation five-needle pine. Pinus strobiformis occurs in mixed species stands across a range of elevations and forest types in western Texas, southwestern Colorado, and throughout New Mexico and Arizona (USA), and continues along the mountains south to central Mexico (Alexander et al. 1984; Looney and Waring 2013; Moreno-Letelier and Piñero 2011; Steinhoff and Andresen 1971) (fig. 1). This species, like all species of North American five-needle pines, is susceptible to infection and mortality from the nonnative, invasive forest pathogen (Cronartium ribicola) that causes the disease white pine blister rust (WPBR) (Kinloch and Dupper 2002; Sniezko et al. 2011). White pine blister rust was first reported in natural stands of P. strobiformis in 1990 (Hawksworth 1990), and is spreading through the range in New Mexico and Arizona (Conklin 2004; Conklin et al. 2009; Fairweather and Geils 2011; Looney and Waring 2012). Across the area where WPBR was first discovered, about 40,500 ha have high WPBR incidence and trees with high severity infections including frequent "topkill" (a condition in which needles, branches, and stem tissue above the canker location are killed) (Conklin et al. 2009).

Parent Publication

• Proceedings of the IUFRO joint conference: Genetics of five-needle pines, rusts of forest trees, and Strobusphere; 2014 June 15–20; Fort Collins, CO

Citation

Goodrich, Betsy A.; Waring, Kristen M.; Flores-Renteria, Lluvia. 2018. Pinus strobiformis gene conservation and genecology. In: Schoettle, Anna W.; Sniezko, Richard A.; Kliejunas, John T., eds. Proceedings of the IUFRO joint conference: Genetics of five-needle pines, rusts of forest trees, and Strobusphere; 2014 June 15-20; Fort Collins, CO. Proc. RMRS-P-76. Fort Collins, CO: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station. p. 21-29.