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Abstract
Sugar pine (Pinus lambertiana) is a five-needle pine native to the mixed-conifer forests of the Sierra Nevada and Cascade Ranges of western North America. Sugar pine has great aesthetic, ecological, and economic value and is among the largest of all pines. Like other five-needle pines, sugar pine is susceptible to white pine blister rust (WPBR), caused by the nonnative pathogen Cronartium ribicola. Although tree-breeding efforts have been the most successful strategy against WPBR, artificial pruning by removing the lowest branches (where infections are most common) can potentially enhance survival of five-needle pines exposed to WPBR. Artificial pruning has been used successfully in WPBR management programs for western white pine (Pinus monticola), although most pruning is not done until trees are 10- to 15-year-old saplings. Earlier pruning against WPBR cankers and pruning on sugar pine have received less attention. As part of a larger restoration effort involving several Federal agencies, personnel from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Dorena Genetic Resource Center (DGRC; Cottage Grove, Oregon, USA) established monitoring plots to measure the efficacy of early pruning on the incidence and impact of WPBR on planted sugar pine seedlings.
Parent Publication
Citation
Bronson, J.; Petrick, J.; Danchok, R. 2018. Efficacy of early pruning to reduce the incidence of white pine blister rust on sugar pine (Pinus lambertiana). 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. 205-208.
