Diseases and abiotic damage agents

Abstract

In what ways do plant diseases affect forest sustainability? How will disease disturbance regimes change given global warming and increasing population pressures? In this chapter, we review how plant diseases, caused by both biological pathogens and abiotic disturbance agents, influence forest sustainability—but note that our findings derive less from data and more from observations and professional judgment. Many forest pathogens (fungi, bacteria, viruses, nematodes) are microscopic, which predisposes them to nondetection because they cannot be seen with the naked eye and their symptoms are indistinctive. Further complicating our understanding of pathogen roles in disturbance are limitations in accurate attribution of the cause(s) of tree mortality. Typically, sampling and laboratory analysis are required to determine whether pathogens are contributing to mortality, even when tests are conducted, technological and financial constraints often result in an incomplete determination of the causal agent. Despite improvements in molecularly based (polymerase chain reaction, PCR) diagnostic methods, our knowledge as to pathogen distributions and ecological impacts remains limited (Das et al. 2016; Wingfield et al. 2015, 2017).

Parent Publication

• Disturbance and sustainability in forests of the Western United States

Citation

Frankel, Susan J.; Lockman, I. Blakey. 2021. Diseases and abiotic damage agents. In: Barrett, Tara M.; Robertson, Guy C., eds. Disturbance and sustainability in forests of the Western United States. Gen. Tech. Rep. PNW-GTR-992. Portland, OR: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station: 123-160. Chapter 7.