Treesearch

Matsucoccus macrocicatrices Richards (Hemiptera: Matsucoccidae) is the only species within this genus that feeds and reproduces on eastern white pine (Pinus strobus L.), and at the time of its description, was not observed or known to cause serious damage. With eastern white pine dieback occurring extensively throughout the Appalachian Mountains, researchers are now in search of the contributors to this dieback phenomenon. Since its recent discovery (2007) far outside its historical range, M. macrocicatrices, and cankers associated with Caliciopsis pinea Peck, are regularly present on...

Cogongrass [Imperata cylindrica (L.) Beauv.] is an invasive grass in the southeastern United States, and its impacts strongly affect the region, especially Florida. Herbicide strategies have been limited to glyphosate in natural areas and imazapyr in managed pine forests and non-crop areas where its soil residual activity is of less concern. This lack of options has raised concern for herbicide resistance, which has never been documented for I. cylindrica. Land managers have also reported variable I. cylindrica control, especially with glyphosate. To determine whether herbicide resistance...

Bottom-up branch dieback and sapling mortality of eastern white pine (Pinus strobus L.) has been observed range- wide during the last two decades. Observational studies thus far implicate these symptoms to an insect, the eastern white pine bast scale (Matsucoccus macrocicatrices Richards), and a canker-forming, fungal pathogen, Caliciopsis pinea Peck. The scale insect was historically considered an innocuous herbivore of eastern white pine restricted only to New England and Canada, but is now found in high densities on symptomatic trees, in close association with Caliciopsis canker, and in...

In the fall of 2011, we examined the effects of inter–trap distances of 2, 6, and 12 m on catches of bark and wood-boring beetles (and associates) in traps baited with either ethanol a-pinene (EA) or ipsenol ipsdienol (SD) in a stand of loblolly pine, Pinus taeda L., in northern Georgia. Traps baited with EA interrupted catches of Ips avulsus (Eichhoff ) (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: olytinae) in traps baited with SD at a distance of 2 m but not at distances of 6 or 12 m. In contrast, catches of I. avulsus and Dendroctonus terebrans (Olivier) in traps with EA were greatest in those traps...

On the George Washington and Jefferson National Forests, managers have used prescribed fire to create and maintain early-successional and open forest conditions across large areas. We used a landscape-scale and image-based approach to assess the extent that prescribed fires, including repeated fires, have created these forest conditions and put the results in context of the new George Washington National Forest management plan. At the landscape level, early-successional forest made up an average of 5 percent of burn unit area after one burn, 9 percent after two fires, 17 percent after...

Climate variability and change affect society across numerous sectors at multiple spatiotemporal scales. New demands for information and decision support tools to enhance climate resilience at regional scales have prompted diverse agency investments over the past decade (2010s). Here, we discuss lessons learned from a regional climate response collaborative composed of three different climate-service entities and using a multi-institutional approach. These entities have defined roles and responsibilities in terms of the agency missions and expectations, the landscapes they work in, and...

Linaria vulgaris, common or yellow toadflax, and Linaria dalmatica, Dalmatian toadflax (Plantaginaceae), are Eurasian perennial forbs invasive throughout temperate North America. These Linaria species have been the targets of classical biological control programmes in Canada and the USA since the 1960s. The first effective toadflax biological control agent, the stem-mining weevil Mecinus janthinus (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) was introduced from Europe in the 1990s. This weevil has become established on L. dalmatica and L. vulgaris in both countries, although it has shown greater success in...

Puccinia psidii (Basidiomycota, Uredinales) is a biotrophic rust fungus that was first reported in Brazil from guava (Psidium guajava) in 1884 (Winter 1884) and later from nonnative eucalypt (Eucalyptus capitelata and Corymbia citriodora, syn. Eucalyptus citriodora; Joffily 1944). Considered to be of Neotropical origin, the rust has also been reported to infect diverse myrtaceous hosts elsewhere in South America, Central America, the Caribbean, Mexico, the United States (California, Florida, and Hawaii), Japan, Australia, China, and most recently South Africa and New Caledonia (Carnegie et...

Armillaria mexicana (Agaricales, Physalacriaceae) is described as a new species based on morphology, DNA sequence data, and phylogenetic analyses. It clearly differs from previously reported Armillaria species in North, Central, and South America. It is characterized by the absence of fibulae in the basidioma, abundant cheilocystidia, and ellipsoidal, hyaline basidiospores that are apparently smooth under light microscope, but slightly to moderately rugulose under scanning electron microscope. It is differentiated from other Armillaria species by macromorphological characters, including...

Purpose of Review: The continued, rapid development of novel molecular genetic tools is contributing to a better understanding of forest-associated fungi and their interactive roles within diverse forest ecosystems. This paper focuses on recent developments of DNA-based diagnostics/detection, phylogenetics, population genetics, genomics, and metagenomics tools that have been applied to forest-associated fungi to better understand their roles in forest ecosystems and provide key insights for managing forest health. Recent Findings: With the advent of new molecular technologies, we can...