I forwarded Nina's report to a gardening Listserv I'm on and an
Aussie from that list sent the following:


To:
Sent: Wednesday, April 14, 2004 9:00 PM
Subject: Fw: [IBC] Sudden oak death and you


In regards to the question of Phytophthora cinnamomi and our
Australian bush.

An introduced fungal species, it has caused die back across all
indigenous plant ecosystems.

Our Kauri forests of the South Western parts of Australia, that
rival the redwood trees in size and girth have been devastated.

In Tasmania an area that has not been attacked as much 181
species are under threat from the root parasite. This has been
mostly in those areas of the state with warm moist soil
environments. As a result of attacks on the under story of the
Bush, many of the upper story are under threat as their soils
tend to dry out, the shelter for new seedlings are slowly dying
etc.

In a school, in SA, with which I was involved 100+ year old
pines that created shade for the playground on 100+ degree days,
had to be removed due to the die back and the danger posed by
dead limbs falling.

The parks and wildlife service of NSW has identified at least
10 animal species that are under threat as a direct result of the
fungi affect on the indigenous vegetation.

When comparing Australia nd the US in size, Australia is the
same width as from California to the east coast and spreads as
far north and south. We have a slightly smaller area due to our
coastal variations. Phytophthora cinnamomi has spread across all
of Australia .

Anyone for an eradication program of that size?
Bob in Oz


Jim Lewis - - Tallahassee, FL - Only where
people have learned to appreciate and cherish the landscape and
its living cover will they treat it with the care and respect it
should have - Paul Bigelow Sears.

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-----Original Message-----

I forwarded Nina's report to a gardening Listserv I'm on and an
Aussie from that list sent the following:
An introduced fungal species, it has caused die back across all
indigenous plant ecosystems.
[snip description of devastation]

Yeah, that's what we want to avoid in this country. There's no way to know if sudden oak death would be as bad as P. cinnamomi in Australia, but you can see why the US forest service might be a little jumpy about it.

Nina, whose shadblow bonsai are blooming!!!!!

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Q virginiana??????????

ALL oaks?


A number of oaks have been tested, including eastern species [Nina walks
outside her office to check a poster about the susceptibility of eastern
oak species]. Q. virginiana is not particularly susceptible.

We'll probably learn more about oak susceptibility as American oaks
planted in England come down with disease.

Nina

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++++Sponsored, in part, by John Quinn++++
************************************************** ******************************
-- The IBC HOME PAGE & FAQ: http://www.internetbonsaiclub.org/ --
+++++ Questions? Help? e-mail +++++