CABI Blogs: hand picked... and carefully sorted

Attack of the 340 million propagule timebomb! Stories of Phytophthora

 

Welcome to a new monthly series called CABI Author Focus. Each month one of the many talented authors or editors of books published by CABI will be writing about an element of their research. This month Kurt Lamour, editor of Phytophthora: A Global Perspective, writes for us on his experiences of this plant-damagng pathogen. As well as Phytophthora, Kurt co-edited Oomycete Genetics and Genomics: Diversity, Interactions and Research Tool with Sophien Kamoun.

Potato famine! Starvation and emigration! For many folks the only Phytophthora they’ll ever hear of, albeit tangentially, is through tales of the infamous potato blight that occurred in mid-1800 Ireland.  I’ve often used the famine as a reference point to help answer questions concerning what it is I do for a living; although I’ve learned this conversational strategy can be tricky.

Multi-tasking plants for phytoremediation and bioenergy source

coppice willow photo courtesy of http://woodlands.co.uk

Some metals, such as zinc (Zn) and copper (Cu) are micronutrients needed in small amounts by plants, animals and humans alike, for optimum health. Others, such as cadmium (Cd), aluminium (Al) and lead (Pb) are not needed and can be toxic to humans, animals and ecosystems. Thankfully, there are plants called hyperaccumulators that can remove these metals from the soil and store them, usually in the vacuole, out of the way. The accumulated metal serves no apparent purposes to the plant, but some believe (e.g. Rascio and Navari-Izzo 2011) it serves as a defence against natural enemies, such as herbivores.

A green future? 3 experts give their views on the future of the world's forests

To mark International Day of Forests, we brought together three experts in the field to suggest their own thoughts on what lies ahead for forests. Below they offer their hopes, and fears, for these vital ecosystems in the years to come.

Looking to the trees of the future

Image courtesy of the Future Trees Trust

Whilst carrying out research for his latest book, Dr Peter Savill looked to the future of forestry in Britain and the challenges it faces.

One of the most immediate problems, widely discussed in the industry and in the media, is that of the recently introduced fungus Chalara fraxinea, which is expected to kill large numbers of ash trees in the country over the next 5 years. “Ash is the third most common broadleaved tree in Britain and probably the second most common in England, so the disease is going to have enormous effects; far greater than Dutch elm disease had in the 1970s” says Peter.

But what to do about it, and what to replace dead ash trees with, will present major silvicultural and logistical challenges. Other tree diseases are also on the horizon.

Peter is chairman of the Trustees of the Future Trees Trust, which promotes a sustainable long-term strategy for managing tree health by exploiting the high natural genetic diversity within tree species to develop resilient populations.

“Responses to ash dieback will, at least initially”, says Peter, “involve replacing the dead trees with other species. Fortunately, there are several that can be considered – sycamore and Norway maple, sweet chestnut, cherry, oak, lime, and possibly the wild service tree. However, in the longer term it is very likely that ash will return to our woods if breeding resistant populations proves possible and successful.”

The Silviculture of Trees Used in British Forestry (2nd edition) by Peter Savill is available from CABI, with a 10% online discount.

More of Peter’s publications:

Hemery, G.E., Clark, J.R., Aldinger, E., Claessens, H., Malvolti, M.E., O'Connor, E., Raftoyannis, Y., Savill, P.S. and Brus, R. (2010) Growing scattered broadleaved tree species in Europe in a changing climate: a review of risks and opportunities. Forestry (Oxford) 83(1), 65–81.

Russell, K. and Savill, P. (2010) The roles of tree breeding and silviculture in disease control. Quarterly Journal of Forestry 104 (3), 217–223.

Savill, P.S., Fennessy, J. and Samuel, C.J.A. (2005) Approaches in Great Britain and Ireland to the genetic improvement of broadleaved trees. Forestry (Oxford) 78(2), 163–173.

Savill, P.S., Spencer, R., Roberts, J.E. and Hubert, J.D. (1999) Sixth year results from four ash (Fraxinus excelsior) breeding seedling orchards. Silvae Genetica 48(2), 92–100.

Savill, P., Evans, J., Auclair, D. and Falck, J. (1997) Plantation Silviculture in Europe. Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK.

Ash dieback – where are we now?

Image courtesy of Fera

The spread of ash dieback in the UK hit the headlines last year bringing the issues of forest health to the fore (see Ash dieback hits British countryside. But what is the current status of the disease?

Much has been done since outbreak, a helpline has been set up and The Forestry Commission has been tracking the dieback and has recently published a map with 378 confirmed findings of the diseases (as of the 18^th Feb). In addition, a key scientific facts paper has been prepared by the expert group led by the government’s Chief Scientific Adviser, Sir John Beddington.

The Food and Environmenta Research Agency (Fera) has a  website with images of disease symptoms and also some videos of the brief history, life cycle and symptoms of Chalara (http://www.fera.defra.gov.uk/plants/plantHealth/pestsDiseases/chalaraInfo.cfm), and the UK Plant Sciences Federation has recently introduced a new website that collates the latest research information on ash dieback (http://treehealth.plantsci.org.uk/).

A great amount of information has been made available to the public to check for ash dieback, examples include The Ash Dieback Pocket Guide produced by the Woodland Trust, and a ‘how you can help’ page on the National Trust website (http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/what-we-do/big-issues/nature-and-outdoors/ash-dieback/).

How alien species cost Europe €12bn a year

 A report from the European Environment Agency (EEA) sets out the staggering cost of alien species - animals and plants brought to Europe from other parts of the world. The cost, and the threat to health and the environment, is said to be greater than expected, costing at least €12bn (£10bn) a year.

More than 10,000 "alien" species have gained a foothold in Europe, from Asian tiger mosquitoes to North American ragweed, and at least 1,500 are known to be harmful, the EEA said. And the real cost could be even greater than quoted.

Banned chemicals and silent springs

Recently I have been removing an array of chemicals, from alpha-hexachlorocyclohexane to zeta-cypermethrin, from CABI’s compendia (Crop Protection Compendium, Forestry Compendium and Invasive Species Compendium) records, as these chemicals have either been banned or severely restricted in their use. This work was sponsored by Plant Protection Station, Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, Japan.

The seed of its own destruction? Seedborne diseases and the seed trade

In 1989, farmers in Florida, Indiana and South Carolina began noticing a disease that was rapidly spreading through their watermelon crops¹. Large, dark lesions and bruises appeared on the fruit and leaves exhibited brown discolouration; all that remained of severely infected fruit was a pulpy, inedible mess. In damp conditions the disease proliferated quickly and in some areas 100% of crops were destroyed. Economic costs have been difficult to estimate, but the damage wrought to farmers across significant parts of the US was devastating. The disease – named bacterial fruit blotch – was caused by the seedborne bacterium Acidovorax citrulli.

Food Waste in the Supply Chain

A one-day conference held at the Dutch Embassy in London last week focussed on a topic which is emerging in response to the need to increase food production by at least 50% to feed a population of 9 billion in 2050.

The topic is food waste reduction and encompasses food waste across the whole of the supply chain, from the grower and farmer to the distributor, the retailer and the consumer. Food waste not just in terms of food which is thrown away the end of a meal, but food which is lost during production, storage, distribution and sale. For fresh produce for instance, losses occur during production and during storage, transport and distribution if conditions are unfavourable and the infrastructure and knowledge needed to maintain the cold chain are missing, resulting in food contamination and deterioration. Retailers and consumers increase these losses by rejecting produce on the basis of perceived quality defects and discarding produce which is still suitable for consumption. Apart from environmental considerations, like wasting water on growing food which is never eaten, and disposing of waste, the more food we waste the more we need to produce.

At the distributor and retail level, speakers at the Food Waste Conference ‘No opportunity wasted’ talked about food waste initiatives being undertaken by various companies which have in fact saved them money, and emphasized that food waste can be turned from a problem into an opportunity. One company, a distributor of fresh fruits and vegetables, is trying to reduce waste in the supply chain by selling misshapen fruits and vegetables as ingredients to restaurants, extending the natural life of products by sourcing them at the right stage, sometimes using packaging to reduce waste, and suggesting new solutions to stringent quality requirements to avoid waste. Another company has tackled waste by implementing changes such as altering the size of orders and aligning production with demand - these measures have also resulted in considerable cost savings.

Through its Plantwise programme, CABI is helping to decrease food losses by reducing crop losses caused by pests and diseases. Plantwise clinics are now operating in over 20 countries with locally trained ‘plant doctors’ providing diagnosis and appropriate pest management advice to smallholder growers and farmers.

And on 5 March 2013, CABI is participating in Waste Not Want Not: Agri-Food Waste Solutions for a Hungry World – a one-day conference in London organized by the Agri-Food Hub of SCI (Society of Chemical Industry) where speakers will discuss the current situation and initiatives to address the problem, and where projects illustrating some practical examples of the opportunities available will be highlighted.

Ash dieback hits British countryside

Image: EPPO 

A disease of ash trees, first found in Poland in the 1990s (most reports suggest around 1992) but which has since spread through much of northern and central Europe, has been reported in the British countryside for the first time. The ash dieback disease was first reported in the UK in February 2012 in a consignment of infected trees sent from a nursery in the Netherlands to a nursery in Buckinghamshire, England. Since then, it has been found in a number of other sites in England and Scotland where young nursery trees have been received, but this week the disease has for the first time been found in the natural environment in East Anglia. The disease has devastated ash populations in other European countries, and now it is feared that it could do the same in Britain, where if it takes hold it could have similar impacts as Dutch elm disease had in the 1970s.