scholarly journals Tree-ring history of Swiss needle cast impact on Douglas-fir growth in Western Oregon: correlations with climatic variables

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 076-087
Author(s):  
Lee E Henry ◽  
Beedlow Peter A ◽  
Waschmann Ronald S ◽  
Cline Steve ◽  
Bollman Michael ◽  
...  

The fungal pathogen, Nothophaeocryptopus gaeumannii, occurs wherever Douglas-fir is found but disease damage is believed to be limited to the Coast Range and is of no concern outside the coastal fog zone (Shaw, et al., 2011). However, knowledge remains limited on the history and spatial distribution of Swiss Needle Cast (SNC) impacts in the Pacific Northwest (PNW). We reconstructed the history of SNC impacts on mature Douglas-fir trees based on tree ringwidth chronologies from the west slope of the Coast Range to the high Cascades of Oregon. Our findings show that SNC impacts on growth occur wherever Douglas-fir is found in western Oregon and is not limited to the coastal fog zone. The spatiotemporal patterns of growth impact from SNC disease were synchronous across the region, displayed periodicities of 25-30 years, strongly correlated with winter and summer temperatures and summer precipitation, and matched the patterns of enriched cellulosic stable carbon isotope indicative of physiological stress. While winter and summer temperature and summer precipitation influenced pathogen dynamics at all sites, the primary climatic factor of these three limiting factors varied spatially by location, topography, and elevation. In the 20th century, SNC impacts at low- to mid-elevations were least severe during the warm phase of the Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO, 1924-1945) and most severe in 1984-1986, following the cool phase of the PDO (1945-1977). At high elevations on the west slope of the Cascade Mountains, SNC impacts were the greatest in the 1990s and 2000s, a period of warmer winter temperatures associated with climate change. Warmer winters will likely continue to increase SNC severity at higher elevations, north along the coast from northern Oregon to British Columbia, and inland where low winter temperatures currently limit growth of the pathogen. Surprisingly, tree-ring records of ancient Douglas-fir logs dated ~53K radioactive years B.P. from Eddyville, OR displayed 7.5- and 20-year periodicities of low growth, similar to those found in modern day coastal Douglas-fir tree-ring records which we interpret as being due to cyclic fluctuations in SNC severity. Our findings indicate that SNC has persisted for as long as its host, and as a result of changing climate, may become a significant forest health problem in areas of the PNW beyond the coastal fog zone.

2001 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 31-34 ◽  
Author(s):  
Walter W. Kastner ◽  
Steve M. Dutton ◽  
David M. Roché

Abstract Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii var. menziesii) seedlings grown from three seed sources were evaluated for 5 yr on a high-disease-hazard site for their relative tolerance to Swiss needle cast. The seed sources were: (1) seed collected from trees showing an apparent degree of tolerance to Swiss needle cast in natural stands in the coastal fog belt, (2) open-pollinated seed orchard seed collected from random single-pair crosses of parent trees in natural stands outside of the coastal fog belt, but west of the Oregon Coast Range summit, whose progeny demonstrated an apparent degree of disease tolerance in coastal Douglas-fir progeny test sites, and (3) standard reforestation seed purchased from a commercial vendor. There were no significant differences among seed sources in basal diameter and total height for all five growing seasons. Needle retention varied among seed sources over the 5 yr period, but current-year needle retention did not vary significantly after the fifth growing season, and retention of 1- and 2-yr-old needles was relatively low for all seed sources. The intense disease pressure on this site may have overwhelmed expression of disease tolerance among seed sources. We do not recommend planting Douglas-fir on such high-hazard sites. West J. Appl. For. 16(1):31–34.


2013 ◽  
Vol 43 (8) ◽  
pp. 677-690 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. Henry Lee ◽  
Peter A. Beedlow ◽  
Ronald S. Waschmann ◽  
Connie A. Burdick ◽  
David C. Shaw

Swiss needle cast (SNC), an important fungal disease of Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii (Mirb.) Franco), has increased in severity throughout its natural and introduced range over the last half century. The role of climate change and forest management practices in the increase is unclear. We analyzed tree-ring chronologies from six late-successional Douglas-fir stands in the western Oregon Coast Range using time-series intervention analysis (TSIA) to address how climate relates to the impact of SNC on tree growth. Tree-ring chronologies of western hemlock (Tsuga heterophylla (Raf.) Sarg.), a species not susceptible to the fungus Phaeocryptopus gaeumannii (Rhode) Petrak, were used as a climate proxy in the TSIA. We found that growth reductions associated with SNC dated back to the 1590s, the earliest record in our dendritic data. Growth reductions were synchronous across the six sites, indicating that the disease severity was largely influenced by climatic conditions. SNC impact peaked in 1984–1986 at all six study sites, followed by unprecedented disease impacts of 100% in 1996 and 2004 at one site, while decreasing to previous levels at the other five sites. Our SNC index of impact significantly correlated with winter and summer temperatures and summer precipitation. Winter conditions were more strongly associated with disease impact at wetter, cooler sites, whereas summer conditions were more important at less humid, warmer sites. With climate change, SNC impacts are likely to increase in coastal areas where June–July precipitation is much higher than the P. gaeumannii-limiting threshold of ∼110 mm, and decrease where summer precipitation is at or below the threshold. Warmer winters will increase disease severity at higher elevation, north along the coast from northern Oregon to British Columbia, and at inland sites where current winter temperatures limit fungal growth.


2002 ◽  
Vol 32 (6) ◽  
pp. 1057-1070 ◽  
Author(s):  
Linda E Winter ◽  
Linda B Brubaker ◽  
Jerry F Franklin ◽  
Eric A Miller ◽  
Donald Q DeWitt

The history of canopy disturbances over the lifetime of an old-growth Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii (Mirb.) Franco) stand in the western Cascade Range of southern Washington was reconstructed using tree-ring records of cross-dated samples from a 3.3-ha mapped plot. The reconstruction detected pulses in which many western hemlock (Tsuga heterophylla (Raf.) Sarg.) synchronously experienced abrupt and sustained increases in ringwidth, i.e., "growth-increases", and focused on medium-sized or larger ([Formula: see text]0.8 ha) events. The results show that the stand experienced at least three canopy disturbances that each thinned, but did not clear, the canopy over areas [Formula: see text]0.8 ha, occurring approximately in the late 1500s, the 1760s, and the 1930s. None of these promoted regeneration of the shade-intolerant Douglas-fir, all of which established 1500–1521. The disturbances may have promoted regeneration of western hemlock, but their strongest effect on tree dynamics was to elicit western hemlock growth-increases. Canopy disturbances are known to create patchiness, or horizontal heterogeneity, an important characteristic of old-growth forests. This reconstructed history provides one model for restoration strategies to create horizontal heterogeneity in young Douglas-fir stands, for example, by suggesting sizes of areas to thin in variable-density thinnings.


Author(s):  
Elizabeth Sinn

This chapter takes a broad look at the Pacific Ocean in relation to Chinese migration. As trade, consumption and capital flows followed migrants, powerful networks were woven and sustained; in time, the networks fanned across the Pacific from British Columbia along the West Coast of the United States to New Zealand and Australia. The overlapping personal, family, financial and commercial interests of Chinese in California and those in Hong Kong, which provide the focus of this study, energized the connections and kept the Pacific busy and dynamic while shaping the development of regions far beyond its shores. The ocean turned into a highway for Chinese seeking Gold Mountain, marking a new era in the history of South China, California, and the Pacific Ocean itself.


2002 ◽  
Vol 57 (2) ◽  
pp. 259-270 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hongyan Liu ◽  
Lihong Xu ◽  
Haiting Cui

AbstractThe woodland-steppe ecotone of the southeastern Inner Mongolian Plateau in northern China is located at the northwestern limit of the Pacific monsoon influence, where the landscape may have been a sensitive recorder of past climatic changes. Physical, chemical, and biological analyses of AMS 14C-dated sediment sequences from two lakes of this region were used to reconstruct the Holocene vegetation and desertification history and distinguish four periods: (1) a cold and humid period from 10000 to 8000 14C yr B.P., (2) a warm and humid period from 8000 to 5900 14C yr B.P., (3) a warm and dry period from 5900 to 2900 14C yr B.P., and (4) a cool and dry period from 2900 14C yr B.P. to the present. The increased aridity during the middle Holocene was likely caused by increased winter temperatures and enhanced winter evaporation. The transition from a humid to an arid climate after ∼5900 14C yr B.P. coincided with enhanced aeolian activity, and deciduous woodlands were replaced by pine woodlands and then by steppes in response to the climatic deterioration. These transitions led to the present desertification. The records suggest that a simple association of thermal and moisture conditions, such as warm/wet or cold/dry, may be misleading.


Reviews: Mexicans, Mormons, Miners and Manifest Destiny - Walter Sheppe (editor). First Man West. Alexander Mackenzie's Journal of His Voyage to the Pacific Coast of Canada in 1793. (Berkeley & Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1962; C.U.P., 60s.) pp. viii, 366. - Frederick S. Dellenbaugh, A Canyon Voyage. The Narrative of the Second Powell Expedition down the Green-Colorado Rivers from Wyoming and the Explorations on Land in the Years 1871 to 1872, (with a foreword by William H. Goetzmann). (New Haven & London: Yale Western Americana Paperbound, 1962, 15s.) pp. xxxvi, 267. - John A. Hawgood (editor), First and Last Consul. Thomas Oliver Larkin and the Americanization of California. (San Marino: The Huntington Library, 1962, $5.00.) pp. xxxviii, 123. - Stella M. Drumm (editor), Down the Santa Fe Trail and into Mexico. The Diary of Susan Shelby Magoffin 1846–47, (with a foreword by Howard R. Lamar), (New Haven & London: Yale Western Americana Paperbound, 1962, 15s. ) pp. xxv, 294. - Erwin G. Gudde (editor), Bigler's Chronicle of the West. The Conquest of California, Discovery of Gold, and Mormon Settlements as Reflected in Henry William Bigler's Diaries, (Berkeley & Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1962; C.U.P., 40s. ) pp. xiv, 145. - David M. Potter (editor), Trail to California. The Overland Journal of Vincent Geiger and Wakeman Bryarly. (New Haven & London: Yale Western Americana Paperbound, 1962, 12s. 6d.) pp. xvii, 266. - Robert G. Athearn, Rebel of the Rockies. A History of the Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad. (New Haven & London: Yale Western Americana Series, 1963, 72s.) pp. XV, 395.

Author(s):  
W. D. McIntyre

2019 ◽  
Vol 109 (11) ◽  
pp. 1908-1921 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mireia Gómez-Gallego ◽  
Jared M. LeBoldus ◽  
Martin Karl-Friedrich Bader ◽  
Everett Hansen ◽  
Lloyd Donaldson ◽  
...  

The emergence of Phytophthora pluvialis as a foliar pathogen of Douglas fir in New Zealand and the Pacific Northwest United States has raised questions about its interaction with the widespread Swiss needle cast (SNC) disease. During Spring 2017, we repeatedly sampled 30 trees along an environmental gradient in each region and 292 additional trees in a longitudinal transect to assess the P. pluvialis epidemic and the association between P. pluvialis and Nothophaeocryptopus gaeumannii, which are causal agents of SNC. Both pathogens were consistently more abundant in the host’s exotic environment in New Zealand. In both areas, the two pathogens co-exist in different spatial scales for regions and needles. The relative abundance of both pathogens was negatively correlated in the Pacific Northwest, where both presumably have co-existed for longer. Our findings confirmed the interaction of P. pluvialis and N. gaeumannii as foliar pathogens of Douglas fir and suggest a within-site spatial variation in the Pacific Northwest.


Plant Disease ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 101 (7) ◽  
pp. 1259-1262 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mireia Gómez-Gallego ◽  
Martin Karl-Friedrich Bader ◽  
Peter Matthew Scott ◽  
Sebastian Leuzinger ◽  
Nari Michelle Williams

Phytophthora pluvialis is associated with early defoliation and shoot dieback in Douglas-fir in Oregon and New Zealand. In 2013, P. pluvialis was described from mixed tanoak-Douglas-fir forests in the Pacific Northwest and concurrently recognized as the main causal agent of red needle cast (RNC) in New Zealand radiata pine plantations. Little is known about its infection cycle and impact on host physiology. P. pluvialis studies in Douglas-fir are challenging due to the ubiquitous presence of the endophyte Phaeocryptopus gaeumannii, which produces similar symptoms and premature defoliation with persistent needle wetness, known as Swiss needle cast (SNC). Nonetheless, our study showed P. pluvialis infection in the presence of SNC. Exclusive expression of P. pluvialis is difficult to achieve as both diseases are promoted by high humidity. Here we established a ‘dry leaf’ strategy to suppress SNC when inoculating Douglas-fir needles for RNC studies. Sheltering plants along with drip irrigation to avoid needle wetness during the P. gaeumannii sporulation period suppressed its development in the new season flush. The diminished endophyte inoculum enabled bias-reduced studies of P. pluvialis impacts on Douglas-fir without the confounding effects of stomatal blockage and premature defoliation caused by P. gaeumannii.


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