Growth and survival of young European beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) is largely dependent on water availability. We quantified the influence of water stress (measured as Available Soil Water Storage Capacity or ASWSC) on vitality of young beech plants at a dry site. The study site was located in a semi-natural sessile oak (Quercus petraea (Mattuschka) Liebl.) stand adjacent to beech stands on a roc...

Oak decline poses a substantial threat to forest health in the Ozark Highlands of northern Arkansas and southern Missouri, where coupled with diseases and insect infestations, it has damaged large tracts of forest lands. Forest Health Monitoring (FHM) crown health indicators (e.g. crown dieback, etc.), collected by the U.S. Forest Service’s Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) program, provide a...

The amount of conspicuous canopy dieback in all central Westland southern rata-kamahi forests east of the Alpine Fault, between 500 m altitude and treeline, was assessed and mapped from aerial photographs taken in 1984-85 and verified by aerial reconnaissance of selected areas in 1988. At least 20% of all canopy trees, predominantly southern rata (Metrosideros umbellata) and Hall's totara (Podo...

Progressive diebacks of outer canopy branchlets of Ceanothus crassifolius were repeatedly observed after rainless periods up to 9 mo in duration in the Santa Monica Mountains of southern California. Mean xylem pressures of branchlets near the end of drought were as low as -11.2 MPa (N = 22) with a mean of about 60 dead branchlets per shrub. Inoculation (N = 15) with three species of fungi previ...

Mountain forests in National park Bohemian Forest (Czech Republic) were affected by bark beetle attack and windthrows in 2004-2008, followed by an extensive tree dieback. We evaluated changes in the biochemistry of the uppermost soil horizons with the emphasis on carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) cycling in a near-natural spruce (Picea abies) mountain forest after the forest dieback, and compared it ...

This paper reviews and discusses the literature pertaining to a proposed ecological study of a catastrophic dying of native Metrosideros (Myrtaceae) forest which occurred on windward East Maui in the Hawaiian Islands during the first decade of this century. This dieback event was documented by several workers, most notably H.L. Lyon, and became known as the Maui Forest Trouble. The geology, cli...

Hydraulic impairment due to xylem embolism and carbon starvation are the two proposed mechanisms explaining drought-induced forest dieback and tree death. Here, we evaluate the relative role played by these two mechanisms in the long-term by quantifying wood-anatomical traits (tracheid size and area of parenchyma rays) and estimating the intrinsic water-use efficiency (iWUE) from carbon isotopi...

Koa (Acacia koa) forests are found across broad environmental gradients in the Hawai'ian Islands. Previous studies have identified koa forest health problems and dieback at the plot level, but landscape level patterns remain unstudied. The availability of high-resolution satellite images from the new GeoEye1 satellite offers the opportunity to conduct landscape-level assessments of forest healt...

a recently published article describing the draft genome of erwiniamallotivora bt-mardi (1), the causal pathogen of papaya dieback infection in peninsular malaysia, hassignificant potential to overcome and reduce the effect of this vulnerable crop (2). the authors found that the draft genome sequenceis approximately 4824 kbp and the g+c content of the genomewas 52-54%, which is very similarto t...

Hemicycliophora ritteri and Paratrichodorus minor were associated in high numbers with a previously unknown "dieback disease" of cranberry. Chemical treatment with nematicides and fungicides failed to control this disease. There were no correlations (P </= 0.05) among nematode numbers and yields of good or rotten berries, and with disease ratings. Nematodes were apparently not involved in the e...