Pacific Southwest Research Station

Research Topics Tree Mortality

Climate and Forest Diseases

Forest plant diseases are heavily influenced by weather and climate. For forest pathogenic fungi, bacteria, viruses and other microorganisms, the temperature and moisture conditions interacting with the host determine infection severity and disease distribution.

Extreme weather, i.e. drought or typhoons, can kill large expanses of trees directly by overwhelming tree physiological and structural strength. Patterns and rates of wood decay, caused by forest fungi, are also expected to change in response to climate changes which will influence forest carbon cycles.

Expected changes in climate coupled with the increasing stresses of invasive species, lack of fire, and forest fragmentation are creating conducive conditions for many forest plant diseases.

Publications

• Maloney, Patricia; Eckert, Andrew; Vogler, Detlev; Jensen, Camille; Delfino Mix, Annette; Neale, David 2016. Landscape biology of western white pine: implications for conservation of a widely-distributed five-needle pine at its southern range limit. Forests. 7(5): 93.
• Maloney, Patricia E.; Vogler, Detlev R.; Jensen, Camille E.; Delfino Mix, Annette. 2012. Ecology of whitebark pine populations in relation to white pine blister rust infection in subalpine forests of the Lake Tahoe Basin: Implications for restoration. For. Ecol. Mgmt. 280: 166-175. Doi, 10.1016/j.foreco.2012.05.025
• Sturrock, R. N., Frankel, S. J., Brown, A. V., Hennon, P. E., Kliejunas, J. T., Lewis, K. J., Worrall, J. J. and Woods, A. J. (2011), Climate change and forest diseases. Plant Pathology, 60: 133-149. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-3059.2010.02406.x
• Kliejunas, John T. 2011. A risk assessment of climate change and the impact of forest diseases on forest ecosystems in the Western United States and Canada. Gen. Tech. Rep. PSW-GTR-236. Albany, CA: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Pacific Southwest Research Station. 70 p.
• Kliejunas, John T.; Geils, Brian W.; Glaeser, Jessie Micales; Goheen, Ellen Michaels; Hennon, Paul; Kim, Mee-Sook; Kope, Harry; Stone, Jeff; Sturrock, Rona; Frankel, Susan J. 2009. Review of literature on climate change and forest diseases of western North America. Gen. Tech. Rep. PSW-GTR-225. Albany, CA: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Pacific Southwest Research Station. 54 p.
• Annotated bibliography of Climate and Forest Diseases of Western North America