Butt rot occurrence in plus trees of Silver fir Abies alba Mill. and Norway spruce Picea abies (L.) from the Carpathians

Abstract

Due to its hidden character, butt rot occurrence is not commonly included in the assessment of plus trees’ health status. Thus, the trees’ varied susceptibility to wood decay is not a target of breeding efforts. The aim of the study was to determine the extent of butt rot in fir and spruce plus trees from Carpathian seed stands. We employed the novel and non-invasive diagnostic method of sonic tomography to determine presence and severity of decay at the base of 110 plus trees of silver fir and 42 of Norway spruce. Butt rot in various stages of development occurred in 63% of investigated fir trees and in 45% of spruce trees. The proportion of damaged wood on the tomogram ranged from 0–38% in fir and 0–47% in spruce with similar average proportions of solid wood in all forest districts. The vast majority of trees was in the range of 80–90% solid wood. Plus trees of fir and spruce were affected by butt rot to a similar extent and the degree of damage increased with age in both species. However, a large variation in susceptibility to butt rot was found between individual trees leading to the conclusion that the identification of old trees, which wood is not decayed, may be the basis for further research on the resistance to butt rot.

The Community of Fine Root Fungi of Silver Fir (Abies alba Mill.) Saplings

“…For this reason, the State Forests (Poland) undertook a program to restore fir trees to forests of the Sudeten Mountains (Barzdajn 2000, Barzdajn and Kowalkowski 2012, but with time it was noticed that fungi-related issues should not be overlooked. The studies of fungal communities inhabiting fir roots have focused mainly on mycorrhizae (within and outside their natural occurrence) (Kowalski 1982, Comandini et al 2001, Laganà et al 2002, Rudawska et al 2016) and pathogenic fungi that infect their root systems (Puddu et al 2003, Oliva and Colinas 2007, Chomicz-Zegar et al 2016. However, no research has been undertaken in the mountainous regions of Poland.…”

The soil fungal communities in nurseries producing Abies alba

“…Until now, fungi and their relationship with fir has not been fully addressed in the Sudetes Restitution Program, therefore this study was undertaken (Barzdajn 2000, Barzdajn and Kowalkowski 2012. Previous studies of the fir fungal communities were mainly focused on mycorrhizae (Kowalski 1982, Comandini et al 2001, Laganà et al 2002, Kowalski 2008, Ważny 2011, 2014, Rudawska et al 2016, Terhonen et al 2019) and pathogens (Puddu et al 2003, Oliva and Colinas 2007, Łakomy et al 2007, Niemtur et al 2014, Chomicz-Zegar et al 2016, Terhonen et al 2019. On the other hand, soil fungal communities accompanying fir in nursery production were not investigated.…”