Forest protection

UTD
Session – 2019
Presentation topic on : HEART ROTS DISEASES OF TREE SPECIES

Heart rot
Introduction:-
In trees, heart rot is a fungal disease that causes the
decay of wood at the center of the trunk and branches. Fungi
enter the tree through wounds in the bark and decay the
heartwood. The diseased heartwood softens resulting in trees
being structurally weaker and prone to breakage. Heart rot is a
major factor in the economics of logging and the natural
growth dynamic of many older forests. Heart rot is prevalent
throughout the world affecting all hardwood trees and can be
very difficult to prevent. A good indication of heart rot is the
presence of mushrooms or fungus conks on the tree.

In living trees, most of the decay is confined to the
older, central wood (heartwood) of roots, trunks, or branches.
Once the tree is cut, however, the outer wood or sapwood is
also colonized by the wood-decay fungi, as are the wood
products made from the tree, if moisture and temperature
conditions are favorable for growth of the fungi. When deep
wounds or cuts are present, discoloration and decay often
spread into the outer wood, and the entire tree, especially if it
is a hardwood, loses its economic value.

Biological cause
Heart rot is caused by fungi entering the trunk of the
tree through wounds in the bark. These wounds are areas of
the tree where bare wood is exposed and usually, a result of
improper pruning, fire damage, dead branches, insects, or even
animal damage. The fungal spores enter the exposed wounds,
germinate within the wood tissues, and slowly ingest the
heartwood.
The infection is a very slow process and can take from
months to years, depending on conditions and tree health. An
average fungus will advance in the heartwood by 6–8
centimeters per year, and extensive development in the wood
tissue is needed before mushrooms or conks are produced.

Impact
Heart rot fungi have both a huge economic and
environmental impact. The fungi only target the nonliving wood
tissue of the heartwood and do not affect the living sapwood.
Initially, infected heartwood is discolored but not structurally
compromised. As the fungi grow they decay more wood and the
tissue becomes increasingly soft and weak. The tree can still grow
around the decayed heartwood because the live wood tissue is not
affected. The growth around decayed areas of heartwood creates
structural weaknesses in the tree. Trees with extensive decay are
more susceptible to broken branches and trunks.

Fig:- Spirostachys africana log with heart-rot

Logging
Heart rot causes huge profit loss in the logging industry every
year due to damaged and decayed timber. It is estimated that
about one third of annual timber (20 billion board feet) harvest
is lost due to some form of rot. Trees wounded from
machinery or other falling trees are more susceptible to heart
rot. It results in trees that cannot be sold due to substantial
decay and introducing ideal rot conditions into younger forests
that would normally not be as susceptible

Environmental
Heart rot and other tree disease serve as factors of environmental
change. This is magnified in areas that are not prone to large-scale
dynamic disturbances like wildfires or are dominated by old-growth
timber. In older-growth forests, trees are unable to combat heart rot
effectively because they grow at a much slower pace. Extensive rot
causes these trees to be more susceptible to high winds and trunk
fracture. As the old growth dies out, it allows new growth to take its
place, altering the dynamic of the environment. Decaying trees also
provide shelter to animals as well as microorganisms. Through this
process of dynamic change, heart rot contributes to biologically diverse
habitats

Diagnosis of tree diseases- Symptomatology, signs,
Methods of identification of diseases:-
Diagnosis of tree Problems:-Several steps must be taken in order to effectively diagnose tree
problems. The following are general guidelines:
1. Properly identify the tree. It is important to know exactly
what species you are looking at.
2. It is also vital to know what the leaves, bark, trunk, and roots
should look like under “normal” conditions.
3. Check for host specificity.
4. Carefully examine the types of symptoms and the part of the
plant impacted.

a) Typical symptoms include:
underdevelopment of tissues or organs (stunting and malformed leaves);
overdevelopment of tissues or organs (galls, brooms, and stress cones); necrosis (death) of plant
parts (wilting, dieback, and leaf spots); and alteration of normal appearance (chlorosis).
b) Examine how the symptoms are distributed:
If the entire tree is infected, there islikely something wrong with the roots or stem, or
there may be an environmental cause. Single or randomly scattered affected branches are often
associated with insects or diseases.
c) Biotic agents tend to affect one species, are clumpy in distribution, show progressive
symptoms, and usually impact specific plant parts. Abiotic agents tend to affect many species
relatively uniformly.

5. Determine the history of the tree and the site. Has the root system been disturbed? Have
chemicals been used? Has there been any harvesting? Other site factors, such as changing water
relations, extreme temperatures, or wind, fire etc.
6. Look for signs of biotic agents such as fungal fruiting bodies parasitic plants, larvae, or adult
insects.
a) Identify agents. Laboratory studies may be necessary in some circumstances.

Classification of forest tree diseases (root diseases, heart diseases,
wilt diseases):-
A. Root Rot Diseases:
1. The root rot diseases are caused by fungi and nematodes
2. Seedlings or tree wilt or decline or show deficiency symptoms
3. Discoloration and decay of the roots
4. Symptoms of root rot do not manifest till a large percentage of roots is attacked.
5. In natural forest resistant and susceptible species are mixed; the fungus remains in an
endemic stage.
6. Root rot fungi are considered to be specialized parasites, two groups may be
distinguished.
-The fungi cause typical root rot and don’t attacks the heart wood.
e.g. Ganoderma lucidum.
- The fungi not only attack the ling sapwood but also the heartwood and in case of
Fomes annosus, Armillaria mellea and Polyporus schweini zii.

Modes of infection of root rot fungi:
1. Fungi causing root rot are transmitted through root graft, by mycelium
growth through soil, or insects and nematodes
feeding on roots.
2. Fungi produces cellulose and lignose enzyme capable of breaking cellulose
and lignin.
3. This type of diseases problems is escalated (the act of getting up a wall) by
nutrient imbalance, poor soil aeration, water logging condition etc.
Control Measure:
Root diseases are generally difficult to control since the diseased parts are not
easily accessible. Some of the techniques used in root diseases control are as follows:

A). Silvicultural Control Measures;
1. Suitable site: Sisoo grows healthy free from root diseases on sandy loam
soils with good drainage but becomes diseases due to various root-infecting fungi
when raised in stiff soils of clay.
2. Control burning (Polyporus shoreae): It inhibits development of root
diseases. A root rot diseases caused by the Polyporus shoreae in sal at the wet forest is
controlled.
3. Site preparation: Removal of residual and tree stumps (Fomes annosus)
4. Resistant species and mixed species: If the threat due to root diseases is
suspected, planting resistant species in the first rotation is advisable. In case a species
susceptible to root rot is raised in the first rotation, it should be planted in intimate
mixture with resistant species which will serve as barriers to rapid spread of the
diseases.
5. Isolation trenches: Root rot diseases generally spread by the root to root by
contact or root graft resulting in diseases plants in groups. Isolation trenches results
effective in containing the disease in between the trenches thus preventing its spread
beyond the trenches.

B) Chemical Control Measures:
This is preventive type of control where Fomes annosus root rot is prevalent;
freshly cut stumps can be immediately spread with boric acid or sodium nitrate. The
chemical should be easily available, cheap, easy to apply and non-poisonous.
C)Biological Control:
Colonization of stumps by Fomes annosus can be prevented by inoculation fresh stumps
with another non pathogenic fungus, e.g. Peniophora gigantean. Inoculation pine stumps
with P. gigantea soon after felling by oidia of the fungus gives satisfactory protection
against F. annosus.

B )Heart Wood Diseases:
Decaying of living trees, heart rot accounts for more or less in sawn timber than
fire, insects, whether or any other diseases agents. About one third of all losses in sawn
timber are caused by heart rot.
I) Progress of decay in trees:
Decay is progressive nature in tree. The rate of spread of the decay depends on
the host and the fungus. It depends on the
following factors:
1. Age
2. Site
3. Soil moisture
4. Soil texture
5. Soil reactions
6. Stand vigor.

II) Detection of heat rots:
Heart rots in trees may be detected either from external symptoms manifested by
diseased trees or through direct probing into the
heartwood.
III) External indicators:
1. Sporophore:
2. Trunk knots: due to Fomes pini
3. Swollen knots
4. Swollen boles
5. External injuries.
IV) Direct Probing:
Heart rot may be detected by taking increment cores from tree suspected to
contain decay and isolate the fungus from the decayed wood.

V) Base on the type of rot the fungi are grouped as:
1. White Rot fungi (Polyporus versicolor)
2. Brown Rot Fungi (Porea monticola)
3. Simultaneous Rot fungi
4. Soft Rot fungi (phyco mycetes and fungi imperfectile)
VI) Mode of Infection:
1. The heart Rot fungi use:
a) wounds on stem or
b) dying or dead branches and twinges.
2. Spores in the infection court germinate, produce enzymes and digest cell wall
component.

VII) Control:
1. Control burning.
2. Sanitation cutting.
3. Thinning and improved felling.
4. Prune properly so that the wound heals quickly.
5. Slash should be burnt after clear cuttings.
6. Removal of diseases tree:
a. More and more timber becomes decayed with age
b. Decayed trees occupy space that may profitably be taken up by healthy trees
c. The sporophore developing on decayed trees release spores, which serve as
inoculums or new infection.

C. Wilt Diseases:
Wilt of plant diseases characterized by the loss of turgor, which results in
drooping of leaves, stems and flowers or whole trees.
I) Wilt is caused by:
1. Bacteria, fungal or nematode activities in the vessels and tracheid's often by
clogging.
2. Disruption of uptake of water by feeder roots
3. By canker fungi girdling trunk or branches.
II) Symptoms:
1. Drooping or limp of normal colored leaves followed by yellowing, browning,
dying and defoliation.
2. Discoloration of current year’s vessel when stems are spiltted.

III) Example:
1. Sissoo Wilt (Fusarium solani)
2. Oak wilt in southern USA (Ceratocystis fagacearum)
3. Verticillium wilt (verticilium spp.)
IV) Mode of action:
1. By plugging pits and pores.
2. By disturbing translocation by toxin.
3. By introduction of air bubbles into the vessel.
4. By death and decay of roots.
V) Control:
1. Use resistant varieties.
2. Avoid wounding.
3. Control nematode in soil.
4. maintain tree health.
5. Use sanitation program.

Concept on pythium, polyporous, fomes, ganoderma, poria, lenzites, fusarium, and
their control:-
1) Pythium:
1. Pythium belongs to the class Omycetes.
2. Hyphae are aseptate (no partition wall).
3. Root Rot and dumping off are extremely destructive diseases of many plants
especially in nursery seedlings.
4. Pythium artotrogus on deodar (Dumping –off).
5. P. spinosum on cashew (Root Rot).
6. P. vexans on rubber (Patch canker).
7. Pythium is capable of living saprophytically in soil.

Life cycle:
1. Asexual fruiting body is a sporangium, in which the zoospores are formed. When
zoospores are formed they number up to 125 per sporangium and germinate by a
germ tube.
2. Oospore is formed after fertilization of antheredium and oogonium is formed.
Control:
1. Sterilization of soil.
2. Seed treatment (Blitox, zinc oxide).
3. Maintain drainage and watering of seedlings.

2) Fomes:
This belongs to basidio mycetes.
It is one of the most common and destructive heart rot diseases.
It is worldwide in distribution and occurs on many species including:
1. Fomes caryophylli (heart rot in sal).
2. Fomes badius (heart rot in khair).
3. Fomes annosus (root and butt rot in deodar).
4. Fomes pini (heart rot in pine).
Diseases cycle:
1. Mycelium usually branched and septae.
2. The basidio spores produced in the body are discharged forcibly and carried by air.
3. When spore germinate on the surface of tree, the mycelium invades through wounds.
Control:
1. Sterilization of soil.
2. Seed treatment (Blitox, zinc oxide).
3. Maintain drainage and watering of seedlings.

4) Ganoderma:
1. This belongs to basidio mycetes.
2. It is one of the distractive root rot diseases
3. The pathogen possesses a wide host range among broad leaved species, which go into the
composition of natural forests.
4. Ganoderma lucidum (root rot on khair, sissoo, Eucalyptus, poplars, chir-pine)
Disease cycle:-
The fungus is normally endemic in natural forests. When forest is clear-felled, the hoist
resistance is lost and fungus quickly spread on residual roots and stumps to build high
inoculums. Sporophores commonly develop on attacked plants, usually at the base or apparently
on the ground. Sporophores are usually stalked, corky, and later woody.
Control Measures:
1. Planting resistance species
2. Isolation trenches
3. Mixed plantation

5) Poria:
It is also belongs to basidio mycetes. Fungus causes root rot and heart rot diseases.
1. Poria hypobrunnea on rubber.
2. Poria epimiltina on eucalyptus.
3. Poria monticola on chir pine.
Disease cycle:- Fungus establish on stumps through wind-blown spores and then
attacks hoist through rhizomorph (In some fungi, the hyphae aggregate to produce
long, firm and branching stands with a hard rid).
Control: Same as root rot and heart rot diseases.

6) Lenzites:
1. Lenzites belongs to class basidio mycetes and family agaricaceae.
2. Spores are lathery when fresh and brittle when dry.
3. They cause brown cubical rot on coniferous logs, e.g. Lenzites betuling.
7. Fusarium:
Fusarium belongs to the Deutero mycetes (fungi imperfecti).
Most of the species are soil inhabiting. They pose serious problems in nursery
seedlings diseases.
1. Fusarium solani (wilt diseases on Sissoo)
2. Fusarium oxysporum (wilt diseases on teak)
3. Fusarium fuliginosporum (root rot in deodar)
Disease cycle:-
Pathogen is mostly restricted to roots. Diseased roots are plugged with hyphae and
infiltrated with jelly like substances, which hinder sap, flow to the crown resulting
wilt symptoms.

8. Armillarea:
1. This fungus belongs to agaricaceae family.
2. It is saprophytic fungus and widespread incident of root rot of forest.
3. Armillaria mellea causes root rot in chir pine, blue pine, Eucalyptus, deodar, teak.
4. The mycelium develops in white, fan shaped felts between bark and wood.
5. The fungus subsists on roots and stumps in the form of rhizomorph.

Symptoms, pathogenic organism, mode of
infection, life cycle and control measures:
1. Sal (Shorea robusta)
a. Sal is an important timber species distributed in tropical and subtropical climate.
Some of the important disease of Sal forest is as follows:
A) Root and Butt Rot diseases:
Causal organism: Polyporus shoreae
Occurrences:
Polyporus shoreae occurs on sal throughout its range of distribution. It is
sporadic in drier types of sal, becoming common in locations with higher rainfall.

Infection and damage:
a. The fungus is capable of infecting healthy and uninjured roots.
b. The roots are first attacked at the distal end.
c. The infection progress up to the collar region and does not usually progress up to stem.
d. The infections spread by the root.
Predisposing factors:
a. P. Shoreae root rot in sal is significant in areas of high rainfall.
b. This fungus attack on the high moisture areas.
c. Fire protection leads to high soil moisture and heavy weed growth under which conditions
the roots become susceptible to attack by P. Shoreae.

Symptoms:
1. Affected trees do not exhibit symptoms till some roots are attacked.
2. Tree shows top-dying and it gradually extends down ward till trees are dead.
3. Such trees become windblown because they loose foothold in soil due to decay of roots.
4. Drier locations, killing of trees is slow, while in moister types death is rapid.
5. Tree may put forth epicormic branches.
6. Presences of white pocket rot in the bark and sapwood.
7. Small. light yellow mycelia felts of the fungus develop on bark or roots.
8. The heart wood usually remains unaffected.

Life Cycle:
1. Sporophores produces basidiospores.
2. The sporophores of the fungus are usually formed on affected trees at the base or on exposed roots.
3. Spores are disseminated by wind or water.
4. Infection gradually spreads to other parts of the root.
5. Sporophores are sessile, funnel-shaped, and soft when fresh.
6. Becoming brittle when dries. Light in weight, single or imbricate; upper surface is brown to black, glabrous.
Control Measures;
1. Reduces soil moisture by control burning and thereby minimizing infection by the fungus.
2. Remove dead and dying trees.
3. Isolate infected root by trenches.
4. Burning also helps in checking weed growth which conserves and increases soil moisture favorable for
diseases development.
Other root rots diseases: caused by:
a. Ganoderma lucidum and
b. Fomes lamaoensis also cause root rot in Sal.

B) Heart Rot diseases:
Sal has the reputation of being one of the most naturally durable timbers. However the living
trees are liable to attacked by heart rot fungi.
Causal organism:
a. Hymenochaete rubiginosa
b. Fomes caryophylli:
c. Fomes fastuousus:
Mode of infection:
a. Heat rot fungal infection occurs through open wounds on trunks or branches cause by
lightening, branch breakage,
browsing by animals and during felling and logging operations.
b. Dead branches, branches stubs and knots constitute important infection courts.
c. Frost may also cause splitting of the bark through which F. caryophylli infect.
d. Coppicing results in wounds on the stool and Hymenochaete rubiginosa, Fomes caryophylli
and F. Fastuousus fungi infect the stools.

Indicators of decay (symptoms):
a. Presence of sporophores, punk knot, wounds, swollen bole, knots, branch stubs, dead
branches.
b. In advanced stages of decay, sporophores develop on the host.
c. Punk knots are characteristics symptoms of attack by Fomes caryophylli on sal.
d. Hollow sound.
I) Hymenochaete rubiginosa
Occurrence;
1. Occurs in tropical and temperate zones and attacks a wide range of hosts in broadleaved
species.
2. The fungus may remain active on logs and converted wood.
3. The fungus occurs on sal and its associates like; Terminliaalata, Terminalia vellerica,
Lagerstroemia parviflora etc.

Damage;
1. H. rubiginosa commonly enters through fire injuries and may account for nearly 50% of the
total decay due to all causes.
2. Heart wood of sal is dark brown and discolored.
3. Finally a white pocket rot develops.
Sporophores:
Sporophores sessile, upper surface dark brown zoned velvety, in young later becoming
smooth, corky and rigid on drying.

II) Fomes caryophylli:
1. Decay due to Fomes caryophylli is commonly known as gauj or ankhya-rot or eye.
2. Widely distributed in sal forest and also its associates; Aogeissus latifolia, Ougeinensis etc.
3. In sal forest Fomes caryphylli may account for over 25% of the total decay due to all causes.
4. At the initial stage of infection wood strains dark brown which changes to white pocket rot in
advance stage.
5. Sporophores are perennial, dark brown, woody, and small hairy when young.
6. Yellow mycelia may develop in decayed wood.

III) Fomes fastuousus:
1. It occurs in all sal forest and abundant in coppice forest.
2. Wound parasite, invades through wounds made by fire.
3. Generally causes butt rot and extend up to main root.
4. Early decay manifests dark brown discoloration and advance stages indicate by white pocket.
5. Sporophores are hard perennial, sessile, woody, large.
Control Measures:
1. Reduce through the management practices and silvicultural measures by minimizing development of
wounds and infection courts.
2. In heavy frost areas, the injury to young crop may be prevented by adjustment of the canopy
3. Canopy adjustment is important in preventing suppression because due to suppression under storey crops
may suffer from dead branches, branch stubs and knots, all which constitute infection courts for heart rot.
4. Controlled burning in early stage minimize the risk of severe fire injury resulting prevent from the heart rot.
5. During felling operations, falling trees may cause injury to residual trees and cause a wound which becomes
courts for decay fungi. Such injury is prevented by the lopping of thick branches before felling.
6. Pathological rotation period should be obtained.

2) Dalbergia Sissoo and casuarina:-
It is a strong light demander tree growing in well-drained soil of the tropical and
subtropical climate of Nepal. The following are:
important diseases of sissoo.
a. Wilt diseases;
Occurrences;
1. Wilt diseases in sissoo is prevalent in nursery as well as plantations raises in heavy soils with
poor drainage.
2. Wilt diseases is rarely problem in the natural forest.
Predisposing factors;
1. Wild diseases is correlated with the soil texture and moisture
2. It is absent in high proportion of sand containing soil.
3. Wilt in sissoo is favored by high soil moisture in sites with poor drainage
Causal organism: Fusarium solani:
1. Fusarium infects dead and weakened roots and progresses into healthy tissues.
2. Pathogen is restricted to the root

Symptoms:
1. Outer sapwood of infected root exhibits a characteristic pink to reddish pink stain.
2. In diseased root, vessels are plugged with hyphae and jelly like substances, which hinders sap
flow to crown.
3. Symptoms of tree diseases include yellowing of leaves, defoliation and death with few
months.
4. It shows yellowing and death of leaves in acropetal succession up the tree
Control:
Sissoo should be raised on the light textured soil with adequate soil moisture and good
drainage systems.

3) Acacia Catechu:
1. Khair is a middle-sized tree.
2. It grows in riversides along with sissoo.
The important diseases for khair are as follows:
1. Ganoderma root rot.
2. Heart rot diseases: Fomes badius.
1. Ganoderma root rot: caused by Ganoderma lucidum
Mode of infection:
1. Wound parasite, infects khair through mechanical wounds of wounds made by animal.
2. Sporophores perennial, hard, woody, sessile and easily detachable from the host.
3. Upper surface brown to black, cracking with age
4. G. lucidum may be traced back to residual stumps and roots of the previous forest cover.
5. The common genera including species attacked by G. lucidum are Acacia, Albizia, Cassia,
Casuarina, Dalbergia, Delonix, MangiferaTerminalia etc.

Damage:
1. Kills the bark and causes white spongy rot in the sapwood.
2. Khair is susceptible at all stage.
3. Affected plants exhibit pale foliage which eventually dries up.
4. Young plants are killed soon after infection.
5. The fungus produces thin white mycelia mat between the bark and the wood.
6. Mortality occurs from third year and increases with age of the plantation.
Host susceptibility:
1. In plantations where khair and other preferred species like sissoo. Semal, ailanthus, and teak
are raised on a reforested
stand not cleared of residual stumps and roots. The risk of G. lucidum root infections is high.
2. Khair and sissoo are the most susceptible hosts; Simal is attacked only when vigour is poor,
while others are resistant.
3. Pure culture inoculations on these confirm this observation.

Sporophores:
1. Fruiting bodies of G. lucidum commonly develop on affected plants, usually at the base on
the ground but in the latter
case, the fruit bodies are invariably attached to decayed roots.
2. Due to presence of sporophores, it is easy to locate the infected minute.
3. Sporophores are usually stalked, rarely sessile, corky, and later woody.
Symptoms:
1. Presence of signs (sporophores) on different height of trees.
2. Yellow spongy, mottled decay due to formation of long black steak and zone lines.
Control:
1. Avoid injury.
2. Remove source of inoculums.
3. Conduct selected cutting.
Ganoderma lucidum may be minimized or kept under control by adopting one or more of the following
procedures;
1. Mechanizes plantations
2. Extraction of stumps
3. Isolation trenches.

5. Mixed stands.
1. Mechanized plantations; this diseases risk is minimized through the mechanized plantations
as stumps and roots are removed during the plantations.
2. Extraction of stumps: If it is not possible to raise mechanized plantations, the incidence of the
disease can be minimized if the stumps and roots present in the lines are removed completely,
unlike the current practice where they are removed only up to the depth of the trench.
3. Isolation trenches; once the disease is attack in the line, its further spread are rapid from plant
to plant through root contact. This lateral spread can be checked by isolating trenches.
4. Planting resistant species: It is recommended that where the chance of G. lucidum root rot is
high than there is not to plant the susceptible speces like khiar and sissoo, in the first rotation
but to raise resistant species, like simal. Etc.
5. Mixed stands; If susceptible species like Khair and sissoo, are raised in a stand with high risk
of root disease, it may be necessary to raise then in intimate mixture with resistance species,
like simal and ailanthus, which will break the continuity of a pure line of khair and other
susceptible species and there by prevent rapid spread of the disease in the plantation.

2. Heart rot diseases: Fomes badius causing heart rot in khair (Acacia catechu) and Australian
Babul (Acacia mangium) is distributed throughout the range of its distribution.
Occurrences:
1. This is common in natural and planted forests of khair.
2. The fungus is mostly restricted to khair and occasionally attacks babul.
Infection and damage:
1. Fomes badius is a wound parasite.
2. The fungus infects khair through injuries due to mechanical causes and damage caused by
animals.
3. Decay in the heartwood.
4. Sapwood remains healthy
5. Heartwood is decayed progressely and finally becomes useless for katha and cutch.
6. Heartwood becomes yellow, spongy and light and presents a mottled appearance due to
formation of long streak lines.

Sporophopre:
1. Sporophores develop freely on affected trees.
2. Sporophores are perennial, sessile, hard, woody and easily detachable from the host.
3. The upper surface is brown or black, cracking with age and the hymenial surface dull brown
with minute pores.
Control measures:
1. Control of tree injures
2. Infection through the basidiospores that develop in them, so it is necessary to remove and
destroyed the sporophores.
3. Remove the attacked tree from the stands so as to enable salvaging of greater volume of
sound wood.
4. During the cultural or other silvicultural operations, all trees which have sporophores are
marked and removed.
Other fungi causing heart rot in khair are;
1. Fomes fastuous
2. Fomes senex and
3. Ganoderma applanatum.

4) Deodar (Cedrus deodara)
1. Deodar is gregarious in well-drained soils.
2. It is fire sensitive and is also sensitive to frost.
3. Important diseases of this species are:
1. Fomes annosus: Root and butt rot:
This fungal species attacks mostly conifers and few other broad-leaved species and is
distributed all over the world. It is severe in temperate climate and minor important in
subtropical climate.
Mode of infection;
1. Basidiospores produced in the sporophores are windblown; the spores fined freshly cut
stumps or wound at the tree base, and infect trees.
2. Fresh cut stumps are very susceptible to be colonizes by this fungus and becomes epidemic
after thinning.

Symptoms:
1. Death of young trees or old trees in groups, mostly centrifugal, dead trees in center and dying
trees in periphery
2. Crown decline, Chlorosis, and defoliation.
3. Presences of white pocket rot in root and butt region.
4. Presence of thin mycelia mats in between bark and wood.

Control Measures:
1. Removal of infected trees.
2. Thinning in hot summer.
3. Use of chemical seal 9boric acid) after fresh cut.
4. Spraying spore suspension of Peniophora gigantia, which checks the further
growth of Fomes annosus.

5. Chir Pine (Pinus roxburghii)
Chir pine is distributed on the subtropical climate. It is fire resistant and heavily tapped
for resin.
Some important diseases of chir pine are;
1. Root Rot diseases:
Causal Organisms:
1. Armillaria mellea,
2. Fomes annosus.
3. Ganoderm lucidum.
(Note: It are described previous slides.)

2. Stem rust diseases:
1. This is stem rust diseases caused by Cronarium himalyense.
2. This fungus produces five types of spores in four stages
3. Pycniospore and aeciospores are produced on pine stem
4. Uredinosphore and Teliospore
5. Aeciospores are windblown in May-June that infect the leaf of secondary host (Swertia
species) and swertia spp. Produce basidiospores, which are windblown, and infect to the chir
pine stem.
Symptoms:
1. Early symptoms are resin exudation from pine stem.
2. Canker develops in late stage by bark crack
3. Pycnial and aecial cups through ruptured bark.

Control Measures;
Eradication of secondary host
3. Heart rots diseases:
In chir pine heart Rot diseases is caused by Fomes pini and Ganoderma applanatusm.

6) Pink diseases of Eucalyptus:-
1. A pink disease in eucalyptus is caused by Corticium salmonicolor, and is distributed
indigenously in tropical and temperate region.
2. Pathogen also damages economically important plants such as coffee, cinchona, rubber,
poplar, casuarinas, teak etc.
3. Plants of all ages are susceptible to diseases.
Symptoms:
1. Branch girdling by cankers
2. Repeated killing of leader branches
3. Big trees develop cankers resulted by bark splitting.
Control:
No effective control measures are known for pink diseases.

Fig:- Pink diseases of Eucalyptus

BROWN ROTS:-
Quinine Fungus
Brown Trunk Rot Fomitopsis officinalis (Fomes officinalis)
Hosts:- Douglas fir pines western larch spruce and hemlock are
common hosts. The fungus seldom occurs on true firs.
Distribution and damage:- This fungus is an important trunk rot of old
growth conifers. It is found most commonly on Douglas fir and larch
but also attacks pines and some other species. The incidence of this
organism in second growth forests is not well known but appears to be
low. It is believed that wounds broken tops and branch stubs are
common entrance points for the fungus It may also occasionally enter
fire scars.

Identification:-
The brown trunk rot only occasionally
occurs in the butt and is found mainly in the
trunk and upper bole of the tree where it is often
very extensive. Another characteristic that
distinguishes F. officinalis from L. sulphureus is
the bitter taste of fresh mycelial felts present in
the decayed wood. Thus it has been called
quinine fungus.
Fruiting body :-Fruiting bodies do not commonly occur on trees attacked by the fungus.
When present they are pendant woody perennial often hoof shaped structures with a chalky
surface. They may range in size from several inches to more than 2 feet 0.6 m long. Their
presence indicates extensive decay The fruiting bodies are white and leathery when young
but chalky and crumbly when old. Like the mycelial felts they also have a bitter taste.

Red Belt Fungus/ Brown Crumbly Rot
Fomitopsis pinicola (Fomes pinicola).
Hosts:- Most western conifers including pines true firs Douglas fir
western hemlock western larch spruce and western red cedar are hosts for
this fungus.
Distribution and damage:- This fungus is one of the most common wood
rot organisms in coniferous forests of western North America. Although it
is mainly a decomposer of dead and down it has also been known to cause
heart rot in living trees. The mode of entrance for this fungus is mainly
wounds and broken or dead tops Decay in living true firs the red belt
fungus has also been found to be associated with large open bole
swellings caused by dwarf mistletoe.

Field identification
Rot -The rot caused by this fungus is somewhat
lighter in color than that caused by some of the other
crumbly brown rots. Rot develops in both sapwood
and heartwood, It may vary in color from a yellow
brown to slightly reddish Cubical cracking is
common and the shrinkage cracks are usually filled
with white fungus felts.
Fruiting body:- Fruiting bodies are commonly found associated with this rot. They are
leathery to woody perennial bracket type structures that when young appear as a round
white fungus mass. As they develop the upper surface turns dark gray to black while the
fresh lower pore surface remains white to creamy in color. A conspicuous reddish margin
develops between the two surfaces thus the name red belt fungus Fruiting bodies of this
organism are among the most common ones seen on dead and fallen coniferous trees
They generally range from about 4 to 18 inches 10 to 46 cm across.

Scaly Cap Fungus:- Lentinus lepideus
Hosts:- Common hosts include pine western red cedar incense cedar hemlock true
fir and Douglas fir.
Distribution and damage:- This fungus is of worldwide distribution. It also decays
dead and down wood As a heart rot organism it does not appear to be limited to any
particular part of the tree. It has been observed rotting roots as well as heartwood in
the upper portion of the bole It is common on pines in the high elevations.
Field identification:- Rot Incipient decay appears as a yellowish stain. Advanced
decay is dark brown cubically cracked almost black where exposed. Thin white
mycelial fans are in shrinkage cracks Rotten wood is said to have an anise or
turpentine Odor.

Fruiting body:- Of all the important brown heart rots. this is the only one caused by a
typical mushroom type fungus. The fruiting bodies are often large and range from 2 to
12 inches 5 to 30 cm in diameter are borne on a stalk are leathery and have a white
gilled lower surface. The top of the cap is composed of a whitish surface overlaid with
darker tan to brown scales thus the name scaly cap The dry fruiting bodies become
quite hard and brittle.

Pocket Dry Rot:- Oligoporus amarus (Polyporus amarus)
Hosts:- Incense Cedar is the only known host.
Distribution and damage:- Oligoporus amarus causes a Common heart rot of
incense Cedar throughout its natural range. More than a third of the volume or
about 5 billion board feet of the merchantable incense Cedar is culled because of
rot by this fungus.
Pocket dry rot is most common in trees on good growing sites and moist
microsites and less common in trees on marginal sites near the eastern limit of
incense Cedar Trees less than 150 years old are relatively free of rot, whereas in
trees 200 years or older the incidence of decay increases rapidly. Fire scars, large
open knots and branch stubs are the most common entry point for the fungus.

Field identification:-
Rot O. amarus produces a characteristic brown pocket rot not unlike the
brown cubical rot of redwood . The initial stage the rot appears as a brownish
discoloration of the heartwood elongated pockets usually several times longer
than wide develop. The wood within the pockets is broken down into a dry dark
brown crumbly residue separated by cross and longitudinal shrinkage cracks.
Although pockets may coalesce with one another the margin between rotten
wood and sound wood remains sharp. The pockets never become so numerous
that the entire Central cylinder of heartwood is decayed as happens when brown
cubical rot decays redwood.

Fruiting body:- The fruiting bodies furnish certain evidence of
extensive pocket dry rot. Usually one rarely two fruiting bodies are
produced and then only on trees with extensive rot. They have a smooth
margin and often appear somewhat hoof shaped Old fruiting bodies
darken in color and become dry and firm. They appear annually and only
in late summer and fall Eaten by insects they may be destroyed in a short
time As a result they are only occasionally seen on trees with pocket dry
rot Shot hole cups depressions in the bark caused by woodpeckers
searching for insects at the base of an old fruiting body are also common
indicators of decayed trees.

Velvet Top Fungus:-
Red Brown Butt Rot:-Phaeolus schweinitzii
Hosts Douglas – fir, pines, true firs, larch, spruce, incense cedar, western red cedar
and rarely hemlock are known hosts.
Distribution and damage:- The velvet top fungus occurs through out the world
where conifers are native or introduced. Hardwoods are seldom attacked. This
fungus is most common on Douglas fir .The fungus generally enters trees through
basal fire scars and is known mainly as a butt rot, Organism but is also a root
parasite. Although it has been reported as a trunk rot it almost always is confined to
the root system and lower 8 to 10 feet 2.4 to 3.0 m of the tree bole. Timber losses
are not precisely known but considered high both because the valuable butt logs are
badly decayed and because infected trees are predisposed to wind throw and
breakage Infected trees often exhibit a pronounced butt swell.

Field identification:- Rot Incipient decay from this fungus is not easy to recognize but
may appear as a yellow green to reddish discoloration of heart wood Advanced decay
is a typical brown rot limited to the heart wood. Rotted wood characteristically
appears reddish brown and tends to form large cubes and cracks across the grain. Thin
white resinous fungus mats may appear in the shrinkage cracks. Dry decayed wood
may be easily crumbled into a fine powder .

Fruiting body:- The fruiting bodies of this fungus may appear either on the soil around
the base of an infected tree or on the butt of the tree itself. Depending on the site of
development they may be either brackets or mushroom like in structure. Brackets tend
to form on exposed wood whereas the stalked mushroom type fruiting bodies usually
appear on the soil. The fruiting bodies have a soft velvety top that when fresh is
usually reddish brown in color and encircled by a yellowish margin. Concentric lines
are also present on the top surface. The lower spore producing pore surface varies
from dark green to light brown The fruiting bodies are produced annually in summer
and fall and when old dry up darken and closely resemble cow dung. Windborne
spores enter and infect the host through fire scars and wounded roots Infection can
also spread from tree to tree through root contact.

Sulfur Fungus :
Brown Cubical Rot:- Laetiporus sulphureus (Polyporus sulphureus)
Hosts:- The usual hosts of this fungus are Douglas fir, true firs, pines, hemlock
spruce, larch and western red cedar.
Distribution and damage :-The sulfur fungus is common on hardwoods and conifers.
it causes considerable rot in conifers particularly true firs. The organism generally
enters through basal fire scars and wounds on conifers and primarily causes a butt rot.
Although sulfur fungus is not considered a major slash decay organism it is often seen
on stumps logs and dead trees.
Rot - Advanced decay is similar to that caused by red brown butt rot. Decayed wood
is dark to reddish brown cubically cracked and is easily crumbled. Usually white
mycelial felts are present in the shrinkage cracks. These may be very thin or range up
to 0.25 inch 0.6 cm thick a foot 0.3 m or so wide and several feet long.

Fruiting body:- Clustered annual shelf like fruiting bodies are typical of this
organism. When fresh they are soft and fleshy with a bright yellow orange upper
surface and a bright sulfur yellow lower pore surface. Old fruiting bodies are hard
brittle and chalky white.

Redwood Cubical Rot:- Oligoporus sequoiae (Poria sequoia)
Hosts:- Coast redwood is the only known host.
Distribution and damage:- This rot is distributed throughout the natural range of
redwood. As one of the two major rots in redwood it is the most common and causes
the most cull. About 10 billion board feet of cull in redwood is attributed to heart rots
of which more than 75 percent is caused by Oligoporus sequoia. Surveys have shown
that by far the greatest amount of rot occurs in old growth redwood particularly in
those with basal fire scars or broken tops. Second growth redwood may suffer some
loss from O. sequoiae but fortunately the rot is not transferred from stumps to stump
sprouts.
Rot - Initial stages of rot range from a dark brown stain of the inner heartwood to
scattered pockets of brown charcoal like dry rot which shrinks and cracks into cubes.
In the advanced stages the pockets of rot are so numerous that nearly the entire central
and to some degree the outer cylinder of heartwood is rotted.

Fruiting body:- The spore producing structure is unlike the typical bracket or
mushroom shaped fruiting bodies produced by most of the rot fungi. Instead the
entire fruiting body develops as a thin white mantle or crust composed of fungus
strands and a spore producing pore surface. The fruiting bodies often are no more
than 2 inches 5 cm long and 1 inch 3 cm wide and most frequently are found in fire
scars dark crevices and on the ends of down logs.

• Integrated Pest Management Strategies
• 1. Proper planning. Appropriate species and cultivar selection to match the right tree for
the right site will make it easier to keep trees healthy for their entire life.
• 2. Proper tree maintenance. Subsequent good cultural practices (planting, fertilizing,
watering, pruning, etc.) will help to maintain the health and vigor of any tree.
• 3. Avoid damage to tree trunks and roots. Even small wounds from mowers and trimmers
can allow infection by decay fungi. Avoid damaging all deciduous trees, both young and
old.
• 4. As soon as possible, remove trees that exhibit conks on the lower trunk and exposed
root areas. Large trees with severe internal rot may fall with little warning, injuring people
and causing extensive property damage. Consult a certified arborist for removal of large
trees.

Forest disease control
One prime object of forestry is to grow crops free from diseases and obtain profitable
harvest.
Forest crops are:
1. Perennial,
2. Rotation age of many decades
3. Low value per unit area in compound to agro crops
4. Therefore the chemical control measure of diseases is limited only for nursery and plantation.
5. Silvicultural and management practices are broadly applied to control diseases in case of
natural forest.
6. More valuable species are likely to be more damage and require more effort to protect.
A. Direct Measures:
1. Sanitation,
2. Eradication,
3. Isolation Trenches,
4. Chemical Control.

1. Sanitation:
a. It is the process that reduces or eliminates the initial inoculums from which the disease
develops.
b. Control by sanitation requires an early detection of the diseases in the forest and taking
suitable steps to remove the diseases inoculums before it can spread the diseases. Cuttings,
thinning, felling.
c. Sanitation may also be carried out by removal of fruiting bodies of fungi.
2. Eradication:
a. Heteroecious rust requires two hosts complete their life cycle; these diseased can be
controlled by eradication of one of the hosts (weeds or unevaluated spp.) by weedicides..
b. Control of root rot may be obtained by removal of residual stumps and roots prior to planting
either by raising mechanized plantations or through extraction by physical means.

3. Isolation:
a. Generally root diseases are not spread through soil.
b. Diseases are mainly contaminated to adjacent healthy plants through root contact or root graft.
c. The spread of disease can be checked by isolating diseased plants by trenches.
4. Chemical Control:
a. The use of chemicals in diseases control is limited only for nursery and plantation because of
its expensiveness and side effects.
b. Fungicides chemical may act in preventing infection. A fungicide must have the characteristics
to have desirable effects:
1. Able to attack the pathogen at weakest point of its life cycle and non-
toxic to the host to wild dosage used.
2. Should not cause any pollution hazards to wild life.
3. Should be long lasting even exposed to rain.
4. It must ne adhere well to produces a lasting effect.

B. Indirect Measures;
1. Choice and improvement of site.
2. Choice of species: A pure stand is ideal for a pathogen to build up to epidemic and infection is
direct and rapid from tree to tree. For these reasons, mixed stands are suitable for controlled
some kinds of disease.
3. Silvicultural and Management Practices.
4. Cultural Practices.
5. Biological control.
6. Resistance breeding.

References
• Books:-
• Bakshi BK. 1976. Forest Pathology. Controller of Publication, GOI.
• Manion PD. 1991. Tree Diseases Concept. Printice Hall.
• Net:-
• https//www.tnau.com/forest protection
• https//www.forestpedia.com/forest disease management
• https//www.researchgate.net/diseases of natural forest.
• https//www.indianforester.co.in

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