Publications
NIBIOs employees contribute to several hundred scientific articles and research reports every year. You can browse or search in our collection which contains references and links to these publications as well as other research and dissemination activities. The collection is continously updated with new and historical material.
2011
Abstract
No abstract has been registered
Authors
Venche Talgø Leif Sundheim Halvor B. Gjærum Maria Herrero Aruppillai Suthaparan Brita Toppe Arne StensvandAbstract
This paper presents powdery mildew species recorded on woody ornamentals, with special emphasis on the latest arrivals; Erysiphe flexuosa on horse chestnut (Aesculus hippocastanum), Erysiphe syringae-japonicae on lilac (Syringa vulgaris) and Podosphaera spireae on white spirea (Spiraea betulifolia). The two former were found in 2006, while the latter was first detected in 2008. Chasmothecia (formerly named cleistothecia) were not found on white spirea until 2010. Several locations seemed to have optimal conditions for development of powdery mildew diseases in 2006. That year the long established Sawadaea bicornis on sycamore maple (Acer pseudoplatanus), was found for the first time on tatarian maple (Acer tataricum ssp. ginnala) and one cultivar from hedge maple (Acer campestre "Red Shine"). Also several species and cultivars of Rhododendron had massive attacks of powdery mildew in 2006. In 2010, chasmothecia of E. azaleae were found on severely affected R. "Magnifica" in western Norway. Most powdery mildew species are host specific, but especially Phyllactinia guttata has a wider host range, e.g. hazel (Corylus spp.) and common ash (Fraxinus excelsior).
Abstract
Three primary causal agents are involved in the leaf blotch disease (LBD) complex of Norwegian winter and spring wheat: Phaesophaeria nodorum, Mycospaerella tritici, and Pyrenophora drechslera-tritici. The dynamics of symptom development, similarity of symptoms caused by each agent, and confounding of disease symptoms by leaf senescence interfere with accurate assessment of disease. Empirical and regression models for disease and yield loss forecasting are only as good as the data upon which they are based. Accurately describing the relationship between symptoms and yield loss is therefore critical to meaningful economic thresholds for management decisions and advisory systems. A general guideline for yield loss and disease severity has been described as 1% yield loss per 1% disease severity on the flag leaf at BBCH stage 70-75 (King et al., 1983). However, several years of field trials in Norway indicate that disease severity can increase exponentially during these developmental stages, making disease severity highly dependent upon time of assessment. LBD severity on flag leaves of the spring wheat variety ‘Bjarne’ at two different locations in 2010 varied during the above BBCH stages from 27% to 44% and from 4.45% to 23.2%. Different varieties may compensate differently for loss of photosynthetic area on the flag leaf due to leaf blotch pathogens, rendering the general guide line for yield loss inaccurate. Preliminary studies in Norway indicated that the relation between yield reduction (TKW) and disease severity of the flag leaf differed substantially for five different spring varieties and ranged from 0.03 to 1.4 at BBCH 70 and from 0.8 to 4.1 at BBCH 75, at one field site at Aas, Norway in 2010. The causes of the observed variation in the relationship between flag leaf severity and yield reduction are poorly understood. Effects of other diseases are not accounted for by leaf blotch assessments, nor are fungicides applied to reference plots necessarily eliminating all disease effects on yield. Timing of assessments may be as critical as the accuracy of the assessments; making it necessary to time the assessments properly, and distinguish clearly between leaf senescence and leaf blotch symptoms.
Abstract
The causative agent of dieback on European ash (Fraxinus excelsior) was first described as Chalara fraxinea based on cultural morphology because no sexual stage of the fungus was known. Later, based on culturing of ascospores of a candidate teleomorph, morphological comparison and nuclear ribosomal internal transcribed spacer sequencing, the sexual stage of C. fraxinea was assigned as Hymenoscyphus albidus, a native and widespread species in Europe. Recently, the morphological species concept of H. albidus was shown to cover two species that cannot be separated from each other based on teleomorph characters, but which can be distinguished by several DNA markers. As a result, the strains causing ash dieback were reassigned as H. pseudoalbidus. The closely related H. albidus is presumably a non-pathogenic endophyte, but pathogenicity tests to confirm this hypothesis have not yet been performed. Genotyping of herbarium specimens has shown that H. pseudoalbidus was present in Switzerland for at least a decade prior to the epidemic outbreak in Europe. The origin of the ash dieback pathogen, and the general importance of correct pathogen identification to development of effective disease control, are discussed.
Abstract
No abstract has been registered
Authors
Roman Gebauer Daniel Volařík Josef Urban Isabella Børja Nina Elisabeth Nagy Toril Eldhuset Paal KrokeneAbstract
Conifers and other trees are constantly adapting to changes in light conditions, water/nutrient supply and temperatures by physiological and morphological modifications of their foliage. However, the relationship between physiological processes and anatomical characteristics of foliage has been little explored in trees. In this study we evaluated needle structure and function in Norway spruce families exposed to different light conditions and transpiration regimes. We compared needle characteristics of sun-exposed and shaded current-year needles in a control plot and a thinned plot with 50% reduction in stand density. Whole-tree transpiration rates remained similar across plots, but increased transpiration of lower branches after thinning implies that sun-exposed needles in the thinned plot were subjected to higher water stress than sun-exposed needles in the control plot. In general, morphological and anatomical needle parameters increased with increasing tree height and light intensity. Needle width, needle cross-section area, needle stele area and needle flatness (the ratio of needle thickness to needle width) differed most between the upper and lower canopy. The parameters that were most sensitive to the altered needle water status of the upper canopy after thinning were needle thickness, needle flatness and percentage of stele area in needle area. These results show that studies comparing needle structure or function between tree species should consider not only tree height and light gradients, but also needle water status. Unaccounted for differences in needle water status may have contributed to the variable relationship between needle structure and irradiance that has been observed among conifers.
Abstract
A rapid increase in the frequency of Dutch elm disease (DED), a wilting disease of elm trees caused by bark-beetle vectored fungi, was observed in the early 1990s on several wych elm stands around Oslofjord, southern Norway. To examine the current status of the disease and its impacts on elm population, disease frequency and size distribution of elms were recorded at four locations. Northern parts of Lier, a municipality most affected by DED in Norway 15 years ago, showed in the survey season 4% disease frequency, whereas 13.8% of trees were dead, the dead trees having accumulated over several years in the unmanaged stands. In southern parts of the municipality the mean disease and death percentages were 1.9 and 2.4%. Compatible with their low disease incidence in early 1990s, the other two areas now examined, municipality of Larvik and district of Grenland, showed comparably low frequency of DED. Northern part of Lier showed significantly higher overall density of elm trees per hectare than the other examined areas, and also the small elms below 5 cm in d.b.h. were most frequent in this region. In contrast, the density of large trees was lower in northern Lier than in the other examined areas. These data suggest that regeneration of the tree is not prohibited owing to the disease but that the large trees have been locally reduced in frequency as a result of DED. The superior general density of elm trees in northern Lier, owing to the exceptionally rich soil in the warm southern slopes of the region,> may have contributed to the rapid increase of DED in the area 15 years ago and to the subsequent settlement of the disease outbreak as a chronic stage.
Abstract
No abstract has been registered
Abstract
No abstract has been registered
Abstract
No abstract has been registered