Triple whammy of disease strikes Scottish park
10 March 2011
Dozens of trees are being felled along the shorelines of Lake Lomond in Scotland to contain outbreaks of three strains of the deadly fungus-like pathogen Phytophthora in the same country park.
The Forestry Commission started investigating reports of about 80 dead and dying Chamaecyparis lawsoniana (Lawsons's cypress) and a further 27 dying Taxus baccata (common yew) at the Balloch Castle Country Park late last year. They found the first known occurrence in the country of P. lateralis, a particularly virulent strain which attacks the roots of trees and almost always kills them.
Now plant pathologists have confirmed the closely-related P. ramorum is also present in a Lawson's cypress and rhododendron at the park – the first time in the world both strains have been discovered in the same location. It's only the second site in Scotland where P. ramorum has been found in trees, although more than two million Japanese larch have now been felled in England, Wales and Ireland following outbreaks.
'These are very worrying developments, because both of these pathogens cause serious plant and tree diseases,' said Roddie Burgess, head of the Forestry Commission's Plant Health service. 'Anyone who has any species of cypress, larch or rhododendron on properties in the area is asked to check them carefully for signs of dying foliage and to report suspicious symptoms to us.'
Meanwhile P. cinnamomi, endemic to Britain and not a quarantine pathogen, has been identified as the most likely cause of the death of the yews.
Reports of suspected infections in the area around Loch Lomond can be made by email to ddas.nrs@forestry.gsi.gov.uk or by telephone to 0131 445 2176.