- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
Sudden Oak Death is changing the Bay Area landscape, according to a story in today's San Jose Mercury News by Julia Scott. The story was prompted by the removal of 40 dead trees in the forests surrounding Crystal Springs Reservoir. The trees were killed by Sudden Oak Death, which is gaining momentum in San Mateo County.
In the article, UC Berkeley forest pathologist Mateo Garbelleto offered a ray of hope, and what some might consider a worst-case scenario.
Garbelleto said a substance developed in his lab, Agri-Fos, can be applied to high-value trees to protect them from Sudden Oak Death. However, it would be cost prohibitive to...
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
Officials looking for ways to eradicate light brown apple moth from California's Bay Area and North Coast seem to face skepticism of their every move. Aerial spraying of pheromones has been abandoned after opposition from residents in the infested areas. A story this week in the Contra Costa Times sheds doubt on a planned alternative program, releasing sterile moths to control the pest.
According to the article, UC Berkeley entomologist Andrew Guitierrez says the female light brown apple moth can mate several times in the one- to two-week period before laying eggs.
"Within a few days, 100 percent of them have mated,...
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
The Los Angeles Times reported yesterday that trees killed by Sudden Oak Death are making the fire raging near Big Sur burn hotter, spread faster and loom more periously over firefighters. The story says hundreds of thousands of oak trees in the area have succombed to the disease caused by the fungus-like organism Phytophthora ramorum.
For the article, Times reporter Deborah Schoch spoke to UC Davis plant pathologist David Rizzo. He said SOD has "reached its apex" in Big Sur.
"You look in some of these canyons, and you'll see 70 percent, 80 percent of tanoaks are dead," Rizzo was quoted. "The...
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
Glassy-winged sharpshooters made a tremendous spash in the California media back in the 90s when they were first introduced into California and began spreading Pierce's disease in grapes. They were never far from the minds of grape researchers and farmers, but the stories in the press almost completely disappeared. Until yesterday.
The Riverside Press Enterprise ran a 500-word story about renewed concerns of a Pierce's disease outbreak in Temecula wine country. According to the article, a grower and a UC Riverside scientist are warning that not enough wineries are applying a pesticide that kills the glassy-winged...
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
A meeting of the California Oak Mortality Task Force in Marin is generating a spike in news coverage of Sudden Oak Death. Today, the main theme is where the disease took hold in California. UC Berkeley researcher Matteo Garbelotto reported on genetic testing of Phytophthora ramorum, the pathogen that is killing California oaks.
According to a story in the Marin Independent Journal, Garbelotto found the pathogen's forebears at a site on Bolinas Ridge within the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, five kilometers from the Kentfield site where the disease was first observed in...
