- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
The Forest Pathology and Mycology Laboratory at UC Berkeley used 10,000 tree and plant samples collected by 500 citizens between April and June to document a dramatic increase in the Sudden Oak Death infection rate from Napa to the Carmel Valley, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.
"We found that the number of positives were double and in some cases triple what they were last year," said Matteo Garbelotto, the UC Berkeley forest pathologist who organizes the annual surveys....
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
A Northern California mushroom hunter blames sudden oak death for a dramatic decline in wild golden chanterelles, according to a feature story in the East Bay Express, but the article points to myriad pressures on landscapes that used to produce the edible fungi.
Mushroom enthusiast Todd Spanier told writer Alistair Bland that 10 years ago he could harvest nearly 200 pounds of golden chanterelles from a handful of patches.
"Now, I can go to the same canyons, do all the same hikes to all the same patches, and collect maybe five pounds of chanterelles," Spanier was quoted.
Among other things, Spanier blames sudden oak...
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
A coast live oak tree on the southeastern edge of the Presidio National Park in San Francisco was found to have Sudden Oak Death disease, according to an article in the San Francisco Chronicle.
The disease was believed to have made its way to the tree from an ornamental plant at a nearby home, reported Matteo Garbelotto of UC Berkeley's Forest Pathology and Mycology Laboratory. Scientists are concerned about the find because it means the microbe escaped from an ornamental and infected a wild tree despite an intensive nationwide effort to control the disease in...
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
Scientists at UC Berkeley are using tree and plant samples collected by citizens over the past two years to document Bay Area infestations of Sudden Oak Death, reported the San Francisco Chronicle.
"Last year we had about 240 participants and collected over 1,000 samples. These results were placed on a map so people can see where the positives are," UC Berkeley forest pathologist Matteo Garbelotto was quoted. "This is part of the solution. If we educate and involve individual...
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
To better understand the extent of sudden oak death in California, UC Berkeley professor Mateo Garbelotto is enlisting volunteers in "SOD blitzes" to scour neighborhoods and wildlands for symptoms of the devastating disease, according to a story in the Oakland Tribune.
Sudden oak death, caused by a fungus Phytophthora ramorum, has resulted in widespread dieback of coast live oak, California black oak, Shreve oak, tan oak and canyon live oak in Central and Northern California and Oregon coastal areas.
The Oakland Tribune article,...