Phytophthora ramorum on Larix spp. in the United Kingdom
In the United Kingdom, Phytophthora ramorum (EPPO Alert List) was found infecting and killing large numbers of Japanese larch trees (Larix kaempferi) in South-West England (EPPO RS 2010/033). This was the first time P. ramorum had been found causing lethal infection (in the form of stem cankers) on this commercially important conifer species. It was then confirmed on a European larch tree (Larix decidua) in woodland near Lostwithiel, in Cornwall (South-West England). In 2010, mortality of L. kaempferi trees related to P. ramorum was also observed in one forest in Wales, in one small site in Western Scotland (Craignish peninsula in Argyll), as well as in Northern Ireland and the Isle of Man. According to Brasier and Webber (2010), it was estimated that approximately 1;900 ha of larch plantations (about 0.5 million trees) were showing symptoms of P. ramorum infection in 2010.
Sources
INTERNET (last accessed in 2011-05-05)
Forestry Commission (GB). Phytophthora ramorum in larch trees – Update. http://www.forestry.gov.uk/forestry/INFD-8EJKP4
Brasier C, Webber J (2010) Sudden larch death. Nature 466(12), 824-825.