Assessment of presence and distribution of Armillaria and Heterobasidion root rot fungi in the forest of Vallombrosa (Apennines Mountains, Italy) after severe windstorm damage
László Benedek Dálya (1) , Paolo Capretti (2), Luisa Ghelardini (2), Libor Jankovský (1)
iForest - Biogeosciences and Forestry, Volume 12, Issue 1, Pages 118-124 (2019)
doi: https://doi.org/10.3832/ifor2929-012
Published: Feb 11, 2019 - Copyright © 2019 SISEF
Research Articles
Abstract
One of the main problems for the management and conservation of silver fir stands has long been pathogens causing root rot, in particular Armillaria spp. and Heterobasidion annosum s.l. These opportunistic pathogens are especially threatening now that climate change related stress is increasing tree susceptibility to disease and vulnerability to windstorms. The northern Apennines Mountains (central Italy) are forecast to be one of the areas with the highest temperature increase in the next future. However, no systematic assessment exists of the risk posed by the disturbance due to secondary pathogens in the Apennine forests. In the Nature Reserve of Vallombrosa (northern Apennines), where silver fir forests have been managed and conserved for centuries since the Middle Ages, making it an ideal site for studying these parasites, the high presence of H. annosum was reported already in 1990, while only sporadic observations are available on Armillaria species. The aim of this work was to examine the occurrence of both pathogens, since detailed knowledge about their distribution may assist forest management planning and decision-making. Systematic sampling was undertaken at the intersection of 52 grid points covering the whole forest. Different fungal species from soil and fungal samples (fruiting bodies or rhizomorphs) were identified by combining morphological descriptions with molecular methods. The analyses confirmed the presence of H. abietinum in about 70% of the investigated points. The fungus was detected at two new localities above 1000 metres suggesting a possible expansion of the parasite at upward elevation, which might be associated with climate change. Armillaria was widespread: almost 90% of the samples resulted positive, and four different Armillaria species were successfully identified. The most frequent species were A. cepistipes, whose rhizomorphs were especially abundant, and A. ostoyae, which was often detected just in soil samples. At sites where A. cepistipes was found to coexist with A. gallica, these two species might specialize themselves to necrotrophic and saprotrophic lifestyle, respectively. Besides, there were unexpected findings of A. mellea, supposed to be a residual from the previous rotation of broadleaves.
Keywords
Butt Rot, Climate Change Disturbances, Heterobasidion annosum, Root Rot, Silver Fir, Windstorm Damage
Authors’ Info
Authors’ address
Libor Jankovský
Department of Forest Protection and Wildlife Management, Mendel University in Brno (ÚOLM), Zemedelská 3, 61300 Brno (Czech Republic)
Luisa Ghelardini
Department of Agrifood Production and Environmental Sciences, University of Florence (DISPAA), p.le delle Cascine 28, I-50144, Firenze (Italy)
Corresponding author
Paper Info
Citation
Dálya LB, Capretti P, Ghelardini L, Jankovský L (2019). Assessment of presence and distribution of Armillaria and Heterobasidion root rot fungi in the forest of Vallombrosa (Apennines Mountains, Italy) after severe windstorm damage. iForest 12: 118-124. - doi: 10.3832/ifor2929-012
Academic Editor
Alberto Santini
Paper history
Received: Jul 22, 2018
Accepted: Dec 28, 2018
First online: Feb 11, 2019
Publication Date: Feb 28, 2019
Publication Time: 1.50 months
Copyright Information
© SISEF - The Italian Society of Silviculture and Forest Ecology 2019
Open Access
This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made.
Web Metrics
Breakdown by View Type
Article Usage
Total Article Views: 14145
(from publication date up to now)
Breakdown by View Type
HTML Page Views: 10121
Abstract Page Views: 1076
PDF Downloads: 2294
Citation/Reference Downloads: 5
XML Downloads: 649
Web Metrics
Days since publication: 2068
Overall contacts: 14145
Avg. contacts per week: 47.88
Citation Metrics
Article Citations
Article citations are based on data periodically collected from the Clarivate Web of Science web site
(last update: Nov 2020)
Total number of cites (since 2019): 1
Average cites per year: 0.50
Publication Metrics
by Dimensions ©
Articles citing this article
List of the papers citing this article based on CrossRef Cited-by.
References
Distribuzione, caratterizzazione e genesi degli orizzonti compatti nei suoli della foresta di Vallombrosa (Firenze). Loro influenza sul ribaltamento dell’abete bianco [Distribution, characterization and genesis of compacted horizons in soils of the Vallombrosa forest (Florence). Their influence on the uprooting of silver fir]. Bachelor’s thesis, Faculty of Agricultural and Forest Science, University of Florence, Italy. [in Italian]
Gscholar
Note sulla diffusione del marciume radicale nelle abetine di Vallombrosa [The extent of root rot in the Abies alba stands of Vallombrosa]. L’Italia Forestale e Montana 15: 122-124. [in Italian]
Gscholar
Italy. In: “Heterobasidion annosum: biology, ecology, impact, and control” (Woodward S, Stenlid J, Karjalainen R, Hüttermann A eds). CAB International, Wallingford, UK, pp. 377-385.
Gscholar
Assessing forest windthrow damage using single-date, post-event airborne laser scanning data. Forestry 91 (1): 27-37.
CrossRef | Gscholar
Host resistance. In: “Heterobasidion annosum: biology, ecology, impact, and control” (Woodward S, Stenlid J, Karjalainen R, Hüttermann A eds). CAB International, Wallingford, UK, pp. 143-166.
Gscholar
Gruppi intersterili di Heterobasidion annosum: osservazioni nella foresta di Vallombrosa [Intersterility groups of Heterobasidion annosum: an investigation in the forest of Vallombrosa]. L’Italia Forestale e Montana 45 (5): 347-360. [in Italian]
Gscholar
Geographical distribution and ecology of the Armillaria species in Western Europe. European Journal of Forest Pathology 23 (6-7): 321-341.
CrossRef | Gscholar
The association of Armillaria ostoyae (Romagnesi) Herink with death of white firs in Italy. Informatore fitopatologico 38 (4): 67-70. [in Italian with English summary]
Gscholar
Climate change 2014: synthesis report. Contribution of Working Groups I, II and III to the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (Core Writing Team, Pachauri RK, Meyer LA eds). IPCC, Geneva, Switzerland, pp. 151.
Gscholar
Distribution and ecology of Armillaria species in some habitats of southern Moravia, Czech Republic. Czech Mycology 55 (3-4): 173-186.
Gscholar
Silvicultural control. In: “Heterobasidion annosum: biology, ecology, impact, and control” (Woodward S, Stenlid J, Karjalainen R, Hüttermann A eds). CAB International, Wallingford, UK, pp. 283-313.
Gscholar
Aspetti fitopatologici delle abetine di Vallombrosa [Phytopathological aspects of silver fir stands in Vallombrosa]. L’Italia Forestale e Montana 55 (6): 369-380. [in Italian]
Gscholar
Intersterility groups of Heterobasidion annosum (Fr.) Bref.: some morphological differences in the basidiocarps. Micologia Italiana 3: 87-94.
Gscholar
Taxonomy of the genus Heterobasidion. In: “Heterobasidion annosum: biology, ecology, impact, and control” (Woodward S, Stenlid J, Karjalainen R, Hüttermann A eds). CAB International, Wallingford, UK, pp. 27-33.
Gscholar
The UK and Ireland. In: “Heterobasidion annosum: biology, ecology, impact, and control” (Woodward S, Stenlid J, Karjalainen R, Hüttermann A eds). CAB International, Wallingford, UK, pp. 347-354.
Gscholar
Attacchi di Heterobasidion annosum in piantagioni di douglasia [Attacks by Heterobasidion annosum to Douglas-fir stands]. Annali dell’Istituto Sperimentale di Selvicoltura 24: 37-48. [in Italian]
Gscholar
Armillaria root disease. Agriculture Handbook 691, USDA Forest Service, Washington, DC, USA, pp. 233.
Gscholar
Soil taxonomy. A basic system of soil classification for making and interpreting soil surveys (2nd edn). Agriculture Handbook Number 436, USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, US Government Printing Office, Washington, DC, USA, pp. 886.
Gscholar