Globalization Makes Forests More Prone to Disease

Arborists from the United Kingdom report that the number of pest and disease outbreaks in trees around the world is rising.

In study published in the journal Science, researchers from universities of Southampton, Cambridge, Oxford and St Andrews report that the widespread death of trees from diseases new and old is is not isolated to just the UK.

The team cited a new fungal disease known as halara fraxinea and the destructive Dutch elm disease as big tree killers in the UK, but that forests around the world are similarly prone to disease, and that the risk increases as the economy becomes more global and there is more and more shipping and trading between countries.

Furthermore, the researchers say there is a growing concern the increasingly high volumes and new forms of international trade brings a greater probability of genetic reassortment, which the researchers say can enhance an organism's pathogenicity, or its ability to cause disease.

When approaching forest disease management, the researchers say the approach must be more holistic to identify the varied stakeholders at risk from the disease of a particular tree species.

But determining all species that may become pests will be impossible, the researchers said, adding that it's important to use risk management strategies to limit the various pathways of introduction a new arboreal disease can enter through.

"Modern pest and disease management for plants and the natural environment needs to be based on an extensive science base," said Peter Freer-Smith of the University of Southampton. "We need to understand the molecular basis of pathogenicity and herbivores, as well as why some species reach epidemic prevalence and abundance."