Phellinus Noxius in Brisbane

Ekka · 24th March 2007, 03:30 AM

I wonder why we are seeing more of this fungus that's killing trees? In a recent thread I started it was this fungus that caused the death.

Diagnose this fungal death attack on Chinese elm (Celtis chinensis) Toowong Brisbane

The one thing I'm starting to see as a common denominator is mulch, of the three locations I visited they were all mulched well within the last 2 years. Maybe that and a combination of low rainfall.

I did read somewhere that flooding a field to get rid of phellinus was done and worked.

Here's an old story from the paper.

http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/s...5-3102,00.html

Quote:

Michael Corkill

December 01, 2006 11:00pm
Article from: The Courier-Mail

A MYSTERIOUS fungus is threatening some landmark Brisbane trees – and one of the inner city's biggest markets.
The Brisbane City Council has ordered the fencing-off of a large fig and hoop pine boulevard at Davies Park in West End, in a bid to halt the relentless march of the killer Phellinus noxius fungus.

The fig tree boulevard is the location of the popular Green Flea Markets, run for years by Peter Hackworth and her daughter Gian Ferrett.

The worried duo yesterday said the restriction of public access to the boulevard would force them to dramatically reduce the operations of the market, which had only recently begun to break even.

"The people love these markets because of the cheap prices and the mix of fresh produce and they are forcing store owners out on to the footpath in the sun," Ms Hackworth said.

Local councillor Helen Abrahams, who chairs the environment and sustainability committee, said the area was considered suitable for testing by the Department of Primary Industries because the fungus was found early and the site was easily accessible.

She said the fungus, which attacks tree roots, had struck a number of trees in the city, including six at the Brisbane Grammar School, reportedly planted by King Edward VIII.

"Jacaranda trees in New Farm Park have been lost to this same fungus," she said.

"There is also a dead tree at the end of Adelaide St where it meets North Quay."

Natural resources consultant Jason Hutcher expressed concern at the choice of testing area. "Scientifically it makes no sense to test here for three years. You need to have an isolated area away from the public so there is no danger of interference or contamination," he said.

And here's a series of pics on the Davies Park location.

Sean Freeman · 24th March 2007, 05:13 AM

Just a few points that I try to remember when reading about and then discussing the relationships between fungi and trees. Where an indigenous wood decay fungus is present the native trees that grow in the area will have evolved along side this potential pathogen for thousands of years if not longer. To see dramatic increases in advanced decay and death in tree populations would suggest that changes are happening either to the trees, to the fungi or the environment or a combination of all three.

For our urban forest trees the changes are somewhat obvious, the soil environment that they evolved in is no longer present, neither are the close interrelationships with neighbouring trees. Infact the environment critical to their healthy growth is at best impoverished, at worst down right hostile. We have also introduced species of trees that would have taken perhaps thousands of years to colonise our localities (if they did at all) and have little in their genetic makeup to defend against previously unencountered pathogens.

Wood decay fungi can have an unusual and complex life cycle within the tissues of living trees, nowhere near as simple as colonisation, expanded growth overwhelming the tree's defences leading the death of the tree, as it might seem when we encounter a dead or dying tree with obvious decay fungi and fruiting bodies.

Fungi compete with and outcompete each other often to the benefit of the tree's survival. Chemical and physical boundaries produced within wood tissues are effective within certain limits, strongly controlled by the health status of the tree in question. Predisposition factors of soil compaction, prolonged minimal soil moisture levels, contaminants, root injuries, and the more obvious above ground abuses all put trees into a position that strongly favours the pathogen.

Phellinus noxious is particularly effective given even half a chance to overwhelm a tree, and we seem to be giving it many times that.

I'm not sure what BCC are trying to achieve with their media releases, but its not a mystery fungi, nor is it unknown. The photos you show reflect one of the more common control measures used to try to contain the spread. Unfortunately as we all have seen the root system of even a small young tree can be massive, unpredictable in pattern and spread and when it comes to the finer root hairs almost undetectable.

Removing unsafe infected trees quickly and trenching around trees as yet not visibly affected is about the limit of the control we have. Trials of soil dreching the trenches and the root system of retained trees with Trictioderma viridae water solution a mutually antagonistic fungi that competes with Phellinus for space in the rhizosphere show significant success. Applying broad spectrum fungicides will kill off the beneficial mycorrhizal fungi along with the pathogens, not a good idea for a tree already clearly in deep strife.

There's years of work ahead to fully understand all the intricacies of the relationships between fungi and tree, and I'm not doing any of it, but hopefully some of what I've written helps clarify a few parts of the story.

Sean

WPT · 23rd July 2008, 09:27 PM

G'day all

We have some outbreaks of P. noxius in Cairns . Still isolated cases at this time.
My question is as follows:
Once the tree/s and soils have been removed, how does one get rid of the diseased material without spreading the disease?
Will leaving it in long term mulch heaps eventually kill P. noxius?
How can one clean trucks, saws, chippers, etc. without carrying the disease all over the place when used at the next site?
I've read some information on the web about the use of high levels of urea or aqueous ammonia: - "High concentrations of volatile NH3 were detected in these treatments, indicating that NH3 generated from these chemicals was fungicidal to P. noxius."
Anyone have experience with this?

WPT

Ekka · 23rd July 2008, 10:18 PM

Quote:

seven of 45 fungicides have
been found to be strongly inhibitory to the
growth of P. noxius in vitro (5). These
fungicides were further evaluated for their
ability to control the disease in greenhouse
experiments. The systemic fungicides triadimefon,
prochloraz, and mepronil were
found to be nonphytotoxic and effective in
reducing disease incidence.
Recently, each of these fungicides was
applied to diseased grapevines in the field
as a soil drench once every 3 months in
combination with a soil amendment containing
lime and urea. The treatments appear
to be promising, as no further decline
or death of grapevines was recorded in the
treated plots, while disease progress remained
unchecked in the control plot.
Thus, it appears likely that fungicides can
be useful in managing disease development.
Still to be determined is the recurrent
rate of brown root rot after the termination
of the treatments and the economic feasibility
of the treatments.

From the PDF attached

WPT · 23rd July 2008, 11:18 PM

Thanks for the quick reply.
Thought I'd send you some photos of one case we have at the moment.

regards
WPT

Ekka · 23rd July 2008, 11:22 PM

Yep, that's bad!

If there's others in the area they might cop it to.

In the second pic I saw severed roots, what was that about?

WPT · 23rd July 2008, 11:33 PM

If youre talking about the area on the right hand side of the picture, it is a part of the tree that failed due to a combination of decay and wind.

The tree will probably not survive, which is why I wanted to know what we could do to prevent the removed material infecting other area, as we have to set up some kind of quarantine protocol and keep all machinery disease free when using it for other jobs.

As it is I think that the failed trunk was removed and mulched without any precautions taken, before I knew about it. I've since contacted all our departments and sent out information on P. noxius to try and educate our staff to bring other cases to my attention before taking any action.

thanks

WPT

Ekka · 23rd July 2008, 11:49 PM

It kills fast, and the wood goes brittle, an efficient fungi for sure.

23rd July 2008, 09:27 PM	#3 (permalink)
WPT I'm new here so be nice Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: Cairns Posts: 3	Re: Phellinus Noxius in Brisbane G'day all We have some outbreaks of P. noxius in Cairns . Still isolated cases at this time. My question is as follows: Once the tree/s and soils have been removed, how does one get rid of the diseased material without spreading the disease? Will leaving it in long term mulch heaps eventually kill P. noxius? How can one clean trucks, saws, chippers, etc. without carrying the disease all over the place when used at the next site? I've read some information on the web about the use of high levels of urea or aqueous ammonia: - "High concentrations of volatile NH3 were detected in these treatments, indicating that NH3 generated from these chemicals was fungicidal to P. noxius." Anyone have experience with this? WPT

23rd July 2008, 11:22 PM	#6 (permalink)
Ekka Admin - Dip Arb & Hort Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Brisbane Posts: 7,734	Re: Phellinus Noxius in Brisbane Yep, that's bad! If there's others in the area they might cop it to. In the second pic I saw severed roots, what was that about? __________________ Arborist Training in Australia\| Your Free Helping Guide Free Tree and Green Industry Link Directory .... Yes, I also SEO (Optimize) and build websites that fly high in Google Qualified Brisbane Tree Lopping \| Stump Grinding and Stump Removal Brisbane Brisbane - Gold Coast Tree Care, Consulting, Developer, Tree and Arborist Reports Forum Sponsors

23rd July 2008, 11:33 PM	#7 (permalink)
WPT I'm new here so be nice Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: Cairns Posts: 3	Re: Phellinus Noxius in Brisbane If youre talking about the area on the right hand side of the picture, it is a part of the tree that failed due to a combination of decay and wind. The tree will probably not survive, which is why I wanted to know what we could do to prevent the removed material infecting other area, as we have to set up some kind of quarantine protocol and keep all machinery disease free when using it for other jobs. As it is I think that the failed trunk was removed and mulched without any precautions taken, before I knew about it. I've since contacted all our departments and sent out information on P. noxius to try and educate our staff to bring other cases to my attention before taking any action. thanks WPT

23rd July 2008, 11:49 PM	#8 (permalink)
Ekka Admin - Dip Arb & Hort Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Brisbane Posts: 7,734	Re: Phellinus Noxius in Brisbane It kills fast, and the wood goes brittle, an efficient fungi for sure. __________________ Arborist Training in Australia\| Your Free Helping Guide Free Tree and Green Industry Link Directory .... Yes, I also SEO (Optimize) and build websites that fly high in Google Qualified Brisbane Tree Lopping \| Stump Grinding and Stump Removal Brisbane Brisbane - Gold Coast Tree Care, Consulting, Developer, Tree and Arborist Reports Forum Sponsors

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24th March 2007, 05:13 AM	#2 (permalink)
Sean Freeman PDF King & Arborist Extrodinaire Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Townsville Nth Queensland & Gold Coast Sth Queensland Posts: 1,868	Just a few points that I try to remember when reading about and then discussing the relationships between fungi and trees. Where an indigenous wood decay fungus is present the native trees that grow in the area will have evolved along side this potential pathogen for thousands of years if not longer. To see dramatic increases in advanced decay and death in tree populations would suggest that changes are happening either to the trees, to the fungi or the environment or a combination of all three. For our urban forest trees the changes are somewhat obvious, the soil environment that they evolved in is no longer present, neither are the close interrelationships with neighbouring trees. Infact the environment critical to their healthy growth is at best impoverished, at worst down right hostile. We have also introduced species of trees that would have taken perhaps thousands of years to colonise our localities (if they did at all) and have little in their genetic makeup to defend against previously unencountered pathogens. Wood decay fungi can have an unusual and complex life cycle within the tissues of living trees, nowhere near as simple as colonisation, expanded growth overwhelming the tree's defences leading the death of the tree, as it might seem when we encounter a dead or dying tree with obvious decay fungi and fruiting bodies. Fungi compete with and outcompete each other often to the benefit of the tree's survival. Chemical and physical boundaries produced within wood tissues are effective within certain limits, strongly controlled by the health status of the tree in question. Predisposition factors of soil compaction, prolonged minimal soil moisture levels, contaminants, root injuries, and the more obvious above ground abuses all put trees into a position that strongly favours the pathogen. Phellinus noxious is particularly effective given even half a chance to overwhelm a tree, and we seem to be giving it many times that. I'm not sure what BCC are trying to achieve with their media releases, but its not a mystery fungi, nor is it unknown. The photos you show reflect one of the more common control measures used to try to contain the spread. Unfortunately as we all have seen the root system of even a small young tree can be massive, unpredictable in pattern and spread and when it comes to the finer root hairs almost undetectable. Removing unsafe infected trees quickly and trenching around trees as yet not visibly affected is about the limit of the control we have. Trials of soil dreching the trenches and the root system of retained trees with Trictioderma viridae water solution a mutually antagonistic fungi that competes with Phellinus for space in the rhizosphere show significant success. Applying broad spectrum fungicides will kill off the beneficial mycorrhizal fungi along with the pathogens, not a good idea for a tree already clearly in deep strife. There's years of work ahead to fully understand all the intricacies of the relationships between fungi and tree, and I'm not doing any of it, but hopefully some of what I've written helps clarify a few parts of the story. Sean