Cronartium ribicola

The effects of white pine blister rust on biodiversity in whitebark pine stands Today we are living in a world of unprecedented and often very rapid change to the environment (Ellison et al. 2005). With the accidental introduction of exotic pathogens into areas they previously did not exist, the forest ecosystems of the world are being profoundly impacted and altered (Tomback and Resler 2007). The introduction of diseases, especially fungal diseases, have in some cases, either entirely eliminated or greatly diminished key tree species and as a result altered entire forest ecosystems (Tomback and Resler 2007). One such fungal disease is white pine blister rust, Cronartium ribicola. White pine blister rust was accidentally introduced to North America during the 20th…

The disease turns the needles of the lower branch brown, which eventually fall throughout the summer. (Hartman-Hill, 1988) The fungal fruiting structures later form on these cast needles. It can however kill seedlings if they shed their whole foliage becaues of it. This could pose a problem in case of seedlings that are infected but not destroyed as they might be planted elsewhere and later infect other younger plants growing there. Pine needle rust, caused by fungal pathogen Coleosporium…