Plant Plague: Sudden Oak Death
April 24th, 2007 by Amy Miller
Devastating over 1 million oak trees across Northern California in the past 10 years, Sudden Oak Death is a killer with no cure. But biologists now are looking to the trees’ genetics for a solution.
You may also watch this story online in its entirety, and see additional photos in our flickr photo set.
Sudden Oak Death and Science of Big Waves (episode #108), airs tonight on QUEST at 7:30pm on KQED 9, and KQED HD, Comcast 709. (full schedule).
Amy Miller is a Coordinating Producer for television on QUEST, and is the producer seen on camera for this story.
Tags: KQED, kqedquest, QUEST, Science
Related posts:
,
Posts
Dear Ms. Miller and anyone interested,
I read of a machine allegedly used by the University of Illinois to erradicate tree and crop pests. It costs about $40.00 to build and has a reported 80% effectiveness on any life form lower than and insect. It was reported to have been used on a number of crops with great effect, as well as in some other applications. If anyone is interested in further information as to source of information and building diagram for the machine, please contact me at 510.525.7237. My guess is that anything might be helpful at this stage of the reported infeststion, no?
Dear Anton,
While I am sure that the product you are suggesting can do wonderful things, it is not likely that it could assist with the fight against Sudden Oak Death. P. ramorum is microscopic and has two forms - an active, water-loving form and a dormant form that allows it to survive when environmental conditions are not favorable. In areas where the pathogen is found, it can persist in one form or another in the soil, water, and on susceptible plants.
If you would like to discuss this further, please feel free to give me a call at (510) 847-5482. I am the Public Information Officer for the California Oak Mortality Task Force and I would be happy to talk with you.
Oekologie #5: Looking Back at Ancient Arabic Ecology
A ton of great posts on the latest edition of the traveling ecology and environmental science blog carnival.