Dean's Column

Wood Science & Engineering

Forest Science

Forest Resources

Forest Engineering

Alumni & Students

Donors & Outreach

Home

Forest Science

New Information on Swiss Needle Cast

A recently released study shows that the fungus causing the Swiss needle cast epidemic comes from two distinct genetic lineages. One of the lineages has been found only in the Oregon Coast Range and the other has a worldwide distribution due to its movement on Douglas-fir nursery stock.

Over the years, some have attributed distribution of the disease to the monoculture introduced with today's plantation forestry practices. It has also been suggested that climate may play a role. Now it appears that the presence of two lineages of the pathogen offers another possible explanation.

Approximately 385,000 acres of forest in western Oregon and Washington are moderately to severely damaged by the disease, which affects only Douglas-fir trees. When conditions are favorable, the disease can spread rapidly by spores traveling on wind-blown rain in late spring.

Research Associate Lori Winton, in collaboration with Professors Jeff Stone and Everett Hansen, discovered the second lineage. The Swiss Needle Cast Cooperative, a collaborative effort of private industry, public agencies, and university researchers, released the study. New DNA-based techniques were used to study the genetic diversity and population structure of the fungus. The identification of two fungal lineages poses a number of questions that scientists cannot yet fully answer. "There is evidence that the second lineage of the fungus may cause more damage, with more severe needle loss, retarded growth, and possibly tree death," says Greg Filip, Professor of Forest Science and Director of the Swiss Needle Cast Cooperative.

The disease and the fungus that causes it are native to the Pacific Northwest, and were first described in 1925. At the time, neither was believed to be of any significance. By the 1970s Swiss needle cast had become a big problem for the region's Christmas tree industry. In the past decade, the disease has spread rapidly, dramatically reducing the growth of hundreds of thousands of acres of Douglas-firs on public and private forestland.

The Cooperative has already developed a number of management practices that can help reduce problems with this fungus, and an extension publication is available that outlines some of these approaches. Possible approaches include implementing different regeneration methods, vegetation management techniques, fertilization, thinning, pruning, clearcutting, and planting of different tree species. Development of genetically resistant Douglas-fir is also being explored. (See Alumni & Students for related story.)

Beverly Law Granted Tenure

Beverly Law, Associate Research Professor in Ecophysiology and Ecosystem Processes, was granted tenure effective July 1, 2003. She has been a faculty member at OSU since 1995. Her research focuses on global change, particularly the influences of climate and disturbance on processes controlling carbon, water, and energy exchange between vegetation and the atmosphere. She conducts ecophysiological research on the coupling of canopy and soil processes, and the effects of biotic and abiotic factors on soil autotrophic and heterotrophic respiration. She is the Science Chair of the AmeriFlux network.

Law received a BS degree in Forest Resources and Conservation from the University of Florida, and a PhD in Forest Science from OSU. She worked for the US Environmental Protection Agency in the Acid Rain Program and helped develop the Forest Health Monitoring Program for the USDA Forest Service.

Pamela Matson Named Dean at Stanford

Pamela Matson ('83) was appointed Dean of the School of Earth Sciences at Stanford inDecember 2002. Matson joined the Stanford faculty in 1997, following positions as a professor at UC Berkeley and research scientist at NASA. She earned her PhD in Forest Science at OSU. Her research focuses on biogeochemical cycling and biosphere-atmosphere interactions in tropical forests and agricultural systems.

2002 GIS Day a Success

About 75 middle- and high-school students enjoyedhands-on learning at thethird annual OSU GIS Day, co-sponsored by the College of Forestry and Department of Geosciences. GIS Day is a nationwide grassroots effort where GIS users, educators, and vendors open their doors to schools, businesses, and the general public to showcase realworld applications of GIS technology. Volunteers from the College of Forestry, PNW Research Station and Departments of Geosciences and Computer Science led the participants through a series of activities to raise awareness and teach the technology.

Participants spent the first two hours rotating through a poster session and hands-on demonstrations held at the College of Forestry. After the morning sessions, students were escorted to the PNW Forest Science Lab where they ate lunch, were entertained with two short GIS videos, and had the opportunity to interact with GIS and remote sensing professionals. After the videos, twelve students competed in a Geography Bowl, amazing volunteers by correctly answering the question, "What famous sports star has a degree in Geography?" (Answer: Michael Jordan.)

The grand finale of the Forestry component was a Global Positioning Systems (GPS) exercise. Twelve volunteers led students through four separate routes on a word scavenger hunt from the FSL to Wilkinson Hall. Each group had a route map and a hand-held GPS unit with which to find the clues. "They were fully engaged," says Sharon Clarke of the Forest Science Department. "Seeing students' eyes light up as they found their school or house on an aerial photo or held a GPS unit in their hands and walked across campus was a rewarding experience."

Virtual Oregon and OSU Bookstore donated prizes. Virtual Oregon also donated money for snacks.

Annual Awards

The Forest Science Department gives out a number of awards at their annual spring picnic, held this year on May 30, 2003.

Graduate Student Fellowships

Catherine Bacon Fellowship: Michelle Cannon; Lu Berger Fellowship: Nicole Czarnomski; Henry and Mildred

Fellows Fellowship: Jingli Li and Gancho Slavov; Robert Tarrant Fellowship: Michael Fox; Hayes Fellowship: Kevin Dodds and Liane Beggs; Outstanding Student Achievement Award: M.S. student: Anne Fiala; Ph.D. student: Gancho Slavov

Faculty Awards

"Big Fish" Service Award: Jay Sexton (Senior Research Assistant); Outstanding Faculty Award: Glenn Howe (Assistant Professor; this award is chosen by the students in the Department)

Forestry Communications Group, Peavy Hall 256
Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR 97331 | (541) 737-4271
Contact us with your comments and questions
Copyright © 2004 Oregon State University | OSU Disclaimer