Forestry Commission Scotland. Discussing the current status of tree health and biosecurity issues in Scotland and the UK

1. The tree health landscape in
(mainly) Scotland
Hugh Clayden
Forestry Commission Scotland
15 October 2014

2.  What are we up against?
 What can we do about it?
 Keeping things in perspective

3. Phytophthoras
Insects
Fungi
Complexes
Bacteria

4. USA, CA
Asia
AU, NZ

5. 50 years**
100 years
25 years

6. Average
Rainfall
+27%
1961
-
2011
Average
temperature
+1.0
-
+1.6
∘C
∘C
?
?
?

7. Dothistroma needle blight
Distribution on national forest estate
86 (out of 129) Pinus species
known to be susceptible

8. Phytophthora ramorum

9. Phytophthora ramorum
Lag
phase
Exponential Decline

10. Phytophthora ramorum
1st finding (on larch) in
November 2010
EU2 lineage
(2011)
75%+
larch still
healthy

11. Chalara dieback of ash

12. Chalara
Mid -1990s

13. Chalara
2012

14. Chalara
Sheltered area
Buffer area

15. Phytophthora austrocedrae

16. Phytophthora lateralis
Recently confirmed
on Western red cedar
(Thuja plicata)

18. 714 pests in the UK Plant Health
Risk Register
(October 2014)

19. 44%
13%
6%
1%
1%
2%
1%
2%
1%
8%
11%
1%
1%
1%
2%
0%
1%
4%
Sitka spruce
Scots pine
Corsican pine
Norway spruce
Larches
Douglas fir
Lodgepole pine
Other conifers
Oak
Beech
Sycamore
Ash
Birch
Sweet Chestnut
Hazel
Hawthorn
Alder
Willow
Other broadleaves
Scotland
Stocked area by principal tree
species at March 2012
broadleaves
other conifers
Sitka
spruce

20. 44%
13%
6%
1%
1%
AOD, OPM, Chalara, SCB,
ALB, CLB, P. cinnamomi,
P. pseudosyringae
Pseudomonas spp, DED
2%
1%
2%
1%
8%
11%
1%
1%
1%
2%
0%
1%
4%
Sitka spruce
Scots pine
Corsican pine
Norway spruce
Larches
Douglas fir
Lodgepole pine
Other conifers
Oak
Beech
Sycamore
Ash
Birch
Sweet Chestnut
Hazel
Hawthorn
Alder
Willow
Other broadleaves
Scotland
Stocked area by principal tree
species at March 2012
Dothistroma
Ramorum
D. micans
P. lateralis
P. austrocedrae
Pine tree lappet
Pine beauty
Fusarium
Elatobium
Lower D. micans
risk
(?)
Ips ??
typographus
Spruce budworm
Phytophthoras
High impact
Hybrids?

21.  What are we up against?
 What can we do about it?
 Keeping things in perspective

23. Species choice Silvicultural
systems
Length of
rotation
Spectrum of approaches

24. Resilience-building measures
Select the most suitable species and genotypes
Reduce other pressures on forests
Maintain or add diversity in structure and species

26. Living with Environmental Change
(LWEC): Tree health and Plant
Biosecurity Initiative
• (£9.2M) 2014 -2017
• BBSRC, ESRC, NERC, Defra, FC,
Scottish Government
asymmetric ion mobility spectrometry
vegetative compatibility of fungi
botanicals and biocontrol with
entomopathogenic fungi (“lure and kill”)
genomics
protein fusion technology
Environment
Social
science
Pest Host

30. • Review of the EU Plant Health Regime
• Expert Taskforce on Tree Health and Plant Biosecurity
• Sir Mark Walport Review
(Animal & plant health in the UK – assessment of future national capacity)
• UK Chief Plant Health Officer
• UK Plant Health Risk Register
• Scottish Tree Health Advisory Group
• Potential ‘Centre for Expertise in Plant Health’ (Scotland)

31.  What are we up against?
 What can we do about it?
 Keeping things in perspective

35. Irish potato famine 1845
Good design
+
Good silviculture
+
Good science
+
Annual crop yields (globally) reduced by
20-40% due to pests and diseases
(source IPCC)

37. 53%
broadleaves
13%
6%
2%
4%
0%
7%
2%
2%
2%
2%
1%
4%
1%
0%
1%
0%
Sitka spruce
Scots pine
Corsican pine
Norway spruce
Larches
Douglas fir
Lodgepole pine
Other conifers
Oak
Beech
Sycamore
Ash
Birch
Sweet Chestnut
Hazel
Hawthorn
Alder
Willow
Other broadleaves
Scotland
Standing volume by principal
tree species at March 2012
Sitka
spruce
other conifers
Sitka
spruce

38. 53%
13%
6%
2%
4%
0%
7%
2%
2%
2%
2%
1%
4%
1%
0%
1%
0%
Sitka spruce
Scots pine
Corsican pine
Norway spruce
Larches
Douglas fir
Lodgepole pine
Other conifers
Oak
Beech
Sycamore
Ash
Birch
Sweet Chestnut
Hazel
Hawthorn
Alder
Willow
Other broadleaves
Scotland
Standing volume by principal
tree species at March 2012
AOD, OPM, Chalara, SCB,
ALB, CLB, P. cinnamomi,
P. pseudosyringae
Pseudomonas spp, DED
Dothistroma
Ramorum
D. micans
P. lateralis
P. austrocedrae
Pine tree lappet
Pine beauty
Fusarium
Elatobium
D. micans
Ips typographus
Spruce budworm
Phytophthoras
Hybrids?
Lower risk (?)
High impact
??
(62% of conifer
volume)
Who owns
the risk?