Killer spores

Pythophthora ramorum, a fungal-like infection, has already been spotted in two local forests and experts fear the spores could also attack specimen garden plants.

Felling of Japanese larch trees is underway at DARD's 200-hectare Ballyboley and Woodburn forests and further along the Antrim plateau, Broughshane land owner Lord Rathcavan has been told to cut down an eight-acre woodland.

P. ramorum has already spread extensively in England, Wales and in the Republic. It kills Japanese larches which, along with rhododendron, are known to host the pathogen. However, it has the potential to attack a wide range of woody plants and DARD has warned it could cause significant damage to woodland and other habitat.

FULL STORY IN THIS WEEK'S LARNE TIMES ramorum can be spread on footwear, vehicle wheels, tools and machinery, by the movement of infected plants and in rain, mists and air currents.

Mr Small urged woodland owners and managers to remain vigilant for symptoms of the disease in Japanese larch and report suspicious symptoms to the Forest Service on 028 90524480.

The first indication of the disease on Japanese larch trees is a visible wilting of young shoots and foliage, or later in the growing season, withered shoot tips with yellowing needles which then become blackened. The infected shoots shed their needles prematurely. Trees may also have bleeding cankers on their upper trunks.

There are approximately 2,500 hectares of Japanese larch, or woodland with a Japanese larch component, in DARD woodland in Northern Ireland, which represents about four per cent of DARD woodland area.

P. ramorum is also the cause of the disease known as “sudden oak death” in the USA, where it has killed millions of American native oak and tanoak trees in California and Oregon. Laboratory tests have shown that the UK’s two native species of oak, sessile and pedunculate oak, are much more resistant to it than their American cousins.

The Plant Health Order (Northern Ireland) 2006 requires the containment and eradication of plant material infected by listed pests and diseases. DARD Forest Service inspectors have the power to serve detention or destruction notices and to take steps to ensure that the infection is contained, eradicated or treated. If the owner of the premises in question fails to comply with such a notice, under Article 37 of the Plant Health Order the inspector is permitted to take such steps as are necessary to ensure compliance with the requirement of the notice. This includes destruction or removal of infected plant material.