Thousand Cankers Disease

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Thousand Cankers Disease The Morton Arboretum’s Tree Care Quick Facts THOUSAND CANKERS DISEASE A deadly fungus disease that has spread from the western states to the East poses a serious threat to Illinois’ black walnut trees. It now is moving into the Midwest, and Illinois owners of black walnuts must be vigilant to prevent its spread. Black Walnut: The fungus is carried by the beetle. It An Important infects the bark along the insect’s entry hole and in its egg-laying and larval tunnels Illinois Species (galleries). The fungus causes a canker, a A black walnut tree Eastern black walnut (Juglans nigra) is a small, generally circular area of dead bark (Juglans nigra) large tree, typically growing over 40 feet tissue. When multiple areas are infected tall. It prefers well-drained, slightly elevated they can merge, forming patches of canker floodplain areas but also does well in large enough to girdle tree branches. urban areas. Black walnut is a native tree Multiple dead branches, combined with that grows throughout Illinois, where its insect attack and cankers on the main nuts support a wide range of wildlife. It stem, can kill the tree in a few years. also is valuable for timber; Illinois ranks fourth among the states in production of Identifying a black walnut timber, harvesting roughly Black Walnut 120,000 trees per year with a value of Do you have a black walnut on your more than $18 million. Thousand cankers property? Check your tree for Black walnut disease threatens this market as well as these characteristics: leaf arrangement the black walnut’s value in landscapes Alternate branching: Each branch and natural areas. or bud is set directly opposite the one What is Thousand on the other side of the twig or branch. Cankers Disease? Compound leaves: A single leaf is made up of 11 to 23 small leaflets. Thousand cankers disease (TCD) is Fruit: The round lime-green fruit caused by the interaction of an insect is roughly 3 to 4 inches in diameter. (the walnut twig beetle) and a fungus Squirrels and other wildlife love (Geosmithia morbida). The beetle and the black walnuts. fungus are native to the southwestern Chambered pith: If still in doubt, United States, but were inadvertently remove a small twig and split it to see transported to the East on walnut burls Black walnut the dark pith in the center. A black and logs. TCD has been found in several walnut’s pith consists of eastern states on the highly susceptible distinct chambers. black walnut. Walnut twig beetle THE MORTON ARBORETUM 4100 Illinois Route 53 Lisle, IL 60532 • mortonarb.org/plantadvice The Morton Arboretum’s Tree Care Quick Facts THOUSAND CANKERS DISEASE Symptoms to Look For Where walnut wood is desired for Symptoms of thousand cankers woodworking, stem and burl sections disease are: from infected or dead trees can be heat- treated to kill any beetles or fungus. The • Yellowing of the leaves wood must be heated to 118 degrees • Wilting leaf appearance for at least 40 minutes. All walnut tree • Thinning of the crown sections cut for use should be completely • Death of large limbs debarked before wood is removed from These symptoms are most evident the site. The removed bark should be during drought periods. burned or buried to prevent further Susceptible Species transmission of the fungus or beetles. Eastern black walnut and butternut appear to highly susceptible to TCD. California to Other species, such as English walnut, are Pennsylvania moderately susceptible, while the native Thousand cankers disease was confirmed Arizona walnut appears to be resistant. on August 2, 2011, in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. It is believed that the walnut Illinois Quarantine twig beetle and the fungus arrived in a Against Walnut Wood shipment of logs from Chico, Calif., six To protect black walnuts, the state of to eight years before the infection was Illinois has established a quarantine against noticed. In the 2011 discovery, 10 of the walnut wood from the western states or 56 live walnut trees on the property were from states in the East where thousand found to have both the beetle and the cankers disease has been detected. Walnut fungus. Although the infected trees were wood may only be brought into Illinois if it removed, the beetle had escaped and meets strict requirements. For details, see continues to be found in surveys. thousandcankers.com/state- info.php?state=Illinois. Thousand Cankers Disease in Illinois No Treatment For up-to-date information on this disease Available in Illinois, visit the Illinois Department of There are currently no products produced Agriculture website at agr.state.il.us. or specifically labeled for TCD prevention or management on any walnut species. Research is underway to find a suitable chemical treatment for the beetle and/or the fungus. THE MORTON ARBORETUM 4100 Illinois Route 53 Lisle, IL 60532 • mortonarb.org/plantadvice.
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  • Thousand Cankers Disease
    Species Brief 5.6 What Is in Your Firewood? Thousand Cankers Disease Pest and Target Species Identification and Symptoms Thousand cankers disease (TCD) is caused The walnut twig beetle is approximately one- by the interaction between the walnut twig sixteenth of an inch long, and yellowish brown beetle, Pityophthorus juglandis (Coleoptera: to dark brown in color (Figure 1). A black walnut Curculionidae: Scolytinae), and a fungus, tree can be infected with TCD for many years Geosmithia morbida. The twig beetle is the only before showing symptoms. Not easily detected, known vector of this fungus, which can attack this insect bores into the host tree, creating the eastern species of the black walnut. The galleries (tunnel-like paths) underneath the black walnut has little to no resistance to the bark (Figure 2). The beetle carries a harmful disease. fungus on its body that spreads, causing can- kers to form in these galleries (Figure 3). The cankers expand and combine to girdle infected Range branches, disrupting the flow of water and The walnut twig beetle is native to the western nutrients. The leaves will yellow, wilt rap- United States and Mexico. Geosmithia morbida idly, and turn brown. Stem dieback or branch is also believed to be native to southwestern mortality occurs in the crown. Numerous tiny North America. This insect and fungus com- entrance and exit holes created by adult beetles plex was first identified east of the Mississippi are noticeable on dead and dying branches. Tree River in Tennessee in 2010. By the end of 2011 it mortality typically occurs approximately three had been found in Virginia and Pennsylvania.
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  • Walnut Thousand Cankers Disease Alert
    Walnut Thousand Cankers Disease Alert Mary Ann Hansen1 and Elizabeth Bush1, Extension Plant Pathologists Eric Day1, Extension Entomologist Gary Griffin1, Forest Pathologist Norm Dart2, State Plant Pathologist 1Virginia Tech, 2Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services First occurrence of Thousand Cankers Disease of Black Walnut (Juglans nigra) in Virginia: On June 24th, 2011, the first case of thousand cankers disease of black walnut was found in two trees with severe epicormic branching on the lower trunk and advanced decline in Chesterfield County, Virginia. Presence of the vector and pathogen associated with this disease, the walnut twig beetle (Pityophthorus juglandis) and the fungus Geosmithia morbida, was confirmed in the samples. This is the first report of thousand cankers disease of black walnut in Virginia. The Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (VDACS) is conducting a delimiting survey to determine the extent of the infestation surrounding the positive find. Initial delimiting survey work has found additional trees with thousand cankers disease in Chesterfield and Henrico Counties. The first report of thousand cankers disease of black walnut east of the Mississippi River (http://news.tennesseeanytime.org/node/5684) was previously reported when the Tennessee Department of Agriculture announced the occurrence of the disease in black walnut trees in Knox County, Tennessee in August 2010. Although this lethal disease has been present in parts of the western U. S. for at least a decade, it had not previously been reported east of the Mississippi River in the native range of the black walnut. The presence of this devastating disease in the southeastern U.
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  • What Ever Happened to Thousand Cankers Disease?
    From The Forestry Source, June 2019. © 2019, The Society of American Foresters What Ever Happened to Thousand Cankers Disease? By Jackson Landers The first case of thousand cankers disease in the US were reported in 2001 in New Mexico. A fungus, Geosmithia morbida, was carried by some tiny walnut twig beetles into a walnut tree, where they reproduced and chewed tunnels. As the beetles spread through the tree, small cankers appeared beneath the bark like chicken pox. The sheer number of cankers overwhelmed the walnut tree as summer heated up, resulting in its Evidence of thousand cankers disease (Geosmithia death and the start of a disease that many morbida) on black walnut. Photo: Elizabeth Bush, researchers warned could wipe out North Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Bugwood.org. American walnuts. Rifle manufacturers snapped up blanks for gunstocks, fearing the supply for their preferred material would disappear. species and that this was the same sort of Economists projected massive potential losses. invasive dynamic witnessed with the gypsy Eighteen years later, a lot of trees have died, but moth and, more recently, with the emerald ash the walnut apocalypse clearly has not come to borer. A recent paper in PLOS One by scientists pass as projected. According to the USDA’s from Colorado State University, Purdue Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, University, and the US Forest Service states that walnut mortality has occurred in the West in G. morbida is native to the US, as shown by the Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, New robust genetic diversity found in the researchers’ Mexico, Oregon, Washington, and Utah, and as samples (see tinyurl.com/y6jvcyzq).
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  • Restrictions on Moving Walnut Wood
    Black Walnut in Nebraska Thousand Cankers Disease Nebraska Forest Service Information Black walnut is native to the eastern part of Nebraska where it is commonly found along Black walnut is highly susceptible. English river and stream walnut, butternut and other walnut species Restrictions on corridors. The tree show varying degrees of susceptibility. is also widely Moving Walnut Wood planted across the Pecan and hickories are resistant. state for nut and Symptoms include yellowing foliage timber production, followed by brown wilted foliage, branch for wildlife habitat, dieback and tree death. and in certain Tree death occurs 2-3 years after initial community and symptoms appear. rural landscapes where a tough, Trees may be infected for many years drought-tolerant without visible symptoms. tree is needed. No effective chemical controls are known. TenSilver fordrangerforum.com Nebraska Black Walnut Facts For more information contact: 1.5 million trees Nebraska Department of Agriculture What you need to know 301 Centennial Mall South about 40 million board feet of merchantable wood P.O. Box 94756 • Lincoln, NE 68509 www.agr.ne.state.us (value: $40-80 million) Nebraska’s Nebraska Forest Service 1 million board feet harvested annually Forestry Hall, University of Nebraska Walnut Quarantine (value to state’s economy: $3.5 million) P.O. Box 830815 • Lincoln, NE 68583 www.nfs.unl.edu 4,000 commercial nut-bearing trees The movement of walnut wood into 70,000 pounds of nuts produced annually Nebraska from other states is restricted by (value to state’s economy: $1.2 million) Laurie Stepanek Nebraska Forest Service law. Walnut logs, firewood, green lumber, woodchips and nursery trees are among the walnut products included in this quarantine.
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  • Butternut Canker and Thousand Cankers Disease
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  • Questions and Answers About Thousand Cankers Disease of Walnut
    Questions and Answers about Thousand Cankers Disease of Walnut What is thousand cankers disease of walnut? This is a newly recognized disease (2008) of certain walnut species (Juglans) caused by a fungus (Geosmithia ‘morbida’) that is vectored by a bark beetle (walnut twig beetle). Thousand cankers disease has produced widespread death of walnuts in many western states during the past decade. Recently (July 2010) it was discovered to have also been killing black walnut in the Knoxville, TN area. Is thousand cankers disease a problem confined to the western United States? No. Observations of the recently discovered infestation in Tennessee demonstrate that this disease will be a serious problem in urban and natural forests of the eastern US. There may be some regional differences in the progress of the disease and in symptoms development but the walnut twig beetle and Geosmithia ‘morbida’ appear to be well adapted to colonizing black walnuts (Juglans nigra) in the eastern United States. It appears that ultimately thousand cankers disease can be lethal to susceptible host trees where ever it becomes established. What are symptoms of the disease? A recently identified Geosmithia fungus kills an area under the bark in the twigs and branches where it is introduced when the walnut twig beetle tunnels into the limb. These dead areas are called cankers and numerous cankers are formed when the walnut twig beetles are abundant. These cankers coalesce to girdle twigs and branches, restricting movement of nutrients and interfering with production and storage of energy. (The cankers rarely show any of the external symptoms that are associated with most canker- producing fungi that affect trees.
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  • Thousand Cankers Disease of Black Walnut
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  • USDA Thousand Cankers Disease Pest Alert
    United States Department of Agriculture Forest Service Northeastern Area State and Private Forestry NA–PR–02–10 Revised February 2013 Thousand Cankers Disease Dieback and mortality of eastern black walnut (Juglans nigra) in several Western States have become more common and severe during the last decade. A tiny bark beetle is creating numerous galleries beneath the bark of affected branches and the main stem, resulting in fungal infection and canker formation. The large numbers of cankers associated with dead branches and the stem suggest the disease’s name—thousand cankers disease. The principal agents involved in this disease are a newly Figure 1. Thousand cankers disease occurs in nine Western and identified fungusGeosmithia ( morbida) and the walnut twig five Eastern States (shaded gray); the year in which the disease was beetle (Pityophthorus juglandis). Both the fungus and the confirmed is noted. Since 2010, TCD has been confirmed in PA, TN, beetle only occur on walnut species and on a closely related and VA, whereas the beetle alone and the pathogen alone have tree called wingnut (Pterocarya sp.). Infested trees can die been found in OH and NC, respectively (denoted with asterisks). The map shows the native ranges of eastern black walnut (dark green) within 3 years of initial symptoms. and four western black walnut species (blue). Eastern black walnut Thousand cankers disease has been found in nine Western is widely planted in the West, but this map does not depict these States (figure 1). Since 2010, the fungus and the beetle western locations. have also been found east of the Great Plains.
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  • Status and Impact of Walnut Twig Beetle in Urban Forest, Orchard, and Native Forest Ecosystems
    J. For. 117(2):152–163 BARK BEETLE SPECIAL SECTION doi: 10.1093/jofore/fvy081 Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society of American Foresters 2019. Tis work is written by (a) US Government employee(s) and is in the public domain in the US. entomology Status and Impact of Walnut Twig Beetle in Urban Forest, Orchard, and Native Forest Ecosystems Steven J. Seybold, William E. Klingeman III, Stacy M. Hishinuma, Tom W. Coleman, and Andrew D. Graves The walnut twig beetle, a native phloem-boring bark beetle originating on Arizona walnut, has invaded urban, is fatal to walnut trees (Figure 2) and was frst orchard, and native forest habitats throughout the USA as well as in Italy. Although the beetle has been associated noted in the late 2000s for its involvement with dead and dying walnut trees indigenous to riparian forests of the Southwest, the primary impact appears to in the gradual deterioration and mortality of have been on the health of landscape black walnut trees in urban and peri-urban sites in western US states, and several species of black walnut in the west- in Pennsylvania, Tennessee, and Virginia. This has been refected in numbers of trees removed and tree removal ern United States (Graves et al. 2009, Flint costs. In addition, trees have been killed in the primary US Juglans germplasm repository in northern California, et al. 2010, Tisserat et al. 2011, Seybold and low, but measureable, tree mortality has occurred in some English walnut orchards in California’s Central Valley. et al. 2013b).
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  • Thousand Cankers Disease: Prevention & Early Detection in The
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  • National Response Framework for Thousand Cankers Disease (TCD) on Walnut
    National Response Framework for Thousand Cankers Disease (TCD) on Walnut US Forest Service, Animal Plant Health Inspection Service, National Association of State Foresters, and the National Plant Board 2011 i | P a g e Forward Approval This framework represents a combined national effort to address Thousand Cankers Disease (TCD) on Walnut. We, the undersigned, approve this document and its intent toward better management of this emerging insect/disease complex. ii | P a g e Executive Summary Purpose A newly discovered insect/disease complex called Thousand Cankers Disease (TCD) has been identified as a potential threat to the nation’s walnut resource. This document contains information to guide state foresters, agriculture officials, and legislative staff on Thousand Cankers Disease (TCD) of walnut. It is intended to serve as a reference for land managers and government agencies currently dealing with this complex and states (as yet) not affected by TCD. It lays the foundation for prioritizing on-the-ground work, research, and resource needs. The implementation of specific activities outlined in the framework is flexible and based on the best available information at this time. Themes common to all framework elements include partnerships, collaboration, communication, and education. Success will be dependent on the ability to improve capacity, streamline procedural activities, and long-term commitment. This report outlines the US Depart- ment of Agriculture’s (USDA) and its key partner’s comprehensive framework to respond to TCD centering on five key elements: Prevention Detection/Monitoring Management Outreach/Education Research The USDA Forest Service (State and Private Forestry, Forest Health Protection) has convened a group of subject matter experts from research, state, and federal agencies to emphasize the importance of this emerging insect/disease complex, and provide a basis for protecting the nation’s walnut resource.
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  • Thousand Cankers Disease of Walnut (Geosmithia Morbida)
    Published by Utah State University Extension and Utah Plant Pest Diagnostic Laboratory PLP-015pr August 2011 Thousand Cankers Disease of Walnut (Geosmithia morbida) Claudia Nischwitz, Extension Plant Pathologist • Marion Murray, IPM Project Leader What you should know • Thousand cankers disease is caused by the fungus Geosmithia morbida. • It is transmitted by the walnut twig beetle (Pityoph- thorus juglandis). • Once symptoms are visible, trees can die within 2 to 3 years. INTRODUCTION Thousand cankers is a newly recognized disease of walnuts, caused by a fungus (Geosmithia morbida) Fig. 1. Walnut twig beetle (Pityophthorus juglandis)1 that is spread by the walnut twig beetle (Pityophthorus juglandis, Fig. 1). The beetle is endemic to the native range of Arizona walnut (Arizona, New Mexico, and Chihuahua, Mexico), and was first identified in Utah in 1988. Widespread mortality of black walnut in the early 2000s in Colorado and Utah led to the discovery of the pathogen-vector complex. The name of the disease comes from the numerous necrotic lesions (cankers, Figs. 4a and b) found on the cambium of infected trees (Tisserat et al. 2009). The fungus kills black walnut trees (Fig. 2) often within 3 years of the development of the first symptoms (Cranshaw and Tisserat 2008). HOSTS Fig. 2. 400-year old black walnut killed in northern Utah Black walnut (Juglans nigra) and black walnut hybrids are very susceptible to Geosmithia. California walnuts (J. hindsii, J. californica) and Persian walnuts (J. regia) are slightly susceptible. Cankers do not seem to form on Arizona walnuts (J. major) (Cranshaw and Tisserat 2008). SYMPTOMS It may take several years of insect and fungal attack before symptoms are visible, starting with yellowing leaves and thinning tree crown.
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