Article The Effect of Eutypella parasitica on the Wood Decay of Three Maple Species Ana Brglez 1,2,* , Barbara Piškur 1 , Miha Humar 3 , Jožica Griˇcar 4 and Nikica Ogris 1 1 Department of Forest Protection, Slovenian Forestry Institute, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia;
[email protected] (B.P.);
[email protected] (N.O.) 2 Department of Forestry and Renewable Forest Resources, Biotechnical Faculty, University of Ljubljana, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia 3 Department of Wood Science and Technology, Biotechnical Faculty, University of Ljubljana, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia;
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[email protected] Received: 21 May 2020; Accepted: 10 June 2020; Published: 12 June 2020 Abstract: Eutypella parasitica R.W. Davidson & R.C. Lorenz is the causative agent of Eutypella canker of maple, a destructive disease of maples in Europe and North America. The fungus E. parasitica is known to cause wood stain and decay. However, it is not known how effectively it decomposes the wood of the most widespread maple species in Europe. Wood samples of Acer pseudoplatanus L., A. platanoides L., and A. campestre L. were exposed to four isolates of E. parasitica and nine other fungal species for comparison, according to the modified EN 113 standard. After 15 weeks of incubation, mass loss and microscopical analysis of samples showed evidence of colonization and different wood decay potentials among fungal species. A highly significant positive correlation was found between mass loss and moisture content for all fungal species.