Economic implications of a native tree disease, Caliciopsis canker, on the white pine (Pinus strobus) lumber industry in the northeastern United States

Abstract

In the northeastern United States, eastern white pine (Pinus strobus L.) is a leading species in the forest products industry. The native pathogen Caliciopsis pinea Peck is associated with Caliciopsis canker of white pine, with symptoms including excessive resin production and cankers. This study processed 28.0 m3 of white pine lumber to (i) quantify losses resulting from Caliciopsis canker, (ii) assess how damage varies between Caliciopsis canker symptom severity and thinning, and (iii) quantify economic loss resulting from damage. Caliciopsis canker damage was present in 37% of lumber, yet only 10% was downgraded due to canker damage. Of the downgraded lumber, the vast majority (77%) lost one grade. Additionally, severely symptomatic trees consistently had more damage, and their lumber was more likely to be downgraded than trees with low symptom severity. Caliciopsis canker damage resulted in average revenue losses of 2.3%, yet much of the sampled lumber had other, more significant damage that resulted in downgrade: highly symptomatic trees averaged 63% of the revenue of low or asymptomatic trees. Caliciopsis canker, therefore, can be used as an indicator of poor quality trees. We recommend thinning Caliciopsis canker symptomatic trees to meet low-density stocking guidelines, which may minimize revenue loss while simultaneously minimizing stress to residual stock.

Dendrochronological Analyses and Whole-Tree Dissections Reveal Caliciopsis Canker (Caliciopsis pinea) Damage Associated with the Declining Growth and Climatic Stressors of Eastern White Pine (Pinus strobus)

“…These removed cankers were assessed through visual observation of damage after cross-sections had been sanded and included damage that did not have necrosis or that was associated with other factors (e.g., insects, abiotic stress, etc.). The remainder (770 cankers) had Caliciopsis canker symptoms (Figure 1) that were associated with C. pinea infections in other studies ( [9,32,51], Broders and Wyka unpub. Data).…”

“…Selecting such trees as crop trees will likely result in increased tree vigor and growth, decreased susceptibility to Caliciopsis canker, and in turn a decreased number and size of cankers. These actions can maintain the value of standing white pine [32], and in some instances can even increase the value by allowing currently infected trees to recover. One important consideration, however, is the timing and intensity of thinning.…”

“…During site selection, the severity of Caliciopsis canker-associated symptoms on each white pine tree was assessed, resulting in two severity classes: (1) low severity, with zero to few external symptoms; and (2) high severity, with numerous symptoms (fully defined in [32]). The presence of C. pinea in trees was confirmed using both a culture-based approach and a molecular diagnostic assay ( [46], Broders and Wyka unpubl.…”

“…Previous studies suggest entry can occur through natural and artificial wounds, natural bark cracks, insect feeding sites, foliar scars, and lenticels [23,26,[28][29][30]. Once infected, host symptoms include excessive resin production, crown thinning, roughened bark, sunken brown/red depressed lesions, bark fissures/cracks, necrotic tissue, and reduced wood quality ( Figure 1A-F) [24,25,[30][31][32]. Ascocarps may also be present on roughened bark or at branch axils, with long black stromata that resemble eyelash clusters [9,24,25].…”

The Threat of the Combined Effect of Biotic and Abiotic Stress Factors in Forestry Under a Changing Climate

“…However, dead trees, especially mature ones, can still be of economic value through "salvage logging" despite the undesirable ecological consequences due to the associated increase in harvest frequency (Thorn et al, 2018). An estimate of economic loss derived from predicted tree mortality (Waring et al, 2009;Ochuodho et al, 2012;Soliman et al, 2012), comparisons of the cost of protection to the possible loss (Watt et al, 2011;Cameron et al, 2018), and revenue loss due to downgraded products (Costanza et al, 2019) were used to demonstrate possible damage from biotic and abiotic stresses. Government and household expenditures as well as losses in property value associated with tree mortality have also been estimated (Aukema et al, 2011).…”