 Topics to be covered in this training:
1. What Sudden Oak Death (SOD) is.
2. How SOD spreads.
3. What we are doing to prevent spread in the
construction of this trail.
 Since the mid 1990s, the water mold Phytophthora
ramorum has caused substantial mortality in Tan oak,
Coast live oak, California black oak, Shreve oak, and
Canyon live oak. Phyto = plant.
 Current range is through 14 California Counties and
one in Oregon (map on next slide).
 P. ramorum thrives in wet
or moist climates, in
cool temperatures
and in living plants.
Marin County Aerial Photo
 Current distribution of P. ramorum in wildlands
 Phytophthora ramorum is an oomycete: a fungus-
like eukaryotic micro-organism (or water mold).
 To reproduce, the oomycete pathogen produces
both resting spores (chlamydospores) and zoospores, which have flagella, enabling swimming.
 P. ramorum mechanisms of dispersal:
1.
Primarily by water. This can be from winddriven rain, run-off, mud and any transport of
the spores in a liquid medium.
2. Transport of plant material through sawdust,
leaves, nursery stock or mulch.
3.
Mechanical spread by shoes, paws, hooves, tires
and tools. All having contaminated water, soil or
plant material on them.
4. Possibly by air/wind.
 Symptoms that may indicate infection
include:
1. Bleeding of a dark sap.
2. Cankers on the bark.
3. Leaf or twig dieback.
4. Hypoxylon fungus (small black domes).
5. Above conditions may also lead to greater
susceptibility to bark beetles.
6. The only way to diagnose with certainty is to take
a sample for lab testing.
 Foliar host plants which may only exhibit leaf spots
and not SOD, include: California Bay, Rhododendron,
Camellia, Madrone, Bigleaf Maple.
 These host plants will not die from the pathogen but
can easily spread it to Oaks where it is lethal.
 The indicator plant to check is the California Bay
Laurel, usually the first plant to show symptoms in a
new infestation area.
 Bay Laurel damage will be
limited to leaf spots, near
the tip and not on every
leaf.
 Efforts to sanitize equipment with
disinfectants will help reduce the spread of
this disease:
1. Prepare sanitizing kits with 1:9 ratio, bleach to
water, or 70% alcohol solution or commercial
products such as Chlorox Clean-Up or Lysol spray.
2. Make use of brushes, scrapers and plastic gloves
to remove plant material, sawdust or soil from all
tools, gloves, boots, tires (hooves!) and clothing.
3. Do not collect / move soil or plant material from
host or infected trees and move it across counties.
 Our protocol for minimizing SOD spread:
1. Saws and all other pruning equipment will be
sanitized prior to use on the 680 trail.
2. Pruning and tree removal on specimens that do
not appear to be afflicted with SOD will be cut in
the first round.
3. Pruning/tree removal on trees exhibiting SOD
symptoms (and marked “SOD” with white paint) will
be cut in the second round.
4. All equipment will then be sanitized on site prior
to bringing it back to the shop to avoid further
spread.
Examples of possible SOD trees on the 680
trail alignment and how they’re marked:
Video Clips:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DpfaTH30Q4U&feature=related
References and for more info:
http://www.suddenoakdeath.org/
http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/PMG/PESTNOTES/pn74151.html
http://www.invasivespeciesinfo.gov/microbes/suddenoak.shtml
http://www.plantmanagementnetwork.org/php/shared/sod/