Population Studies of Phellinus weirii in Mercer Island Pioneer Park

1
Population Studies of Phellinus weirii in Mercer
Island Pioneer Park

• Craig Cootsona
• Kim Littke
• Jim Lutz
• ESC432 Forest Pathology - 2003

2
Classification of P. weirii

• Phellinus weirii (Murrill) Gilb., (1974)
• Hymenochaetaceae,
• Hymenochaetales,
• Agaricomycetidae,
• Basidiomycetes,
• Basidiomycota,
• Fungi
• SynonymyFomitiporia weirii Murrill,
  (1914)Poria weirii (Murrill) Murrill,
  (1914)Fuscoporia weirii (Murrill) Aoshima,
  (1953)Inonotus weirii (Murrill) Kotl. Pouzar,
  (1970)Phellinidium weirii (Murrill) Y.C. Dai,
  (1995)
• Source http//www.indexfungorum.org

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Signs

• Ectotrophic mycelium reddish setal hyphae
• Resupinate fruiting bodies annual, grey-brown,
  located on undersides of wood

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Symptoms

• Incipient decay
• Delamination along annual rings
• Root balls
• Crown decline
• Mortality pockets

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P. weirii Susceptibility

• Highly susceptible Abies grandis, A. amabalis,
  A. concolor, Pseudotsuga menziesii, Tsuga
  mertensiana
• Intermediately susceptible Abies lasiocarpa, A.
  magnifica, A. procera, Larix occidentalis, Picea
  engelmannii, P. sitchensis, Sequoiadendron
  giganteum, Taxus brevifolia, Tsuga heterophylla
• Tolerant Pinus contorta, P. lambertiana, P.
  monticola
• Persistent Chamaecyparus lawsoniana, C.
  nootkatensis, Libocedrus decurrens, P. ponderosa,
  Sequoia sempervirens, Thuja plicata
• Immune Hardwoods generally Acer circinatum,
  A. glabrum, A. macrophyllum, Alnus rubra,
  Holodiscus discolor

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P. weirii Susceptibility

• Highly susceptible grand fir, Pacific silver
  fir, white fir, Douglas-fir, mountain hemlock
• Intermediately susceptible subalpine fir, red
  fir, noble fir, western larch, Engelmann spruce,
  Sitka spruce, Sequoia, Pacific yew, western
  hemlock
• Tolerant lodgepole pine, sugar pine, western
  white pine
• Persistent Port-Orford cedar, Alaska yellow
  cedar, incense cedar, ponderosa pine, redwood,
  western redcedar
• Immune Hardwoods generally vine maple, Rocky
  Mountain maple, big leaf maple, red alder, ocean
  spray

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Ecology of P. weirii

• Spreads vegetatively along roots (30cm/year)
• Persists in dead tissue and re-infects
  regenerating plants (facultative saprophyte)
• Three age classes of infection logged
  old-growth, first regrowth, second regrowth

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Ecology of P. weirii

• Differential host mortality alters successional
  pathways
• In the presence of Tsuga heterophylla, succession
  can be advanced
• In the presence of Alnus rubra or Holodiscus
  discolor, succession can be reset
• Shifting patches on the landscape

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Questions

• Are the P. weirii patches in Pioneer Park a
  single genet or multiple genets?
• Can we estimate how long P. weirii has been
  expressed in Pioneer Park?
• Can three graduate students walk around Mercer
  Island carrying hatchets without getting into
  trouble?

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Field Observations

• Large root-rot patches, up to 100m in diameter
• P. weirii fruiting bodies
• Armillaria spp.
• Heterobasidion annosum
• Decay fungi Ganoderma applanatum, Fomitopsis
  pinicola, and Phaeolus schweinitzii

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Sample Sites

• Pseudo-random sampling
• Found standing dead trees and rootballs infected
  with P. weirii within Pioneer Park
• 18 sites

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10
9
13
7
2-4
99
5
11
1
14
8
17
6
16
15
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Collection Methodology

• Collected moist samples from underside of roots
• Roots with laminated root rot have a diagnostic
  sound when chopped with a hatchet

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Initial Culture Methodology

• Samples were surface sterilized with a bleach
  solution.
• Sterilized samples were plated onto 2 malt agar
  with streptomycin, thiamine, and lactic acid

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Compatibility Testing

• Many cultures were infected with Trichoderma spp.
• Cultures that grew uncontaminated were placed in
  new media opposite from another culture
• Each culture was tested against itself and all
  other growing cultures
• This is a simple method that yields results, but
  DNA fingerprinting would have been better

2 2
4 4
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Results
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Compatibility Pictures
Vegetative compatibility suggests that samples
are from the same genet
If samples do not grow together, they are
genetically different
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Results of Compatibility Tests

• Six samples grew (out of 20 samples)
• Control samples P. weirii collected in Olympic
  National Park
• Heterobasidion annosum from Pioneer Park

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Minimum Genet Extent

• Extent East-West 600m
• Typical growth rate 30cm / year
• Genet age Conservatively 1000 years

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Additional Questions

• What is the furthest extent of the genet?
• Does it continue to Seward Park?
• Why isnt this P. weirii genet expressed
  everywhere?
• What is the prognosis for this genet?
• Will paved areas stop its spread?
• What is the role of the basidiospores?

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Final Thoughts
Phellinus weirii

• Relatively straight-forward experiment can yield
  results, but DNA fingerprinting would given more
  accurate results.
• This genet of Phellinus weirii has been on Mercer
  Island for at least since 1000 A.D.
• When you think of Pioneer Park, think who the
  real pioneer was.

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References

• Dickman, Alan and Cook, Stanton Fire and Fungus
  in a Mountain Hemlock Forest Canadian Journal of
  Botany, Volume 67, 1989
• Edmonds, Robert L., Agee, James K., Gara, Robert
  I Forest Health and Protection, McGraw-Hill 2000
• Edmonds, Robert L., Management Plan for Tree
  Diseases in Pioneer Park, Mercer Island Report
  to the Mercer Island Parks and Recreation
  Department, February 19, 1999
• Thies, Walter G. and Sturrock, Rona N. Laminated
  Root Rot in Western North America U.S.
  Department of Agriculture General Technical
  Report PNW-GTR-349, April 1995
• Gara, R.I., Littke, W.R., Agee, J.K., Gelszier,
  D.R., Stuart, J.D., and Driver, C.H. Influence
  of Fires, Fungi and Mountain Pine Beetles on
  Development of a Lodgepole Pine Forest in South
  Central Oregon, D.M. Baumgartner (ed.) Lodgepole
  Pine The Species and Its Management. Proceedings
  of a Symposium, Washington State University
  Cooperative Extension, Pullman, WA, pp. 155-162
• Holah, Jenny C., Wilson, Mark V., Hansen, Everett
  M. Impacts of a native root-rotting pathogen on
  successional development of old-growth Douglas
  fir forests Oecologia (1997) 111429-433
• CABI Bioscience www.indexfungorum.org Fungus
  identification and classification database.