Diseases of Forest and Shade Trees (Undergrad and  Grad  4 credits)

Autumn 2009 - Tu Th  10:00 AM - 11:48 AM

Kottman Hall 451

Instructor, Pierluigi (Enrico) Bonello (bonello.2@osu.edu)

Major types of forest and shade tree diseases with emphasis on diagnosis, etiology, epidemiology, and control.  Au quarter.  Prerequ: PLNTPTH 401 - General Plant Pathology, or permission of the instructor.  Not open to students with credit for PLNTPTH 510. 

Course Goals
Upon completion of the course, students should have acquired information necessary to:

1. Understand the fundamental importance of diseases in forest and urban environments.

2. Identify several common forest and shade tree diseases on the basis of symptoms and signs.  Several classroom and field examples will be provided.

3. Understand how and why tree diseases occur and develop in forests, nurseries, plantations, and urban environments.

4. Apply silvicultural and plant pathological principles, including a fundamental understanding of disease cycles, to reduce certain disease losses.

Class topics

• General Terminology; Recap of Major Tree Anatomical Features, Major Pathogen Groups
• The Fungi.  Symptomatology, Resistance and Susceptibility
• Damping Off, Root Rots
• Canker Diseases
• Anthracnoses, Foliar Diseases
• Tip Blights, Needle Blights, And Needle Casts
• Vascular Wilt Diseases
• Tip Blights, Needle Blights, And Needle Casts
• Vascular Wilt Diseases
• Rusts; Mycorrhizae
• Tree and Wood Decay:  Root, Butt, and Trunk Rots
• Nematodes; Bacteria; Phytoplasmas; Viruses
• Mistletoes; Non-Infectious Diseases
• Invasives
• Decline Syndromes of Eastern Hardwoods
• Urban Pathology In Ohio
• Forest Pathology In Ohio
• Field trip to Highbanks Metro Parks

Offered Winter 2009

Plant Path 830: Fungi in Natural Ecosystems (2 cr)

Current journal articles on molecular, biochemical, genetic, and/or ecological aspects of fungal interactions (both direct and indirect) with plants and animals in natural ecosystems, in any of the earth's biomes and habitats, including terrestrial and aquatic.  Possible topics: endophytes, mycorrhizal fungi, plant and animal pathogens, role of fungi in hierarchical trophic interactions, role of fungi in nutrient cycling.  This will be run as a "journal club" with students presenting papers and leading group discussions.

Instructor: Pierluigi (Enrico) Bonello - bonello.2@osu.edu; tel (614) 688-5401 - please contact ASAP if planning to enroll 

Videolink in Columbus and Wooster.

Time/days/location: TBD depending on availability of participants