Natural History Wanderings

Bay Nature reported on one upside to the drought. It helps create conditions that make it easy to stop the spread of the Sudden Oak Death (Phytophthora ramorum). The drought increases the effectiveness of treating infected trees. Bay Nature reports

Phytophthora ramorum spreads by way of spores. During a rainstorm, the spores glide off the leaves of affected bay laurels and infect neighboring bays, or certain types of oaks they include California coast live oak, black oak, shreve oak, and canyon live oak and tanoaks. The oaks themselves are terminal hosts, meaning they pose no risk of sporulation. And some oak species, notably valley oak and blue oak, show no signs of susceptibility to the disease, perhaps because of differences in their bark. During the dry season, the pathogen dries out on the bay leaves, or goes dormant, only to awaken at the first rains and become infectious again.

Read full story atDrought Brings Right Conditions to Stem Sudden Oak Death – Bay Nature.