Drought has serious effects on forests, especially semi-arid and arid forests, around the world. Zagros Forest in Iran has been severely affected by drought, which has led to the decline of the most common tree species, Persian oak (Quercus bran...
Forest decline diseases are complex processes driven by biotic and abiotic factors. Although information about host–microbiome–environment interactions in agricultural systems is emerging rapidly, similar studies on tree health are still...
Long-term tree growth is significantly affected by climate change, which have become a global concern. Tree-ring width and isotopic information can show how trees respond to climate change on a long-term scale and reveal some phenomena of tree declin...
We investigated seasonal variations in δ13C values and concentrations of carbohydrates and organic acids in needles of declining and healthy mountain pine (Pinus mugo ssp. uncinata (DC.) Domin) trees from the Swiss National Park (SNP), using co...
Moderate-resolution satellite imagery is essential to detect conifer tree decline on a regional scale and address the threat caused by pinewood nematode (PWN), (Bursaphelenchus xylophilus. This is a quarantine organism responsible for pine wilt disea...
Climate change is increasing pest insects’ ability to reproduce as temperatures rise, resulting in vast tree mortality globally. Early information on pest infestation is urgently needed for timely decisions to mitigate the damage. We investigat...
Research Highlights: Tree decline can alter soil carbon cycling, given the close relationship between primary production and the activity of roots and soil microbes. Background and Objectives: We studied how tree decline associated to old age and acc...
Veteran trees are important elements in forests, as well as urban and suburban areas, and represent part of our cultural heritage. However, increasing age also brings a reduction in vitality. Information on tree physiological vitality can be gained b...
In recent years, several drought events hit Poland, affecting its forests. In Opole, Poland, tons of Pinus sylvestris L. deadwood is removed every year due to drought. Understanding the physiological mechanisms underlying tree vulnerability to drough...
Dieback and decline of Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) Karst.) tree stands on Mtn. Kopaonik are caused by a combination of abiotic and biotic factors. Ectomycorrhizal (ECM) fungi have stabilizing effects on forest trees that are under environmental s...
Monitoring tree decline in arid and semi-arid zones requires methods that can provide up-to-date and accurate information on the health status of the trees at single-tree and sample plot levels. Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) are considered as cost-...
Xylella fastidiosa subsp. pauca (XFP), Neofusicoccum mediterraneum, N. stellenboschiana and other fungi have been found in olive groves of Salento (Apulia, Italy) that show symptoms of severe decline. XFP is well known to be the cause of olive quick...
In the last decade, a sporadic tree health syndrome affecting high-density apple plantings in North America has become known as Rapid Apple Decline (RAD) or Sudden Apple Decline (SAD). The affected apple trees were typically grafted on small dwarfing...
Research Highlights: Yellow-cedar decline on the island archipelago of Haida Gwaii is driven by warm winter temperatures and low winter precipitation, which is caused by anthropogenic climate change and exacerbated by the positive phase of the Pacifi...
The health and vitality assessment of each single tree is one of the most important actions for an optimal urban forest management program. The development of new technology able to continuously monitor the tree vitality and underlying trends, could...
Worldwide studies have related recent forest decline and mortality events to warmer temperatures and droughts, as well as pointing out a greater vulnerability to climate changes in larger trees. Previous research performed on silver fir (Abies alba M...
Old trees are irreplaceable conservation resources with numerous ecological and socio-cultural values. While many forests have experienced significant declines under recent climate warming, the risk of growth declines in old trees remains unknown. He...
Vegetative propagation is widely used in forest plantations to propagate elite genotypes with traits of economic or ecological interest. However, the loss of the ability to form adventitious roots is a dramatic effect of tree age and maturation and r...
We used tree-ring width data of Larix gmelinii and Pinus sylvestris var. mongolica from the northern region of the Daxing’an Mountains, China; normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) data; and microtopographic information (elevation, slop...
The deterioration of farmland shelterbelts in the Ulan Buh desert oases could weaken their protective functions. Therefore, an accurate method is essential to assess tree decline degree in order to guide the rejuvenation and transformation of these s...
Stem diameter growth in living trees refers to the invariably increase in dimension over a given period. However, reversible stem diameter decrease could occur, related to water movement in the vessels within the wood (on a daily basis) and to tree w...
Climate models predict increasing mean temperatures and reduced precipitation for Mediterranean ecosystems already subjected to major hydrological fluctuations. Forest decline phenomena relate extreme droughts or heat waves with other organisms, e.g....
Tree decline due to climate change results in physiological weaknesses, attacks by harmful pests and pathogens and threats to forest ecosystem stability. In the work described here, the effects of drought on wood density, tree ring width and variatio...
The increased frequency and intensity of warming-induced droughts have triggered dieback episodes affecting many forest types and tree species worldwide. Tree plantations are not exempt as they can be more vulnerable to drought than natural forests b...
Bark beetles and their associated fungi kill trees readily, but we often ignore which organism is the leading cause of tree mortality. While phloem feeding beetles inhibit photosynthate transport, their associated fungi block the tracheids disrupting...
Oaks are dominant and key tree species in Mediterranean forest ecosystems. However, in recent decades, oak forests have been heavily impacted by oak decline, a worldwide phenomenon exacerbated by climate change. The charcoal disease agent Biscogniaux...
This paper presents research results on forest decline in Serbia. The results were obtained through monitoring defoliation of 34 tree species at 130 sample plots during the period from 2004 to 2018. This research aimed to determine whether the occurr...
Global warming is posing a threat to the health and condition of forests as the amount and length of biotic and abiotic disturbances increase. Most methods for detecting disturbances and measuring forest health are based on multi- and hyperspectral i...
Subalpine conifer forests in South Korea are increasingly exposed to climate-related stress, yet simple and repeatable field criteria for describing tree decline remain limited. Here, we propose a field-based scoring framework for assessing observed...
There is a wide range of naturally regenerated Morus alba in the declining Robinia pseudoacacia plantation of the Yellow River Delta. It is important to clarify the key mechanism of natural regeneration of M. alba for the transformation of declining...
Climate change has had a widespread and profound impact on global temperature and precipitation patterns, especially in semi-arid areas. Plant δ13C and iWUE indicate the trade-off between carbon uptake and water loss, which is pivotal for under...
The dehesa is a traditional agrosilvopastoral ecosystem characterized by a savanna-like structure. It has been in decline since the middle of the last century, in particular in agricultural environments where it has been relegated to isolated forests...
Macadamia nuts are, economically, the second most important crop in the state of Hawai’i. A recent decline in yield and acreage has been attributed to insect damage and diseases such as Macadamia Quick Decline (MQD) caused by Phytophthora tropi...
The values of forests have been extensively researched by focusing on general public perspectives with different frameworks used to categorise them. Studies have also explored forest manager values; however, there is limited evidence on the values th...
Elaeocarpus sylvestris (Lour.) Poir. var. ellipticus (Thunb.) H.Hara, an evergreen tree species native to Jeju Island, South Korea, has experienced a progressive decline associated with phytoplasma infection. This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy...
The prediction of production decline rate in the development of offshore high water-cut reservoirs predominantly relies on the traditional Arps decline curves. However, the solution process is complex, and the interpretation efficiency is low, making...
Phytophthora root rot is considered one of the main factors associated with holm oak (Quercus ilex L.) mortality. The effectiveness and accuracy of soilborne pathogen and management could be influenced by soil spatial heterogeneity. This factor is of...
Over the last half century the Iberian peninsula has seen the large scale planting of exotic gum trees (Eucalyptus sp.) therewith reducing space for native wildlife. An additional effect of the gum tree plantations may be the lowering of the water ta...
For about a decade, olive groves in Apulia (Southern Italy) have been progressively destroyed by Olive Quick Decline Syndrome (OQDS), a disease caused by the bacterium Xylella fastidiosa subsp. pauca (Xfp). Recently, we described an additional wiltin...
Various biotic and abiotic stresses are causing decline in forest health globally. Presently, one of the major biotic stress agents in Europe is the European spruce bark beetle (Ips typographus L.) which is increasingly causing widespread tree mortal...
Pruning is an essential practice that helps control branch growth, optimize fruit size, and enhance fruit tree productivity. This study focused on ‘Valencia’ orange trees, which had experienced a decline in productivity after being cultiv...
Population density influences tree responses to environmental stresses, such as drought and high temperature. Prolonged drought negatively affects the health of Mongolian pines in forests planted by the Three-North Shelter Forest Program in North Chi...
Many planted Pinus forests are severely affected by defoliation and mortality processes caused by pests and droughts. The mapping of forest tree crown variables (e.g., leaf area index and pigments) is particularly useful in stand delineation for the...
Horse chestnut (Aesculus hippocastanum L.) is a widely planted ornamental and urban tree valued for its aesthetic and ecological functions. In recent years, declining health of horse chestnut in urban environments has been increasingly reported, ofte...
Tree mortality is a key process in forest dynamics. Despite decades of effort to understand this process, many uncertainties remain. South American broadleaf species are particularly under-represented in global studies on mortality and forest dynamic...
Rapid apple decline is a phenomenon characterized by a weakening of young apple trees in high density orchards, often followed by their quick collapse. The nature of this phenomenon remains unclear. In this work, we investigated the root system archi...
Temperate conifer forests stressed by climate change could be lost through tree regeneration decline in the interior of high-severity fires, resulting in type conversion to non-forest vegetation from seed-dispersal limitation, competition, drought st...
Here we report the medium-term effects of foliar spray and endo-therapy treatments with different doses of a Cu/Zn citric acid biocomplex (Dentamet®) in Xylella fastidiosa infected olive trees of Salento, Apulia region (South-east Italy). Leaf ex...
Olive trees are infected and damaged by Botryosphaeriaceae fungi in various countries. The botryosphaeriaceous fungus Neofusicoccum mediterraneum is highly aggressive and is a major concern for olive groves in Spain and California (USA), where it cau...
Visual symptoms assessment and PCR assays using rDNA-directed primers, followed by RFLP analysis, were employed to update and extend knowledge on the occurrence of pear decline (PD) phytoplasma in several pear-growing areas of the neighboring regions...
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