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California wildlands: Is habitat restoration actually killing the plants? - Printable Version

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California wildlands: Is habitat restoration actually killing the plants? - C C - Jan 2, 2019

https://phys.org/news/2019-01-habitat-california-wildlands.html

EXCERPT: In 2014, plant biologists with the California Department of Agriculture reported an alarming discovery: native wildflowers and herbs, grown in nurseries and then planted in ecological restoration sites around California, were infected with Phytophthora tentaculata, a deadly exotic plant pathogen that causes root and stem rot.

While ecologists have long been wary of exotic plant pathogens borne on imported ornamental plants, this was the first time in California that these microorganisms had been found in native plants used in restoration efforts. Their presence in restoration sites raised the frightening possibility that ecological restoration, rather than returning disturbed sites to their natural beauty, may actually be introducing deadly plant pathogens, such as those related to Sudden Oak Death, into the wild.

New work by a UC Berkeley team in the College of Natural Resources shows for the first time just how widespread and deadly the threat of pathogens from restoration nurseries may be....

MORE: https://phys.org/news/2019-01-habitat-california-wildlands.html