scholarly journals Towards Eradication of Phytophthora cinnamomi Using a Fallow Approach in a Mediterranean Climate

Forests ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (10) ◽  
pp. 1101
Author(s):  
William A. Dunstan ◽  
Kay Howard ◽  
Andrew Grigg ◽  
Christopher Shaw ◽  
Treena I. Burgess ◽  
...  

While eradication from haul roads was achieved, more work is required to eradicate P. cinnamomi from stockpiles and bunds. We can now implement different management strategies to the construction of bunds and stockpiles to facilitate eradication. Infestation by Phytophthora cinnamomi results in large financial and management constraints to environmental managers. This pathogen was considered impossible to eradicate until recent success with treatments including host removal, herbicide and fungicide application, soil fumigation and physical root barriers. We investigated the most benign of these treatments; keeping the area devoid of living host material. In a Western Australian mine site within a Mediterranean climate, haul roads, stockpiles and roadside bunds had P. cinnamomi colonised Pinus stem plugs buried at multiple depths. Over time, we examined the effects of soil moisture and temperature in different soil conditions and types to compare the recovery of the pathogen. Results: Within 12 months, the pathogen could not be recovered from the haul roads. In the stockpiles, depth produced significantly different results. In 3 of the 4 sites, the pathogen was not recovered at 10 cm after 20 months. By 12 months, at 50 cm, there was an 80% reduction in recovery, but only one stockpile had no recovery from 50 cm, which occurred by 36 months. Bunds were up to 1.75 m high and had variable results for plugs buried at 30 cm, influenced by height, the types of soils and shading. One of the smallest bunds was the only bund where the pathogen was not recoverable (by 22 months). This study provides strong support for using a fallow period to reduce or eliminate P. cinnamomi inoculum.

1985 ◽  
Vol 33 (3) ◽  
pp. 261 ◽  
Author(s):  
I Abbott

This paper examines seed release and seed dispersal; recruitment in relation to fire and logging; mortality of seedlings in relation to their age; and the dynamics of one population from November 1979 to March 1983. Dehiscence of follicles is caused by wetting and drying of the infructescence, so that most seeds fall to the ground during autumn in the Mediterranean climate of south-western Australia. Seeds are wind- dispersed, settling downward from the parent tree: 90% of seed falls within the first year. There is large variation in annual recruitment of seedlings, reflecting large annual differences in the number of infructescences produced. Fires of various intensities or logging do not enhance recruitment. Seedling mortality is greatest during the first summer after germination; this may be related to the rudimentary development of the lignotuber. A population of 1890 individually marked plants was studied for 3.5 years. Over twice as many deaths took place in summer and autumn as in winter and spring, and 90% of deaths were of plants less than 20 cm tall. At the conclusion of the study, total population size, through recruitment of three cohorts of seedlings, had increased by 7%. This indicates how important control of reproduction would be in achieving long-term reduction in the abundance of B. grandis, which harbours the pathogenic fungus Phytophthora cinnamomi.


2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (05) ◽  
pp. 769-784
Author(s):  
Ipek Ensari ◽  
Adrienne Pichon ◽  
Sharon Lipsky-Gorman ◽  
Suzanne Bakken ◽  
Noémie Elhadad

Abstract Background Self-tracking through mobile health technology can augment the electronic health record (EHR) as an additional data source by providing direct patient input. This can be particularly useful in the context of enigmatic diseases and further promote patient engagement. Objectives This study aimed to investigate the additional information that can be gained through direct patient input on poorly understood diseases, beyond what is already documented in the EHR. Methods This was an observational study including two samples with a clinically confirmed endometriosis diagnosis. We analyzed data from 6,925 women with endometriosis using a research app for tracking endometriosis to assess prevalence of self-reported pain problems, between- and within-person variability in pain over time, endometriosis-affected tasks of daily function, and self-management strategies. We analyzed data from 4,389 patients identified through a large metropolitan hospital EHR to compare pain problems with the self-tracking app and to identify unique data elements that can be contributed via patient self-tracking. Results Pelvic pain was the most prevalent problem in the self-tracking sample (57.3%), followed by gastrointestinal-related (55.9%) and lower back (49.2%) pain. Unique problems that were captured by self-tracking included pain in ovaries (43.7%) and uterus (37.2%). Pain experience was highly variable both across and within participants over time. Within-person variation accounted for 58% of the total variance in pain scores, and was large in magnitude, based on the ratio of within- to between-person variability (0.92) and the intraclass correlation (0.42). Work was the most affected daily function task (49%), and there was significant within- and between-person variability in self-management effectiveness. Prevalence rates in the EHR were significantly lower, with abdominal pain being the most prevalent (36.5%). Conclusion For enigmatic diseases, patient self-tracking as an additional data source complementary to EHR can enable learning from the patient to more accurately and comprehensively evaluate patient health history and status.


Plant Disease ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 98 (4) ◽  
pp. 551-558 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. A. Ridge ◽  
S. N. Jeffers ◽  
W. C. Bridges ◽  
S. A. White

The goal of this study was to develop a procedure that could be used to evaluate the potential susceptibility of aquatic plants used in constructed wetlands to species of Phytophthora commonly found in nurseries. V8 agar plugs from actively growing cultures of three or four isolates of Phytophthora cinnamomi, P. citrophthora, P. cryptogea, P. nicotianae, and P. palmivora were used to produce inocula. In a laboratory experiment, plugs were placed in plastic cups and covered with 1.5% nonsterile soil extract solution (SES) for 29 days, and zoospore presence and activity in the solution were monitored at 2- or 3-day intervals with a rhododendron leaf disk baiting bioassay. In a greenhouse experiment, plugs of each species of Phytophthora were placed in plastic pots and covered with either SES or Milli-Q water for 13 days during both summer and winter months, and zoospore presence in the solutions were monitored at 3-day intervals with the baiting bioassay and by filtration. Zoospores were present in solutions throughout the 29-day and 13-day experimental periods but consistency of zoospore release varied by species. In the laboratory experiment, colonization of leaf baits decreased over time for some species and often varied among isolates within a species. In the greenhouse experiment, bait colonization decreased over time in both summer and winter, varied among species of Phytophthora in the winter, and was better in Milli-Q water. Zoospore densities in solutions were greater in the summer than in the winter. Decreased zoospore activities for some species of Phytophthora were associated with prolonged temperatures below 13 or above 30°C in the greenhouse. Zoospores from plugs were released consistently in aqueous solutions for at least 13 days. This procedure can be used to provide in situ inocula for the five species of Phytophthora used in this study so that aquatic plant species can be evaluated for potential susceptibility.


1982 ◽  
Vol 30 (2) ◽  
pp. 139 ◽  
Author(s):  
WM Blowes ◽  
WA Heather ◽  
N Malajczuk ◽  
SR Shea

Native forest at Durras in south-eastern New South Wales and Jarrahdale in south-western Western Australia was examined for the presence of Phytophthora cinnamomi by two sampling and isolation techniques. With the lupin seeding baiting technique, randomly selected samples of soil and fine roots collected from the New South Wales site yielded P. cinnamomi when baited, while similar baiting of comparable samples from Western Australia failed. Direct plating of samples of upper roots and root collars of recently dead Banksia grandis from Western Australian sites yielded P. cinnamomi, while this organism was not isolated from comparable samples of chlorotic Macrozamia communis collected at the New South Wales site. The results suggest that the form of occurrence of P. cinnamomi and its association with disease in Australia vary in different situations. Viewing each situation independently might ensure the adoption of control/prevention strategies appropriate to all.


2015 ◽  
Vol 47 (5) ◽  
pp. 588-598 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julia L. Carboni

Government increasingly relies on complex arrangements of providers to deliver public services. There is burgeoning public administration literature on contract management and performance. This literature emphasizes contract management strategies such as contract design and ex post monitoring and relationship building to promote contractor performance. The literature does not examine effects of structural variables on contract performance in ex post contract markets, though work on interorganizational networks has long established that structural factors influence individual performance. This study examines the influence of structural variables on publicly funded contract performance in networked structures of exchange using 5 years of state-level contract data. Network concepts are used to develop contracts as networked exchange structures and develop measures of structural embeddedness for individual programs. Findings include that the structural embeddedness of individual programs influences individual contract performance on quality and cost dimensions over time.


10.2196/15819 ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 22 (4) ◽  
pp. e15819
Author(s):  
William Collinge ◽  
Robert Soltysik ◽  
Paul Yarnold

Background Personal health informatics have the potential to help patients discover personalized health management strategies that influence outcomes. Fibromyalgia (FM) is a complex chronic illness requiring individualized strategies that may be informed by analysis of personal health informatics data. An online health diary program with dynamic feedback was developed to assist patients with FM in identifying symptom management strategies that predict their personal outcomes, and found reduced symptom levels associated with program use. Objective The aim of this study was to determine longitudinal associations between program use and functional impact of FM as measured by scores on a standardized assessment instrument, the Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire (FIQ). Methods Participants were self-identified as diagnosed with FM and recruited via online FM advocacy websites. Participants used an online health diary program (“SMARTLog”) to report symptom ratings, behaviors, and management strategies used. Based on single-subject analysis of the accumulated data over time, individualized recommendations (“SMARTProfile”) were then provided by the automated feedback program. Indices of program use comprised of cumulative numbers of SMARTLogs completed and SMARTProfiles received. Participants included in this analysis met a priori criteria of sufficient program use to generate SMARTProfiles (ie, ≥22 SMARTLogs completed). Users completed the FIQ at baseline and again each subsequent month of program use as follow-up data for analysis. Kendall tau-b, a nonparametric statistic that measures both the strength and direction of an ordinal association between two repeated measured variables, was computed between all included FIQ scores and both indices of program use for each subject at the time of each completed FIQ. Results A total of 76 users met the a priori use criteria. The mean baseline FIQ score was 61.6 (SD 14.7). There were 342 FIQ scores generated for longitudinal analysis via Kendall tau-b. Statistically significant inverse associations were found over time between FIQ scores and (1) the cumulative number of SMARTLogs completed (tau-b=–0.135, P<.001); and (2) the cumulative number of SMARTProfiles received (tau-b=–0.133, P<.001). Users who completed 61 or more SMARTLogs had mean follow-up scores of 49.9 (n=25, 33% of the sample), an 18.9% drop in FM impact. Users who generated 11 or more new SMARTProfiles had mean follow-up scores of 51.8 (n=23, 30% of the sample), a 15.9% drop. Conclusions Significant inverse associations were found between FIQ scores and both indices of program use, with FIQ scores declining as use increased. Based on established criteria for rating FM severity, the top one-third of users in terms of use had clinically significant reductions from “severe” to “moderate” FM impact. These findings underscore the value of self-management interventions with low burden, high usability, and high perceived relevance to the user. Trial Registration ClinicalTrials.gov NCT02515552; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02515552


Land ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (9) ◽  
pp. 295 ◽  
Author(s):  
Megan K. Jennings ◽  
Katherine A. Zeller ◽  
Rebecca L. Lewison

A central tenet of landscape conservation planning is that natural communities can be supported by a connected landscape network that supports many species and habitat types. However, as the planning environment, ecological conditions, and risks and stressors change over time, the areas needed to support landscape connectivity may also shift. We demonstrate an approach designed to assess functional and structural connectivity of an established protected area network that has experienced landscape and planning changes over time. Here we present an approach designed to inform adaptive planning for connectivity with a complementary suite of analytical techniques. Using existing occurrence, movement, and genetic data for six focal species, we create a spatially explicit connectivity assessment based on landscape resistance, paired with a landscape feature geodiversity analysis. Although factors such as cost, conservation goals, and land management strategies must be taken into account, this approach provides a template for leveraging available empirical data and robust analyses to evaluate and adapt planning for protected area networks that can preserve and promote both functional and structural connectivity in dynamic landscapes.


Polar Record ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 51 (4) ◽  
pp. 422-431 ◽  
Author(s):  
John-Erik Kocho-Schellenberg ◽  
Fikret Berkes

ABSTRACTTo understand the interplay of factors that shape changes in management strategies, we tracked the evolution of beluga whale co-management involving the Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada, the Fisheries Joint Management Committee (FJMC), and the Tuktoyaktuk Hunter and Trapper Committee from its beginnings in the mid-1980s to the present. The objective was to analyse changes over time in the communication network involved in dealing with the Husky Lakes beluga entrapment issue, using social network analysis (SNA). Along with qualitative information, the use of SNA provided quantitative data to document the development of co-management over time. According to both government and indigenous parties, a fully functional problem-solving partnership developed over the course of two decades. Using the beluga case as the illustration, we traced the development of joint management processes, overcoming some of the initial obstacles and accommodating the needs of the various parties. This case demonstrates the importance of legal arrangements (the indigenous land claims agreement), the role of key individuals and the bridging organisation (FJMC) created by the agreement, and the maturation of co-management over time.


2019 ◽  
Vol 366 (16) ◽  
Author(s):  
Siyethemba Masikane ◽  
Jenna Jolliffe ◽  
Laurika Swart ◽  
Adele McLeod

ABSTRACT Phytophthora cinnamomi Rands is a devastating root rot pathogen of avocado. Robust and sensitive root quantification methods are required for determining seasonal P. cinnamomi root colonization patterns and evaluating management strategies. Our study investigated four P. cinnamomi root quantification methods using a newly developed P. cinnamomi-avocado-seedling bioassay system and a P. cinnamomi-specific probe-based qPCR assay. Phytophthora cinnamomi quantification through plating of roots (root plating) or lemon leaf disks obtained from root baitings (root-baiting-plating) onto semi-selective media were the best methods. Root plating consistently yielded significant differences in P. cinnamomi quantities obtained from seedling roots inoculated with five zoospore concentrations (10–1 × 105 zoospores/ml), whereas root-baiting-plating did so less often. The two methods were comparable in yielding root quantities that were significantly correlated with the inoculated zoospore concentrations, rarely yielding false negatives and having the lowest variability between replicates of the same treatment. qPCR quantification from roots was also an effective method; however, treatment replicates were highly variable and false negatives occurred more frequently. The least effective quantification method was qPCR quantification from lemon leaf disks obtained from root baitings.


Author(s):  
Ora-Orn Poocharoen ◽  
Jeffrey D. Straussman ◽  
David E. Guinn

Abstract Intractable long-term or chronic refugee communities present serious challenges to common refugee-management strategies. We argue that they are best understood and managed by using adaptive techniques drawn from complexity theory. To illustrate this strategy, we use the refugee communities situated along the Thai–Myanmar border as a case study. The article outlines the key elements of complexity theory, the complexity lens, for use in analysis of the problem. It then applies the complexity lens to the case study: identifying and describing the actors and networks that compose the complex system of the Thai–My refugees (the complex system) and the dynamic developments within that community over time (dynamic development). Based on this analysis, the article utilizes the complexity lens to evaluate the policy options commonly offered for the management of this ongoing refugee situation.


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