Researchers Turn Up the Heat on Thousand Cankers Disease
Black walnut trees are prized by people and wildlife alike, but are especially economically valuable because of their timber products. Since 2010, these trees have been under threat in the eastern United States due to thousand cankers disease, the result of an invasive fungus carried by the walnut twig beetle. The Eastern Threat Center provided support for a Southern Research Station-led project to test heat treatments for black walnut logs. In this recently published study, researchers determined the minimum temperature and heating time required to eliminate pests and prevent the spread of thousand cankers disease if logs are transported. Read more in CompassLive...
Pictured: Crown thinning and dieback are symptoms of thousand cankers disease. Photo by Curtis Utley, CSUE, Bugwood.org.
