Sudden Oak Death Research and Education Program
Welcome
Welcome to the WSU Sudden Oak Death program website. Here you will find information about Sudden Oak Death and other diseases caused by Phytophthora ramorum. We aim to provide resources and services for educators, managers, industries and landowners. More information about the services we provide are available at the links below.
- Education– nursery management, symptom identification guides, information for Master Gardeners, events.
- Research – host testing, fungicide testing, population genetics, disease management.
- Monitoring – stream monitoring, population genetics of P. ramorum in WA.
What is Sudden Oak Death?
Disease
Sudden Oak Death is a disease caused by Phytophthora ramorum, a non-native microbe that harms plants (plant pathogen).
Impact
Sudden Oak Death has killed hundreds of thousands of oak and tanoak trees in California, and it has affected larch plantations in the UK.
Distribution
Distribution
Phytophthora ramorum has only been recovered from Washington, California, Oregon, several European countries, the United Kingdom, and Vietnam. In Washington and Oregon, P. ramorum is found in mainly ornamental plant nurseries.
Washington State
Phytophthora ramorum has been present in Washington state since 2004, yet no forest outbreaks have occurred as they have in California, Oregon, and the UK. This may not be the case with the next invasive plant pathogen, therefore the use of Best Management Practices (BMPs) for growing clean plants is important for nurseries to adopt.
Best Management Practices
Resources
Information about Phytophthora ramorum is available for various stakeholders in our Education Program.
Visit our webpage for Nursery Productions if you are looking for Best Management Practices for managing Phytophthora ramorum. These practices are also useful for managing other Phytophthora diseases, such as those that cause root disease, which can be more damaging than P. ramorum on their hosts.
Visit our Phytophthora ramorum Symptom ID Guide for more information about recognizing Phytophthora disease issues.
Additional Information and Resources
What’s new:
APHIS Confirms Detection of Phytophthora ramorum-Infected Plants in Commerce 7/10/2019
Are Invasive Plant Pathogens Moving into the Puyallup River Watershed?– A presentation from the Puyallup River Science Symposium 12/7/2018
Critical Control Point assessment for nurseries – Contact us to learn about our service to help identify Critical Control Points in your production.
More reading:
- Invasive species blog (Center for Invasive Species Prevention)
- Soil steaming and steam boiler blog (MSD AG (Möschle-Seifert-Dämpftechnik))
Let us know if you see broken links or other problems.
Contact Us | WSU Puyallup Research & Extension Center, 2606 West Pioneer, Puyallup, WA, 98371-4998 USA