2016 Sudden Oak Death (SOD) Blitz

NOVEMBER 3, 2016
Here is an excerpt from an email sent out by SOD Blitz (sodblitz09@earthlink.net)

"2016 statewide infection levels were double those recorded in 2015. 2016 results showed many new outbreaks including multiple trees in San Luis Obispo County, Mount Diablo (Contra Costa County), the cities of Piedmont, Hayward, and Ukiah. SOD was also better established in West San Mateo and Santa Cruz Counties, and in the Peninsula East of Highway 280. These outbreaks are all on bay laurel trees and it may take years for oak mortality to show up: this is why preventive management should be investigated now in these areas."

OCTOBER 11, 2016
The results of the 2016 SOD Blitz have been posted. Of the 30 samples I submitted, 6 tested positive, 22 tested negative, and 2 seem to have been missed in the processing step. I'll have to see how to rectify the latter. The positives were all found in Wildcat Canyon - some in Upper Wildcat Canyon, and some on Wildcat Loop Trail.

NOTE: The reason the leaves have to be DNA tested is because there are other diseases that mimic SOD.

SATURDAY, MAY 14, 2016 (4 HRS)

I participated in the 10th annual Sudden Oak Death (SOD) Blitz, focusing on Rancho San Antonio OSP. A one-hour training session was held at the Los Altos Hills Town Hall Council Chambers. Matteo Garbelotto, Ph.D. from U.C. Berkeley presented the training. Cindy Roessler was there to assist in training, assign trails to volunteers, and answer preserve-specific questions. After the training, we hit the trails.

Today I collected samples from 10 infected California Bay Laurel trees and filled out a data sheet for each sample envelope, including latitude/longitude coordinates captured from the SODmapmobile app. I covered the following trails: Coyote, Farm Bypass, and a section of Wildcat Loop Trail through the canyon.

Issue: it was hard to determine how far 100 yards was out in the field, especially with counting healthy vs. infected trees along the route. I counted at least 300 footsteps between samplings, unless there was an area where a lot of oak trees have died, then I sampled near there regardless of where the last sample was taken.

SUNDAY, MAY 15, 2016 (7.5 HRS)
I continued collecting samples for the 10th annual Sudden Oak Death (SOD) Blitz. Today I collected 20 samples from infected trees. I covered the remainder of Wildcat Canyon, Upper High Meadow, Wildcat Loop Trail (from the Vista point to the bottom of Wildcat Canyon), Farm Bypass, and Lower Meadow.

Total infected trees sampled: 30
Infected Bay Laurel trees counted along the assigned route (includes sampled & non-sampled trees): 148
Healthy Bay Laurel trees counted along the assigned route: 142
Total Bay Laurel trees examined (I didn’t examine any tanoaks): 290

There were literally hundreds of Bay Laurel trees along my assigned route. There are several groves of bays, each containing dozens of trees in Wildcat Canyon. It was impossible to count and examine all of them in the time allowed. I did my best to choose representative trees.

Notes:
• Because of all the rainfall this year after (5 years of drought) the number of infected trees is expected to increase substantially.
• Infection can affect 50% of a bay laurel tree’s leaves, or only one. Infected leaves usually appear on the lower branches.
• Results will be posted on October 1, 2016.

Websites:
www.matteolab.org
www.thanzs.org
www.sodblitz.org
www.sodmapmobile.org

Publicado el mayo 16, 2016 12:13 MAÑANA por truthseqr