The Sixth Sudden Oak Death Science Symposium: Biosecurity, Plant Trade, and Native Habitats brings together scientists and practitioners from throughout the world working on Phytophthora plant pathogens in wildands and nurseries. The meeting will provide a scientific update on the state of our knowledge about Phytophthoras and associated diseases in urban and wildland forests as well as nurseries, landscapes, and restoration areas. The broad scope will foster cooperation between individuals working in various disciplines and geographic areas, while providing current research findings for scientists, managers, regulators, and policy makers.
This conference reflects widening concerns related to Phytophthora species in U.S. wildlands and the potential for spread from native and ornamental plant production facilities to restoration sites and adjacent lands. Phytophthora ramorum, cause of sudden oak death and other plant diseases, has killed millions of tanoak and coast live oak trees along the Pacific Coast and forced the removal of millions of Japanese larch trees in the U.K. The pathogen was inadvertently introduced to both North America and Europe on ornamental nursery stock and is a quarantined pest in over 65 countries. In California, the first U.S. detection of P. tentaculata in native plant nurseries and on outplanted restoration plants has heightened concern over other Phytophthora species in endemic plant and animal habitats. This meeting will expand the concept of the Sudden Oak Death Science Symposiums, with presentations on sudden oak death research and management progress since the Fifth Sudden Oak Death Science Symposium (June 2012, Petaluma) as well as other nursery and wildland Phytophthora issues.
For more information on sudden oak death (P. ramorum), visit the California Oak Mortality Taskforce website. For more information on Phytophthoras in California native habitats or P. tentaculata, see their webpage on Phytophthora tentaculata reources.
The Sixth Sudden Oak Death Science Symposium: Biosecurity, Plant Trade and Native Habitats is being organized by the California Oak Mortality Task Force, with assistance from the USDA Forest Service, USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, and others.
Fort Mason Center
2 Marina Blvd
San Francisco, California 94123