One might expect an island to be less susceptible to an invasive plant pathogen than most places. Phytophthora ramorum, which causes sudden oak death, can’t cross the sea on its own — it has to be carried across via infected plant material. At some point, that’s exactly what happened on the Isle of Man.
The island is a self-governing British crown dependency located in the Irish Sea between Great Britain and Ireland. Officials there first detected the pathogen in 2010. Since that time, it has advanced, and at this point, it infects half of the larch trees on the island. Officials are well aware it’s a danger to other trees as well, including ash, beech and sweet chestnut.
The best approach for nursery producers in stopping it is the systems approach, which isolates the pathogen and prevents it from spreading. The Safe Procurement and Production Manual explains everything in depth and provides valuable resources to help growers implement the approach in their growing operations. The book can be downloaded as a PDF or ordered as a print version here.
