sdu faculty of forestry journal special edition 2009 - Orman Fakültesi

SDU Faculty of Forestry Journal
Serial: A, Number: Special Issue, Year: 2009, ISSN: 1302-7085, Page: 141-149
PRELIMINARY RESULTS OF MYCOFLORA ASSOCIATED WITH
CANKERS ON Cupressus sempervirens var. horizontalis (Mill.) GORDON IN
TURKEY
ABSTRACT
Asko Lehtijärvi 1* , H. Tugba Doğmuş- Lehtijärvi 1 , Funda Oskay 1 ,
A. Gülden Aday 1
1 Suleyman Demirel University, Faculty of Forestry, 32260 Isparta, Turkey
*asko@orman.sdu.edu.tr
Natural stands of C. sempervirens in Turkey are among the largest forests of this species
in the world and are regarded as relicts of the centre of origin of var. horizontalis. However,
phytopathological status of these stands was not investigated so far. In this study, canker
formations were investigated in trees, saplings and seedlings of C. sempervirens var.
horizontalis within natural stands located in Köprülü Kanyon National Park, Antalya and
Aydıncık, Mersin. Incidence of the cankers and some other disease associated symptoms
and signs of insect attacks on sampled trees were recorded. Isolations were made from
cankers, and the obtained fungal cultures identified morphologically.
Cankers were present on the trunk or branches of 34.4% of the totally 1023 trees
sampled. Canker incidence was greater in Aydıncık than in Köprülü Kanyon, 38.0 % vs.
29.8%, respectively. Totally 497 fungal isolates, representing 30 genera, were obtained.
The most common species isolated from both Aydıncık and Köprülü Kanyon was:
Phomopsis cf. occulta (44 and 22 %), unidentified coelomycete (22 and 6%), Alternaria
spp. (5 and 13%), Cladosporium spp. (5 and 5%), Cytospora sp. (4 and 2%) and
Pestalotiopsis funerea (1 and 37%, respectively). While P. cf. occulta was the most
common species in Aydıncık, P. funerea - which was rare in Aydıncık - was the most
frequently isolated species in Köprülü Kanyon. To our knowledge, with the exception of P.
funerea, these species are new records on cypress in Turkey. Moreover, both P. occulta and
P. funerea are reported to be pathogenic on cypress, especially under stress conditions.
Keywords: Cupressus sempervirens var. horizontalis, Canker, Fungi
1. INTRODUCTION
Cupressus sempervirens L., the Mediterranean cypress or common cypress, is a
long established cultivated forest tree species exterior to its natural geographic
range. However its natural geographic distribution had been restricted to disjoint
and often relict populations within Iran, Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, the
Aegean Islands, Crete, Turkey, and Cyprus, which are thought to be being
remnants of an extensive C. sempervirens forest, (Raddi and Sümer, 1999; Ducrey
et al., 1999). The natural stands of Cupressus. sempervirens var. horizontalis
(Mill.) Gordon in Turkey are considered among the most significant and largest
natural Mediterranean cypress communities (Neyişçi, 1989; Özçelik, 2005), and
141