Fungal and nematode threats to Australian forests and amenity trees from importation of wood and wood products1

Abstract

A combination of geographical isolation and effective quarantine practices has excluded many serious pathogens of trees from Australia. The international trade in untreated wood and wood products, including dunnage, has increased the likelihood of the introduction of exotic pathogens and decay fungi and their becoming established and deleteriously affecting the current relatively healthy status of Australia's native and plantation forests, and amenity trees. Forest pathogens such as Heterobasidion annosum, Fusarium circinatum, Bursaphelenchus xylophilus, Puccinia psidii, and Phellinus pini are considered serious threats to plantation forests in Australia. The potential impact, if the more serious exotic pathogens of forests were to be introduced, would not only be the loss of a few seasons' crops, but also the loss of decades of effort and investment in plantations, as well as irreparable damage to the native biota and wood resources. Effective quarantine policies and procedures are necessary to prevent the entry of these pathogens into Australia.Key words: quarantine, wood, fungal pathogens, nematodes, risk.