Written by Info Expert on February 15, 2010 | Posted in Misc.

Trees in general can suffer from three different types of diseases and pests in Irish forestry and in the general landscape. The first is viruses and bacteria, the second is insects, and the third is fungi and fungal diseases. In order to combat diseases and pests in the European Union, the European Economic Community (EEC) issued a directive in 1977 known as the Plant Health Directive which sought to deal with several different matters. One of the most important of these was to instigate a special emergency measures that had to be followed in the case of unforeseen emergencies within the sector. Another important point was the provision of plant certificates for all trees that are being transported in and out of the EU. And a third point was that special provision should be given to measures that would prevent up to 40 different insects from being introduced into the European woodlands, special consideration was given to the United Kingdom.

So, let’s look at some of the viruses and bacteria that the European union is going to eliminate from forestry in Ireland, the United Kingdom, and the European Community in general. For a start, let me say that there is very little research being done into the viral effects on trees and shrubbery. This is in comparison to the vast amount of research that has been conducted into virus infections of fruit trees and plant crops. The virus themselves are microscopic organisms that can invade the plant and spread throughout the organism, infecting the whole plant. Of course, the most the time you will not be aware that your tree has become affected until you actually see the first signs and symptoms which in trees can include discoloration of the foliage or tree bark, or different types of canker, dead black, or grooves in the branches or trunk. One of the bacteria that can affect trees is the Fire Blight. This bacterium gets into the tree through the flowers which turn black and shrivel up. Once the bacteria are inside the tree, the leaves will be attacked and cankers will form all over the branches and trunk. This generally affects trees such as Hawthorn and it can also affect fruit trees such as the Pear tree and the apple tree. The damage that these particular bacteria can cause includes very serious dieback and even the death of the tree. Compulsory felling orders can be put in place to combat this bacterium.

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