Draft 3. April 1, 2002

Protocol for early detection/high risk areas of P. ramorum

 

Objective – Survey areas with host types at high risk for P. ramorum to determine presence or absence of the pathogen

 

Project area:  Primarily public lands on the Eldorado NF, Tahoe NF (Placer County), Plumas NF, Los Padres (San Luis Obispo County), Stanislaus NF? Sequoia and King Canyon? Yosemite? Sierra and Sequoia NFs? 

 

Survey preparation – FIA database and vegetation maps will be used to determine where in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada and the Los Padres NF are areas with known SOD hosts.  Maps of areas with multiple known hosts will be provided to surveyors with roads marked for survey.

 

Known hosts to check:  Tanoak (Lithocarpus densiflorus), coast live oak (Quercus agrifolia), California Black oak, (Quercus kellogii), and Shreve oak (Quercus parvula, var. shreveii). The pathogen also causes leaf spots and/or twig dieback on California bay laurel (Umbellularia californica), rhododendron, big leaf maple (Acer macrophyllum), madrone (Arbutus menzeisii), huckleberry (Vaccinium ovatum), California buckeye (Aesculus californica), manzanita (Arctostaphylos manzanita), toyon (Heteromeles arbutifolia), California honeysuckle (Lonicera hispidula), and California coffeeberry (Rhamnus californica).

 

 Methods:  Contracted surveyors and others will:

1) Notify the Ag. commissioner, Forest Supervisor and Ranger District for the areas in their survey and inform them of what they are doing and when they will be in the field. 

 

2) Drive roads with multiple-known SOD hosts.   At survey origin, record odometer and location.  Drive and look for healthy hosts, and dead oaks, scorch on maples, leafspots, and other symptoms of Phytophthora ramorum.  Anytime something suspicious is found stop and investigate. Take sample if symptomatic plants are found.  Note location, host and symptoms.  If nothing is seen from vehicle, continue to drive looking for known hosts.  If known hosts are found, stop at approx. 0.5 mile intervals and check for symptoms.  If host is not found, drive until you see a host and stop and check for symptoms.  Then begin protocol again, drive for 0.5 miles and stop at a host and check for symptoms.  If there is nowhere to safely pull off the road, stop at the closest place to 0.5 mile interval that you can safely park. 

 

Roads should be surveyed in both directions.  Repeat survey in opposite direction, so you drive back to starting point and sample/observe both sides of the road.  

 

-If symptoms are found on one host – check neighboring known hosts for symptoms. 

-If you are in an area with multiple hosts it may be best to walk the road and sample.  Good notes should be taken so exact location of every sample is recorded so the suspected host can be returned to.  

-If hosts plants are a short distance off the roadside on public lands, surveyor may sample them but do not sample from private lands unless prior permission from land owner is obtained.  

 

3) If symptoms are found – follow CDFA sampling protocol and submit sample to Rizzo lab.  Samples should be shipped daily and kept in a cooler in transit. Handheld GPS unit will be provided to record location information.

 

Note – due to quarantine, all surveyors/samplers must have a permit from CDFA or approval from CDFA to collect samples. 

 

 

Form for early detection/ high-risk areas of Sudden Oak Death

 

Surveyor’s name ___________________________

Date ____________________________

 

Start point – Road and milepost ________________________

 

Odometer reading ____________________________

 

PDR Number ______

 

Host species _______________________________________

 

Symptoms ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

Location – UTM (NAD 83), accuracy of UTM, elevation, and description of location. Note for GPS reading need 3-D reading. For description state the origin point for road survey and distance sample is from starting point.  ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

Sketch Map/Notes

 

 

 

 

 

 

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