Application of Remote Sensing Technology in Monitoring Forest Diseases and Pests

Forest diseases and pests affect the forest health and forestry production, the monitoring of forest diseases and pests by remote sensing has great advantages and potential. The principles, the technical methods and the main aspects of monitoring forest diseases and pests by remote sensing are described, and the application prospect of this technology is forecasted.

New focus of Kyasanur Forest disease virus activity in a tribal area in Kerala, India, 2014

Background:Kyasanur Forest disease(KFD)is a febrile illness characterized by hemorrhages,and is reported endemic in the Shimoga district in Karnataka state,India.It is caused by the KFD virus(KFDV)of the family Flaviviridae,and is transmitted to monkeys and humans by Haemaphysalis ticks.Findings:We investigated a new focus of KFD among tribals in a reserve forest in Kerala state,India.A suspected case was defined as a person presenting with acute fever,headache,or myalgia.Human sera were collected and tested for KFDV RNA by real-time RT-PCR,RT-nPCR assay,and anti-KFDV IgM and IgG by ELISA.The index case was a tribal woman with febrile illness,severe myalgia,gum bleeding,and hematemesis.Anti-KFDV IgM antibody was detected in acute and convalescent sera of the index case along with IgG in the second serum.None of her family members reported fever.On verbal autopsy,two more fatal cases were identified as probable primary cases.Acute serum from a case in the second cluster was detected positive for KFDV RNA by real time RT-PCR(Ct=32)and RT-nPCR.Sequences of E gene showed highest similarity of 98.0%with the KFDV W-377 isolate nucleotide and 100%identity with amino acid.Anti-KFDV IgM was detected in the serum of one family member of the index case,as well as in one out of 17 other tribals.Conclusions:We confirmed a new focus of KFDV activity among tribals in a reserve forest in the Malappuram district of Kerala,India.

Management Strategies and Research Orientations of Forest Diseases and Pests in China

Forest diseases and pests are perceived as a growing hazard to China economy. It is a common conclusion that the actualities of forest pests in china are no effective measures to the old important pests, some secondary pests are ascending to chief pests, increasing devastation from exotic pests, frequent ecological pest eruption induced by environmental detriment and host-leading diseases to threaten the "Western Development Project "in China, which is the most important economical strategy to China; th...

On the transmission pattern of Kyasanur Forest disease (KFD) in India

Kyasanur Forest disease(KFD),a tick-borne viral hemorrhagic fever,is endemic in five districts of Karnataka state,India.Recent reports of the spread of disease to neighboring districts of the Western Ghats,namely Chamarajanagar district in Karnataka,Nilgiri district in Tamil Nadu,Wayanad and Malappuram districts in Kerala,and Pali village in Goa are a cause for concern.Besides vaccination of the affected population,establishing an event-based surveillance system for monkey deaths in the national parks,wildlife sanctuaries and reserve forests of the Western Ghats would help detect the disease early and thereby help implement appropriate control measures.

Health Effect of Forest Bathing Trip on Elderly Patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease

Forest bathing trip is a short, leisurely visit to forest. In this study we determined the health effects of forest bathing trip on elderly patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease （COPD）. The patients were randomly divided into two groups. One group was sent to forest, and the other was sent to an urban area as control. Flow cytometry, ELISA, and profile of mood states （POMS） evaluation were performed. In the forest group,

Long-range Dependence Characteristics of Forest Biological Disasters in China against the Background of Climate Change

Forest biological disasters(FBD) seriously impact energy flow and material cycling in forest ecosystems,while the underlying causes of FBD are complex. These disasters involve large areas and cause tremendous losses. As a result,the occurrence of FBDs in China( CFBD) threatens the country's ability to realize its strategic target of increasing both forested area(40 million ha) and forest volume(1.3 billion m^3) from 2005 to 2020. Collectively,China has officially named this effort to increase forest area and volume the "Two Increases" as national goals related to forestry. Based on Hurst index analysis from fractal theory,we analyzed the time series of the occurrence area and related data of FBDs from 1950 to 2007 to quantitatively determine the patterns of the macro occurrence of FBDs in China. Results indicates that,the time series of( CFBD) areas is fractal( self-affinity fractal dimension D = 1. 3548),the fluctuation of( CFBD) areas is positively correlated( auto-correlation coefficient C = 0. 2170),and the occurrence of the time series of( CFBD) is long-range dependent( Hurst index H =0. 6416),showing considerably strong trend of increases in FBDC area. Three different methods were further carried out on the original time series,and its two surrogate series generated by function surrogate in library t series,and function Surrogate Data in library in Wavelet software R,so as to analyze the reliability of Hurst indexes. The results showed that the Hurst indices calculated using different estimation methods were greater than 0. 5,ranging from 0. 64 to 0. 97,which indicated that the change of occurrence area data of FBDs was positively autocorrelated.The long-range dependence in forest biological disasters in China is obvious,and the spatial extent of FBDs tended to increase during this study period indicating this trend should be expected to persistent and worsen in the future.

Host-environment mismatches associated with subalpine fir decline in Colorado

Subalpine fir decline （SFD） has killed more trees in Colorado＇s high elevation forests than any other insect or disease problem. The widespread nature of this disorder suggests that the cause involves climatic factors. We examined the influence of varying combinations of average annual temperature and precipitation on the incidence and distribution of SFD. Climatic transition matrices generated in this study indicate that most healthy trees are found in climatic zones with moderate to low temperatures and high precipitation; whereas, SFD occurs mostly in zones of moderate temperatures and moderate precipitation. The contrasting distributions define an environmental mismatch. Forests matched with favorable climatic conditions thrive; those that are mismatched can become vulnerable to decline disease.

Neofusicoccum parvum causing canker of seedlings of Juglans regia in China

Cankered, dying seedlings of Juglans regia were observed in Shaanxi province in the northwest region of China. Neofusicoccum parvum was isolated from these cankered tissues, with the identification based on mor- phology and an ITS-nrDNA sequence. In order to demonstrate how cultures of N. parvum could cause the expected symptoms, artificial infection, using these isolates and re-isolation of the pathogen, was used. This is the first report on this taxon as a walnut canker pathogen in China.