PRUNING ENHANCES THE SUSCEPTIBILITY OF PICEA-ABIES TO INFECTION BY THE BARK BEETLE-TRANSMITTED BLUE-STAIN FUNGUS, OPHIOSTOMA-POLONICUM

Defoliation of conifers occasionally precedes bark beetle attacks, suggesting that a severe loss of foliage and ensuing reductions in carbohydrate availability may enhance host tree susceptibility. To shed light on this question, different degrees of defoliation on young Picea abies were simulated by removing whole whorls of branches from below, the trees retaining 100, 50, or 25% of their original crown biomass. After one week or one year, the trees were inoculated with Ophiostoma-polonicum, a tree-killing fungus transmitted by Ips typographus. Fungal proliferation and tree mortality increased with increasing levels of pruning. Pruning reduced stem diameter growth, but not carbohydrate reserves in foliage and bark. Foliar N, P, and Ca increased with increasing pruning. The results lend support to the hypothesis that a reduction in the photosynthesis capacity increases host tree susceptibility to a beetle-fungus attack, and that induced defence against infection depends on efficient translocation of assimilates to the sites of infection.