As Globe Warms, Infected Pines Starve And Disease-Causing Fungi Thrive
The high heat and low water conditions produced by global warming weaken pine trees’ resistance to disease by hindering their ability to mount an effective defense at the same time that pathogenic fungi in their tissues become more aggressive, new research suggests. The findings help explain the mechanisms behind what has become a well-known fact: The warming world makes trees more susceptible to disease.
The study showed that within three days of infection under climate-change conditions, the tree was pulled in two different directions: It was deprived of carbon by both reduced photosynthesis and enhanced acquisition of the carbon by the fungi. When we talk about carbon, we mean the sugars, food and reserves for all other metabolic processes in the trees, including growth and defence.
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