CYPRESS: AN ESSENTIAL TREE OF LANDSCAPE, ECONOMY AND TRADITION OF THE MEDITERRANEAN COUNTRIES

P.O. Med CypFire 2G-MED09-070 (1/6/2010 – 31/05/2013)

Barrières vertes de cyprès contre l’incendie: une solution faisable, écologique et économique pour sauvegarder les régions méditerranéennes

Cover image: Ali Civil - Sunset in Anatolya

CONTENTS

1. Preface.......................................................................................3 2. The most recurrent parasites .....................................................5

2.1 Pathogens..................................................................................5 2.1.1 Seiridium cardinale ......................................................................... 5 2.1.2 Seiridium cupressi......................................................................... 16 2.1.3 Seiridium unicorne ........................................................................ 16 2.1.4 Diplodia cupressi........................................................................... 17 2.1.5 Phomopsis occulta......................................................................... 19 2.1.6 Kabatina thujae ............................................................................ 20 2.1.7 Armillaria mellea........................................................................... 21 2.2 Insects.....................................................................................23

2.2.1 Cinara cupressi ............................................................................. 23 2.2.2 Phloeosinus aubei and P. thujae................................................... 26 2.2.3 Trisetacus juniperinus................................................................... 28 2.3 Other biotic pathogens and pests .............................................30

2.3.1 Tumours (Caliciopsis nigra; Agrobacterius tumefaciens).............30 2.3.2 Witches’ broom ........................................................................30 2.3.3 Phloem feeders.........................................................................31 2.3.4 Xylophages ..............................................................................31 2.4 Abiotic damages.......................................................................32

2.4.1 Frost damages .........................................................................32 2.4.2 Water stress.............................................................................33 2.4.3 Damages from lightening .........................................................33 2.4.4 Damages from pollution ...........................................................34 2.5 Control methods ......................................................................35

2.5.1 Control of cypress canker.........................................................35 a. Chemical disease control ......................................................36 b. Agronomic disease control ....................................................38 c. Genetic improvement for resistance.......................................38

2.5.2 Sanitation................................................................................44 a. Interventions realised up until now .......................................44 b. When to sanitise and when to fell..........................................47

c. Symptoms and diagnostic characteristics..............................52 d. The dignity of the plant .........................................................54 e. Infective process and stability of the plants ...........................55 f. Indications for a correct approach in the field........................55 g. Time period for executing the intervention.............................63 h. Disinfecting the wounds and cutting instruments .................63 i. What we learn from sanitation interventions performed

up until now.........................................................................64 2.6 How to distinguish the damages caused by the parasites? ........66

a. Seiridium cardinale.................................................................... 66 b. Cinara cupressi.......................................................................... 68 c. Phomopsis occulta and Pestalotiopsis funereal ......................... 72

3. Planting techniques and post-planting cultivation treatments...73

3.1 Realisation of the planting .......................................................73 3.1.1 Choice of the vegetal material...................................................73 3.1.2 Planting period ........................................................................75 3.1.3 Preparation of the soil ..............................................................75 3.1.4 Planting distance .....................................................................76 3.1.5 Bedding out the plants.............................................................78 3.1.6 Anchoring the plants................................................................78 3.1.7 Protection of the plants ............................................................79 3.2 Post-planting cultivation treatments.........................................80

3.2.1 Irrigation .................................................................................80 3.2.2 Monitoring ...............................................................................82 4. References ...............................................................................83

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1. PREFACE The objectives of the CypFire project of the MED European Programme “Barrières vertes de cyprès contre l’incendie: une solution faisable, écologique et économique pour sauvegarder les régions méditerranéennes” are the following :

- to demonstrate that the use of cypress trees for preventing forest fires and, consequently, for curbing deterioration of the soil can constitute an innovative solution for the local institutions;

- to demonstrate that this direct line against fires is also economically feasible, ecologically valid, and less invasive to the landscape as compared to the present-day fire-breaks.

These objectives have a real impact on the rural economy, on the protection of resources (soil, water), and on the exploitation of the environment. Furthermore, they are oriented at both a sustainable and long-lasting development of the production of cypress wood and an improvement in the living standard of the populations. Until now, fire fighting has been based on theoretical and/or traditional models. Negative statistical data indicated by “Forest Fires in Europe, 2007” dictate a revision of the intervention methods used up until now against fires and an orientation in the direction of new solutions that must provide for a progressive replacement of fire-breaks, which are particularly burdensome to manage and a blot on the landscape. The “forest fire” problem in Mediterranean countries has taken on a trans-national importance, and for this reason a Mediterranean dimension to the CypFire project is essential. Six Mediterranean countries are participants in the CypFire project (Portugal, Spain, France, Italy, Greece, Malta) and four countries are associates (Portugal outside the MED space, Tunisia, Israel, Turkey). All have the objective of using these cypress fire-breaks to limit the devastating action of forest fires. The CypFire project has been financed with 1,330,000 euros for the 2010-2013 period, and utilises the experimental systems already set up with the Interreg III B Medocc projects CypMed and MedCypre. The most innovative studies, the results of which may have a significant influence on the strategies to be used against fires, involve:

a) the role of morpho physiological characteristics of cypress trees that may have an influence on the setting off and progression of fires:

b) the effect of a reduction in the speed of the wind due to a cypress barrier on the propagation of the fire;

c) the characteristics of the cypress litter – which is compact and has a high humidity content, in addition to an acid pH – and their action in controlling the advancing of surface fires;

d) a cost/benefit analysis in managing the protective barriers of cypresses as compared with the traditional fire-breaks;

e) the health conditions of the cypress. The Diagram points out the organisation of the coordination, the topics dealt with, the results, and the Operative Units involved in the project and their involvement in the various actions.

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From this brief description of the P.O. Med CypFire project, readers can understand the importance of evaluating the impact of barriers consisting of 17 rows of canker-resistant cypress trees on the characteristics that influence both the setting off and also the progress of a fire. As has been mentioned previously, the sanitation condition of the cypress tree can considerably favour the setting off and progression of fires. In fact, it should be remembered that a cypress tree badly infected by canker has an abundant production of resin on the trunk and parts of the desiccated crown. Both of these situations facilitate the intensity of a fire. The main aim of this brochure is to make known the main diseases of cypress trees, the main pathogens and pests, the most suitable disease control and sanitation interventions, and lastly the cultivation practices for realising cypress plantings that can limit the risk of fires. The intention behind its publication is to conserve and exploit “the cypress tree”, which constitutes an irreplaceable element in the history and life of Mediterranean populations, a vital component of the landscape and civilisation of the Mediterranean countries, and a productive and ecological source that is very important for the rural and territorial economies. The publication deals simply and in a popular manner with numerous technical-scientific aspects, and is furnished with a series of illustrations and graphs so that it is easy to recognise the pathogens and pests and makes it possible to issue directives for their sanitation control in a region such as Tuscany, where the incidence of cypress canker involves about 40% of living plants and where the production of cypress trees and their relative marketing by nurseries constitutes one of the main sources of income. The Authors of this brochure are convinced that the healthy cypresses can prevent and/or reduce sanitary damages, and natural risks. For this reason, this brochure can be considered also as a “training course” for choosing, propagating, raising planting, managing, protecting and utilising cypress in Mediterranean regions. Publication of this brochure has been made possible by the P.O. Med “CypFire”, by the technical-scientific activity of the personnel of the Institute for the Protection of Plants and of the U.O. Province of Siena.