Diseases are threatening trees around the world

Tree diseases are a broad category of illnesses and infections that can harm plants and cause damage to their health, outward appearance, and, in the worst cases, even result in their death. These diseases can be caused by fungi, bacteria, viruses, and even environmental stress factors and according to a new study they are on the rise around the world.

Dire consequences

“In North America, we’ve effectively lost chestnut as a major overstory tree over the last century, due to chestnut blight. With new diseases continually emerging, other trees could face similar consequences over the coming decades,” Andrew Gougherty, a research landscape ecologist at the U.S. Forest Service and author of the new study, told CBC News this week.