Endophytes and Forest Health

Abstract

Forest disturbance regimes are in transition due to global climate change, shifts in land use patterns and the introduction of damaging organisms to forests by human. This has made the maintenance and improvement of forest health a high priority issue, and various stakeholders have shown interest in understanding and utilizing the ecological interactions between trees and their associated microbes in forest protection. Internal, endophytic microbes can influence the health of trees either by directly interacting with the damaging agents or modulating host responses to infection. Research concerning endophytes as regulators of plant phenotypes has recently shifted from the single endophyte species or strain level to a community-based view that focuses on core microbiomes. In addition, the multifaceted role of endophytes, including their potential in forest decline processes, has attracted increasing research attention. In this chapter, we summarize some of the recent findings regarding the role of endophytes in forest health, discuss options for integrating endobiome engineering into forest management practices, and outline strategies for future research into the role of endophytes as determinants of forest health.

Published in

Forestry Sciences
2018, Volume: 86, pages: 261-282 Title: Endophytes of Forest Trees
ISBN: 978-3-319-89832-2, eISBN: 978-3-319-89833-9Publisher: Springer International Publishing

SLU Authors

• Witzell, Johanna

  • Southern Swedish Forest Research Centre, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

Associated SLU-program

SLU Plant Protection Network


Sustainable Development Goals

SDG13 Climate action


UKÄ Subject classification

Forest Science


Publication identifier

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-89833-9_12

Permanent link to this page (URI)

https://res.slu.se/id/publ/99112