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CPSM study provides an overview of the Phytophthora species found in natural ecosystems in Victoria 
Recently many new Phytophthora pathogens have been identified from natural ecosystems and little is known about the diversity and distribution of these species in Australia’s various plant communities. We sampled plant communities, streams and wetlands along the 70km easement for the Goulburn River-Sugarloaf Reservoir pipeline in central Victoria, a major water infrastructure project. Thirteen Phytophthora species were recovered. From the soil samples Phytophthora cinnamomi was the most common species isolated (47%), followed by P. elongata (10 %). Every water bait yielded Phytophthora, and isolates identified from water samples belonged predominantly to Clade 6. Clade 6 species included a new Phytophthora (taxon paludosa), which was recovered from a most unlikely place, a small farm dam, which required avoidance of a resident Tiger Snake.
Overall, more Phytophthora species were recovered from the lower lying areas of wetter vegetation classes than from the dry vegetation classes. Many of the species recovered in this study have not previously been reported from eastern Australia, reinforcing results from other surveys which show that Phytophthora species are widespread, abundant and diverse in natural ecosystems.
Phytophthora cinnamomi, by far the most destructive species found in Australia, was recovered from all areas of natural vegetation, although there were few signs of disease that could be attributed to it. This observation adds some support to an hypothesis, that for much of eastern Australia, P. cinnamomi has been established widely and for a long time, and we therefore now see its effects at an advanced stage.
You can read the full paper onlline >>.
About the Author: Bill Dunstan
Bill is a passionate ecologist who loves fungi and wild places, he has worked tirelessly for over a decade to find a means to stop the spread and possibly eradicate the devastating pathogen Phytophthora cinnamomi. Much of Australia’s iconic flora is susceptible to this pathogens and it is irreversibly changing our ecosystems
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