The main goal of the diploma thesis was to examine the prevalence of maple cancer (Eutypella parasitica) in the forests in the vicinity of Jable castle (Domžale regional unit). The prevalence of the disease was examined by two different methods, namely the inventory method at points of systematic grid of 50 × 50 m and the inventory method along forest paths and roads. During the inventory, special attention was paid to the signs of maple cancer infection: cancer wounds on the trunks, black perithecia on the infected bark, and white to cream mycelial fans under the infected bark. With the mentioned methods, 3 different maples infected with the fungus E. parasitica were discovered. Two additional maple cancers were discovered during our field work by chance. The inventory method along forest paths and roads was easier to implement and less time consuming. With this method, three maples infected with the fungus E. parasitica were found, and with the inventory method on a systematic grid, only one. Although these results suggest that the inventory method along paths and roads could be more efficient as a maple cancer monitoring method, it should be added that the sample of surveyed trees or the sample of infected trees is much too small to draw reliable conclusions. The proportion of maples infected with E. parasitica was less than 3% in our study, but we assume that due to asymptomatic infections, this proportion is actually higher.
|