Törzspatológiai

Törzspatológiai, in its commonly used Hungarian form törzspatológia, refers to the branch of plant pathology that studies diseases and disorders affecting the trunk of woody plants, including trees and shrubs. The focus is on the bark, cambium, sapwood, and heartwood, and on the processes that lead to trunk decline, canker formation, girdling, decay, and death. The field encompasses both biotic factors, such as fungal and bacterial pathogens (and occasionally nematodes or viruses associated with trunk symptoms), and abiotic factors like physical injury, drought, frost, or sun exposure that predispose trunks to infection.

Symptoms associated with törzspatológiai problems include cankers and wounds on the trunk, oozing exudates, bark cracking or peeling, vascular discoloration, reduced growth, dieback at the base, and internal heart rot. Diagnosis combines field observation with laboratory analysis, including isolation and identification of pathogens, microscopic examination, and, increasingly, molecular methods (such as PCR). Advanced diagnostic tools may involve imaging techniques or assessments of wood quality and cambial health to determine the extent of trunk involvement.

Common trunk pathogens encountered in forestry and horticulture include various fungi that cause cankers or wood decay, such as species within Armillaria, Botryosphaeria, Cytospora, and Phytophthora complexes, as well as bacterial agents in some contexts. Pathogenesis is often influenced by environmental stress, site conditions, and host susceptibility, making trunk diseases complex to manage.

Management and prevention emphasize cultural practices: selecting resistant or tolerant species or cultivars, minimizing mechanical injuries and wounds, maintaining tree vigor through proper irrigation and nutrition, ensuring good drainage, and implementing sanitation measures to remove infected wood. Chemical control is selective and typically auxiliary, with emphasis placed on prevention and early detection. The field combines pathology, epidemiology, and applied forestry or horticulture to protect woody plants and optimize trunk health.