The Increasing Threat to European Forests from the Invasive Foliar Pine Pathogen, Lecanosticta Acicola

This study was undertaken to draw the attention of all forestry stakeholders to the emerging phytopathogenic fungus Lecanosticta acicola and to highlight the gaps that currently exist in the understanding of its behaviour. It is a foliar pathogen that attacks several species of the genus Pinus and causes increasing damage over increasingly large areas globally. Lecanosticta acicola was recently downgraded from a quarantine pest to a regulated non-quarantine pathogen and is now also widely distributed in Europe. In order to prevent the impacts of the disease from becoming even more frequent and severe, an efficient management strategy must be developed. To this end, this study analysed and evaluated the global management methods and tactics employed to date in Europe using a series of case studies.