The high elevation beech gaps of the Great Smoky Mountains have become the killing front of beech bark disease. This insect/fungal pathogen was introduced into Nova Scotia in the late 1800's, and has since spread southward to the Southern Appalachians. In affected stands, mortality of beech stems frequently approaches 90 to 100 percent. We used inter-simple sequence repeats (ISSR) markers to assess the relationship between host genotype and degree of pathogen infection in beech trees in Great Smoky Mountains National Park. We used statistical analyses to test the relationship between stem diameter and degree of pathogen infection. We found no correlation between host genotype and degree of infection. We did find a significant positive relationship between stem size and degree of infection. Among three stem size classes, smallest stems (<1.5 cm) were least likely to be infected, while largest stems (>3.0 cm) were most likely to be infected. Implications for future studies are discussed.
The Southeastern Naturalist is a peer-reviewed interdisciplinary scientific journal with a regional focus on the southeastern United States. It features research articles on terrestrial, fresh-water, and marine organisms, and their environments. It focuses on field ecology, biology, behavior, biogeography, wildlife and fisheries management, taxonomy, evolution, anatomy, physiology, geology, and related fields. It is co-published with the Northeastern Naturalist (ISSN # 1092-6194). Both journals are identical in focus, format, quality, and features, thus providing an integrated publishing and research resource for eastern North America.
The Eagle Hill Institute (formerly the Humboldt Institute) is located on the eastern Maine coast and is perhaps best known for the advanced and professional-level natural history science field seminars it has offered since 1987. The Institute actively promotes collaboration in education, research, and publishing by working together with scientists from the United States, Canada, Europe, and Latin America. It publishes the Northeastern and Southeastern Naturalists, two natural history science journals for eastern North America. The Institute has a special interest in the legacy of Alexander von Humboldt, the most renowned natural scientist of the early 19th century. The Institute is working with the Eagle Hill Foundation in developing a retreat style study and meeting facility on the summit of Eagle Hill and in developing the Foundation's first journal, the Journal of the North Atlantic, focusing on peoples of the North Atlantic, their expansion into the region over time, and their interactions with their changing environment.
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Southeastern Naturalist
© 2002 Eagle Hill Institute