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Current
S.S. Lee Status of Root Diseases of Acacia mangium

The Current Status of Root 5

Diseases of Acacia mangium
Willd.
S.S. Lee
Forest Research Institute Malaysia, Kepong, Kuala Lumpur,
Malaysia

Introduction
Acacia mangium Willd. is indigenous to the far eastern islands of Indonesia,
the Western Province of Papua New Guinea and north-east Queensland,
Australia. Its potential for wood production due to its rapid growth was
recognized in the 1970s and establishment of large-scale A. mangium planta-
tions in South-East Asia began in the 1980s. Today there is an estimated
600,000 ha of A. mangium, planted mainly in Indonesia, China, Malaysia, the
Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam (Kamis Awang, Serdang, 1998, personal
communication). A. mangium was first introduced to Malaysia in 1966,
where it was planted as firebreaks in Sabah (Yap, 1986). Presently there are
approximately 100,000 ha of A. mangium plantations in the country, with
approximately 50,000 ha each in the peninsula and Sabah, respectively, and
relatively small areas in Sarawak.
In earlier reports, A. mangium had not been reported to suffer from any
serious diseases (Turnbull, 1986). However, recent studies have shown that
tropical acacias, including A. mangium, planted outside their natural range do
indeed suffer from a variety of diseases; one of which is root rot (Khamis, 1982;
Lee, 1985, 1993; Arentz and Simpson, 1988; Almonicar, 1992). In a survey
of A. mangium provenance trials at three locations in Peninsular Malaysia,
Lee (1997) found that root-rot diseases were the most frequently occurring
diseases, causing between 5 and about 25% mortality of 10-year-old trees.
This disease has also been identified as the most significant disease of tropical
acacia plantations in Australia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and India (Old
et al., 1997).

©CAB International 2000. Ganoderma Diseases of Perennial Crops

(eds J. Flood, P.D. Bridge and M. Holderness) 71

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A variety of basidiomycete fungi have been reported to be associated with

root rot diseases of A. mangium. A brown root disease caused by Phellinus has
been reported from Sabah (Khamis, 1982) and the Philippines (Almonicar,
1992; Millitante and Manalo, 1999). In the Gogol Valley of Papua New
Guinea, Arentz (1986) reported 29% mortality of 5-year-old A. mangium trees
due to root disease caused by a species of Ganoderma. Ganoderma spp. are also
suspected as the causal agents of root disease of A. mangium trees of various
ages in Peninsular Malaysia (Lee, 1985, 1997), Sumatra (Lee, 1997) and
West Kalimantan, Indonesia (unpublished data).
Here, the results of a long-term survey of root diseases in an A. mangium
plantation in Peninsular Malaysia are presented, and preliminary results of
pathogenicity tests with the associated fungi are discussed.

Impact of Root Diseases on A. mangium

Between September 1991 and June 1992 plots were established in an A. mang-
ium plantation in Kemasul, Pahang in Peninsular Malaysia, to monitor the
occurrence and spread of root disease. Three replicate plots, each containing
10 × 10 rows of trees were set up in stands planted by the Forestry Department
in 1982, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987 and 1988, making a total of 18 plots. All
the trees in each plot were numbered and mapped for ease of the survey and
future reference. During each survey, symptoms and signs of root disease and
the health status of each tree in every plot were recorded. For the first 3 years,
surveys were carried out at 6-monthly intervals and thereafter, annually
(when it became clear that there were few changes over a 6-month period).
Symptoms of root diseases included yellowing, wilting and reduced size of
the foliage, thinning of the crown, dieback, and death of trees in groups. Trees
with such symptoms were found to occur in patches, with a concentric pattern
of spread. Diseased roots were covered by a wrinkled, reddish-brown mycelial
skin, encrusted with soil, or encrusted in a mass of earth and sand intermingled
with rusty brown patches, in contrast to the clear, pale yellowish-brown
coloured healthy roots.
More than 40% mortality was observed in all the 1984 plots 14 years
after planting, and in plots 1987B, 1988C, 9 and 11 years after planting,
respectively (Fig. 5.1a and b). In the 1984 plots mortality increased very
rapidly when the trees were between 10 and 14 years old, while in plots
1987B and 1988C, a rapid increase in mortality occurred when the trees were
between 6 and 9 years old and 7 and 11 years old, respectively. In contrast, less
than 10% mortality was observed in plots 1982B, 1985B, 1986A, 1986C,
1987A and 1988A, while no mortality at all was observed in plot 1985C.
It was clear that the occurrence of root disease was not uniform and that
mortality rates differed from plot to plot. Similar variation in mortality
rates had also been observed in the 1995 survey of root rot in A. mangium
provenance trials in various parts of Peninsular Malaysia (Lee, 1997).

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 Current Status of Root Diseases of Acacia mangium 73

The rate of spread of the disease in the different plots was also variable.
Mapping and regular monitoring of the trees showed that the disease most
probably spread by root contact. In most cases, the initial disease foci enlarged

Fig. 5.1. Mortality rates of Acacia mangium trees in Kemasul, Pahang, Peninsular
Malaysia: (a) in the 1982, 1984 and 1985 plots; (b) in the 1986, 1987 and 1988
plots.

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Fig. 5.2. Distribution of dead and dying trees in plot 1988C: r, living trees;
1–6, dead and dying trees at the six sampling times; S, trees missing during plot
establishment.

with each passing year; this was clearly evident in all the 1984 plots and in
plots 1987B and 1988C (Fig. 5.2).
The absence of tree mortality in plot 1985C, even 13 years after planting,
was not unexpected, as no root disease symptoms were observed on any of the
trees in the plot during the duration of the study. While no symptoms of root
disease were evident on the trees in plots 1985A, 1985B, 1986A, 1987A and
1988A at the time of plot establishment, they started to appear 2–3 years after
the study commenced. This suggests that the trees only became infected when
their expanding root systems encountered some buried source of root disease
inocula. As in the other plots mentioned earlier, the rate of disease spread was
variable, with moderate increases in mortality in plots 1985A, 1986B, 1987C
and 1988B, and very little increase in plots 1985B, 1986A, 1986C, 1987A
and 1988A.
The mortality of trees generally increased with time in plots where root
disease was already present at plot establishment. The rate of disease spread
was probably dependent on the presence, abundance and distribution of root
disease inocula at the site, rate of root growth, extent of the root system of
each tree, and extent of root contact between healthy and infected trees. These
plantations had been established on logged-over lowland rainforest areas,
which had been mechanically cleared and burned before planting. However,
old tree stumps were still evident in the plots and it is highly likely that roots
and other woody debris that harbour the facultative parasitic root-rot fungi
remain buried in the soil, acting as sources of infection.

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 Current Status of Root Diseases of Acacia mangium 75

Fungi Associated with Root Diseases of A. mangium

Based on the appearance of the infected roots, two main types of root diseases
could be distinguished even though the visible disease symptoms on the tree
crowns were similar. These were red-root disease and brown-root disease.
Roots of trees infected by red-root disease are characteristically covered by
a wrinkled, reddish-brown mycelial mat. The red colour of the mycelial mat
becomes very evident when the root is washed clean of soil. A white mottling
pattern is evident on the underside of the infected root and there is a very char-
acteristic odour. In the early stages of infection, the wood remains hard and no
colour change is discernible, but in advanced stages the wood becomes pale
buff and spongy or dry, depending on the soil conditions. Red-root disease was
the most frequently observed type of disease when roots were sampled. The
characteristics of the disease are very similar to that of red-root disease caused
by Ganoderma philippii (= G. pseudoferreum) on rubber (Anonymous, 1974).
In brown-root disease, the roots are encrusted in a mass of earth and sand,
intermingled with rusty brown patches. Advanced stages of the disease are
easily recognized by the production of brown zigzag lines in the wood, forming
a honeycomb-like pattern, and the wood becoming friable, light and dry. The
brown lines are ridges of golden-brown fungal mycelium and the type of rot
produced is known as ‘pocket rot’. These characteristic features indicate
that the fungus associated with the disease is Phellinus noxius (Anonymous,
1974).
The identity of the associated fungi could not be confirmed initially
because of the absence of sporocarps on diseased or dead trees. Samples of dis-
eased roots were thus collected for isolation of the associated fungi. Attempts
were made to identify the pure-culture mycelial isolates by comparison with
the species codes developed by Nobles (1965) and Stalpers (1978) and by
inoculation onto wood blocks for the production of sporocarps (Lee and
Noraini Sikin, 1999).
For production of sporocarps on wood blocks, pure-culture isolates of the
test fungi were first grown on malt agar (DIFCO Laboratories, USA) in the dark
at ambient room temperature for about 1 week. In the meantime, blocks of
debarked rubber wood, measuring 10 cm by 5–6 cm diameter, were placed
individually into autoclavable plastic bags, wetted with approximately 50 ml
of 2% malt extract and sterilized. Three 1 cm diameter plugs, taken from the
edge of 1-week-old actively growing cultures, were then used to inoculate each
rubber-wood block. Five replicate blocks were inoculated with each fungus
and the inoculated blocks incubated in the dark at ambient room temperature
(28 ± 2°C). At the end of 2 months the well-colonized blocks were removed
from their plastic bags and ‘planted’ into polybags containing unsterilized
garden soil, one block per bag. These were then transferred to a shade house
and lightly sprayed with tap water daily to keep the soil and the wood blocks
moist. When sporocarps were produced, between 2 and 3 weeks later, they
were collected for identification in the laboratory.

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The identity of the fungus associated with red-root disease could not be
confirmed from the wood-block technique as no sporocarps were produced.
However, the characteristic red skin of mycelium on the root is similar to that
reported for G. philippii (= G. pseudoferreum) on rubber (Anonymous, 1974).
From isozyme analysis, four isolates of Ganoderma obtained from A. mangium
in West Malaysia were determined to be different from those isolated
from palm hosts (Miller et al., 1995). Recently many sporocarps of G. philippii
(Corner, 1983) were found growing on dead 10-year-old A. mangium trees in a
plantation at Bidor, Perak. Inspection of trees with symptoms of root disease
located close to the clumps of dead trees revealed that the roots were covered
by a red mycelial mat (S. Ito, Bidor, 1999, personal communication), charac-
teristic of red-root disease observed on A. mangium trees in Kemasul, Pahang
and elsewhere. However, attempts to isolate the fungus, from both sporocarps
and infected roots, were unsuccessful. Corner (1983) noted that G. philippii is
rather common and distributed from Burma (Myanmar) to the Solomon
Islands, being found on dead stumps in the forest and in the open, and parasitic
on roots of trees, especially Hevea.
Using the wood-block technique, sporocarps produced from mycelial
isolates obtained from samples with brown-root disease were confirmed as
those of P. noxius (Pegler and Waterston, 1968). Inoculated wood blocks also
had the characteristic pocket rot similar to that observed on the diseased roots,
indicative of rot caused by P. noxius.
Some roots were covered by a thin, black crust, which was easily mistaken
for necrotic tissue. The black crust was usually found on the roots of dead trees
where the wood had become yellowish-cream in colour, spongy and light.
Using the wood-block technique, hyphal isolates obtained from the black crust
yielded sporocarps, identified as Amauroderma parasiticum (Corner, 1983).
In addition to the root diseases reported here, a root disease associated
with the presence of white rhizomorphs of an unidentified fungus has also been
reported from A. mangium in Peninsular Malaysia (Lee, 1997). However, this
disease was not observed during the present study.

Pathogenicity Tests
Pathogenicity tests are presently being conducted on A. mangium saplings in
the FRIM nursery, and only preliminary results are reported here. Six-month-
old A. mangium plants were transplanted into large polybags (33 cm depth by
35.5 cm diameter) containing a 1 : 1 mixture of forest soil and padi husk (this
is the potting mixture normally used in the FRIM nursery). After the plants had
become well established, about 3 months later, they were inoculated using
branches (8 cm long by 1.5 cm diameter) of a rubber tree which had been well
colonized by the test fungi (the rubber-tree branches, with intact bark, were
inoculated using the same technique as described above for the inoculation
of the rubber-wood blocks). Three well-colonized branches were used to

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 Current Status of Root Diseases of Acacia mangium 77

inoculate each test plant, with the branches buried in close proximity to the
roots of the plant in the polybag. There were three replicates for each fungus
and the fungal isolates tested were P. noxius, the suspected Ganoderma and
A. cf. parasiticum.
About 2 months after inoculation, symptoms of root disease were obvious
on the plants inoculated with P. noxius and the suspected Ganoderma, while
those inoculated with A. cf. parasiticum remained symptomless. However,
different symptoms of root disease were observed on the plants inoculated
with P. noxius and the suspected Ganoderma. Those inoculated with P. noxius
exhibited progressive yellowing of the phyllodes, beginning with the tips of the
younger phyllodes, resulting ultimately in defoliation and death of the infected
plant. On the other hand, plants inoculated with the suspected Ganoderma
suddenly wilted without any yellowing symptoms, and died within 5 days after
the first symptoms were noticed.
Roots of plants inoculated with the suspected Ganoderma were covered by
a red mycelial mat but the fungus could not be successfully re-isolated from
the affected plants. This experiment is being repeated to confirm the results
presented here.
Pathogenicity of P. noxius was proven as the fungus was successfully
re-isolated from roots of the inoculated plants, which had rusty brown patches
under a crust of soil.
Plants inoculated with A. cf. parasiticum remained healthy even 6 months
after inoculation. It would appear that this fungus is not a primary pathogen of
A. mangium, but probably a secondary pathogen or weak parasite infecting
stressed trees or trees which have been weakened or killed by some other
agents. Corner (1983) recorded A. parasiticum as a parasite on the trunk of a
living tree of Knema (Myristicaceae) in a swamp forest in Singapore.

Conclusion
Large-scale burning has been a common feature of land clearing in South-East
Asia for conversion of forest or old tree stands into agricultural and industrial
plantations, or for replanting. In 1997 large-scale burning for land clearing,
and uncontrolled bush fires on the islands of Sumatra and Kalimantan in Indo-
nesia, resulted in severe atmospheric pollution which lasted for several months
over Singapore, Brunei, southern Thailand and large parts of Indonesia and
Malaysia. Widespread public outcry and political pressure from regional
governments resulted in the government of Indonesia declaring a ‘no burn’
policy for land clearing, with the imposition of hefty fines for those found guilty
of the offence. However, enforcement remains problematic.
In Malaysia, the Environmental Quality (Clean Air) Regulations 1978
prohibit open burning, but in the past open burning for land conversion and
replanting could be carried out under special contravention licences issued by
the Department of Environment. The large-scale adoption of the zero burning

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technique by oil-palm plantation companies in Malaysia in 1989 has allowed

oil-palm replanting to be done without violating the Environmental Quality
(Clean Air) Regulations 1978, and the technique has also been developed
for the replanting of oil palm and other plantation crops from logged-over
forests (Golden Hope Plantations Berhad, 1997). In the aftermath of the 1997
haze, the Malaysian government issued a directive prohibiting almost all
forms of open burning, and a law pertaining to this issue is presently under
consideration by the Attorney-General’s chambers.
While zero burning is environmentally friendly and results in total
recycling of plant tissues (the existing trees are felled, shredded and left to
decompose in situ), it also gives rise to several problems, such as increased
insect infestation and increased sources of root disease inocula. From the
disease point of view, the woody residues act as potential reservoirs and food
resources for the facultative parasitic root-disease fungi which live in the soil.
In second-rotation A. mangium plantations in Sumatra, where no burning was
carried out before replanting, there are already indications that losses due to
root diseases will be much more serious, with a higher incidence of the disease
in the young plantations and mortality occurring in younger plants. A.
mangium trees as young as 6 months old have been observed to be killed by
red-root disease (unpublished data) in such areas.
In view of the potential damage and losses that can be caused by root
diseases in A. mangium plantations, especially with the implementation of the
‘zero burning’/ ‘no burn’ policy by several South-East Asian governments, it is
important that further research be conducted to determine the sources of
inoculum, factors promoting the occurrence and spread of the disease, and
methods for prevention, management and control of the disease.

References
Almonicar, R.S. (1992) Two types of root rot diseases affecting Acacia mangium.
Nitrogen Fixing Tree Research Reports 10, 94–95.
Anonymous (1974) Root diseases Part 1: Detection and recognition. Planters’ Bulletin
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Arentz, F. (1986) Forest Pathology Lecture Notes. Papua New Guinea Forestry College,
Bulolo.
Arentz, F. and Simpson, J.A. (1988) Root and butt rot diseases of native plantation
species in Papua New Guinea. Paper presented at the Fifth International Congress
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Lee, S.S. (1985) Tree Diseases and Wood Deterioration Problems in Peninsular Malaysia.
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