Many apple trees are dying, growers and researchers are perplexed: why is this epidemic occurring in America? The hypotheses include climate change, but also parasites and pathogens. One thing is certain, we must intervene before it is too late.
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A mysterious epidemic is affecting apple trees in America
Many apple trees are dying, growers and researchers are perplexed: why is this epidemic occurring in America? The hypotheses include climate change, but also parasites and pathogens. One thing is certain, we must intervene before it is too late.
There is not a single explanation, but a number of factors that are contributing to the rapid decline of apples (Rapid Apple Decline RAD). The first symptoms are leaves that curl up on themselves and turn yellow and brown: in two weeks the tree dies.
It happens in North America where growers are alarmed, especially as the apple market yields $ 4 billion a year. But what could have caused this death?
According to PLOS ONE scientists, a notable contribution was made on the one hand by the summer drought and on the other by the harsh cold of winter. However, researchers also speak of parasites and pathogens.
“Whole rows of trees come down for no apparent reason. A farmer has lost 20 percent of his orchard, ”explains Kari Peter, a plant pathologist at Pennsylvania State University.
It is therefore understandable to think that there is a link with climate change, but the researchers assure that modern crops could also be in the dock. Apple trees have dense roots and are vulnerable to drought, pests and pathogens.
Some time ago, however, in the affected areas, researchers had noticed the presence of a species of beetles that weakens the trees and infests them. Could it be a related phenomenon?
While studying the compromised immune systems of these trees, the mystery remains. So we are only in the hypothesis phase.
“It wouldn't surprise me if we got more reports on the decline in apples. Nearly 80% of apple trees in North Carolina show signs of RAD, ”explains Sara Villani, a plant pathologist at North Carolina State University.
This isn't the first mysterious plague to hit apple trees. There was a similar problem in the 2013s and in XNUMX an epidemic devastated the orchards. But even on this the researchers are not unbalanced: it is not certain that the two phenomena are connected.
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Dominella Trunfio
