Sudden Oak Death adds fuel to the fire

The Los Angeles Times reported yesterday that trees killed by Sudden Oak Death are making the fire raging near Big Sur burn hotter, spread faster and loom more periously over firefighters. The story says hundreds of thousands of oak trees in the area have succombed to the disease caused by the fungus-like organism Phytophthora ramorum.

For the article, Times reporter Deborah Schoch spoke to UC Davis plant pathologist David Rizzo. He said SOD has "reached its apex" in Big Sur.

"You look in some of these canyons, and you'll see 70 percent, 80 percent of tanoaks are dead," Rizzo was quoted. "The thing with Big Sur that's making it so bad is that's probably the worst place in the state for dead trees."

On the bright side, Rizzo said the fire won't completely douse SOD research efforts in the area.

"Even though our plots are burning up, from a research perspective, that's something we can take advantage of," he is quoted. "Hopefully, we can use this as a learning experience, in a sad way."

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