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Special Issue on Scientific Session "Stem and Shoot Fungal Pathogens and Parasitic Plants: the Values of Biological Diversity"
The papers included in this Special Issue are based on contributions to a scientific session "Stem and Shoot Fungal Pathogens and Parasitic Plants: the Values of Biological Diversity" at the XXII IUFRO World Congress "Forests in the balance - linking tradition and technology", which was held at the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Center, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, 8-13 August 2005.
The session was organized by Simon Francis Shamoun and was sponsored by IUFRO Working Parties 7.02.11: Parasite Flowering Plants in Forests, and 7.02.02: Foliage, Shoot, and Stem Diseases.
The purpose of this session was to increase awareness within the scientific community, forest industry, and other interested agencies, of the importance of those parasites to biological diversity in forest ecosystems. Although forest parasites previously had been considered as nuisances or serious pests, they are now recognized as important agents to forest ecosystem function and processes. They affect and respond to forest biodiversity, dynamics, and productivity. Their significance, from diverse perspectives, includes both deleterious and beneficial consequences.
As parasites, they damage the host plant, but their interactions with, and effects on host species, community composition, and ecosystem function are complex and controversial. Preservation of the biological diversity of natural areas while controlling forest parasites is both a challenge and an opportunity. The challenge is to understand parasite niches more thoroughly, while the opportunity is to develop a wiser use of both timber and non-timber forest resources.
This Special Issue comprises eight presentations.