Chondrostereum purpureum reduces the regeneration of gorse (Ulex europaeus) following application to cut stumps

摘要

Twenty four gorse (Ulex europaeus L.) bushes each about 1 m tall in a grazed hill pasture in Canterbury, New Zealand, were cut to near ground level in May 2005 before applying three treatments to determine if the stumps could be artificially infectedwith the fungus Chondrostereum purpureum (Pers.) Pouzar. The stumps of eight of the plants were treated with the mycelium of the fungus on agar, a further eight were treated with mycelium formulated as a slurry, and the remaining eight plants were left untreated. One year after treatment, fruiting bodies of the fungus (basidiocarps) were present in large numbers on 15 of the 16 treated stumps. Seventeen months after treatment (November 2006), half of the C. purpureum-tiQated stumps were dead, with an overall reduction in the volume of regenerating shoots of 64% as compared to the untreated bushes. These results confirm that C. purpureum has potential as a biological control agent for gorse.