A pathogenic fungus gradually kills the centuries -old trees, changing whole ecosystems. There is no treatment. Scientists are trying to limit destruction. Read the subject of DW, which follows ….
Interview at DW
There are countless cafes, restaurants, taverns all over Greece that have borrowed its name. “The Platanos”. There should be no Greek who has no memories under his shadow and coolness. For future generations this experience will probably be unknown. The plane trees die by a pathogenic and extremely contagious fungus, for which there is no cure, as the forestry Nikoleta Souliotis, special for forest pathology at the Institute of Mediterranean Forest Ecosystems in Athens, explains to us.
“It is a fungus, a pathogen that did not exist in Europe and came in after World War II. In Greece we find it in the early 2000s, to place it there, with first places on the border of Ilia and Messinia in the Peloponnese. It is a pathogenic quarantine in the light that we have no therapeutic medium. We do not have any cure in our hands to control it with this methodology. So we’re talking about isolation. And isolation is not just a tree, but we must overall isolate an area with a series of actions to prevent spread. “
Spread with an epidemic rhythm
In the meantime, the disease has expanded to almost all of Western Greece and has reached Euboea, since, as the expert says, “unfortunately the eastern plane tree located in Greece is very vulnerable to this pathogen, that is, so far we have not found any resilience, neither in the field. The plane tree has the characteristic of being fully compatible with other plane trees next to him, so if he gets sick of a plane tree through his united underground roots, if we do not do any energy, he will continue a dominoes with very bad results. “
The disease has many ways of spreading, but a very important role in spreading it is played by man as a carrier of transmission in any forms that can hurt the underground and underground part. “Transferring tools that has not disinfected either wood or soil or anything else. If we think about how difficult it is to control man, this explains the size it has received in Europe and in Greece, ”says Nikoleta Souliotis.
Did not realize the problem
But how do the local communities affected by this ecological disaster react and to what extent have they realized the problem? The forestry’s response is typical: “To a large extent they did not understand this and I can attribute it to the fact that they had no corresponding examples in their own lives with something as destructive as this. There is great tragedy in all this. When we go to one point and the pathogen is still in the early stages, it is the time we can do some things and get good results, limit it, eliminate it. Unfortunately they cannot understand it, believe us. So the tragedy is that when everyone now understands the problem is the moment when nothing can happen. “
So will the plane trees from Greece completely disappear? The prediction is unfortunately not so optimistic.
“The population will be greatly reduced. We have already seen it in important rivers that adorned the plane trees. Especially in northern Greece in rivers such as Louros, Kalamas in Thesprotia, Acheron, in southern Greece in the rivers of the Peloponnese, Pinios, the rivers of Evia. It is slowly leaving, and we have terrible memories. Yes it will lose it in mass. There will be some remains of the genre in places where they will have some isolation. It will no longer be a common and so beloved species. It will be a rare species of our flora, “says Souliotis.
The consequences for ecosystems
The disappearance of the plane tree and its replacement of other species, which are often toxic to humans or animals, will have beyond the aesthetic and serious practical consequences for the country’s ecosystems, as the expert explains. “He’s a free engineer because he offered a terrible support for the slopes, like his roots. It is a natural technical project that is lost. “
With the evolution of the spread of the deadly fungus, all that can be hoped is to limit as much damage as possible, that the disease does not reach areas still untouched, such as the Ionian islands or Crete. To do so, we need to raise awareness and contribute from state services to every citizen.
“We have a new legislation, which has improvements that, if properly respected, will get better results in slowing down the pathogen. And to be able to save pieces of the country where the pathogen has not yet come in. For thousands of years man has been taking a recreation from this thing and in our days this will be a thing of the past. Little to think of some things as citizens and as managers, ”concludes Nikoleta Souliotis.
Source: DW | Costas Argyros
