Financial assistance from aphis will facilitate the cooperator in carrying out the goals of the plant and animal disease, pest control, and animal care program number 10.031 by "conducting surveys and…

Financial assistance from aphis will facilitate the cooperator in carrying out the goals of the plant and animal disease, pest control, and animal care program number 10.031 by "conducting surveys and inspections to detect and appraise infestations, eradication and control activities, and carry out regulatory actions to prevent interstate spread of infestations and disease." (catalog of federal domestic assistance). Activities to be performed - alabama department of agriculture and industries (adai) plant protection specialists will survey for phytophthora ramorum in 33 nurseries containing high risk genera: camellia, rhododendron, viburnum, pieris, kalmia. A visual survey of all phytophthora ramorum hosts will be done, any symptomatic host will be sampled with field test kits. Field samples that come back positive for phytophthora will be shipped to the michigan state university plant and pest diagnostic lab to be analyzed for phytophthora ramorum. Any site where positive samples are pulled will immediately follow the phytophthora ramorum trace back and trace forward protocol. Deliverables and expected outcomes: the cooperator seeks to conduct a program which is expected to result in: determine if phytophthora ramorum has been introduced to alabama at the sites surveyed. To locate and isolate infestations while defining the limits of the infested area. To prevent the artificial spread of phytophthora ramorum from infested areas to non-infested areas through regulatory actions. To trace back any known infected nursery stock that has been shipped into the state. To trace forward any known infected nursery stock that has been shipped from the state. Intended beneficiary(IES): phytophthora ramorum is a devastating pathogen that causes sudden OAK death (SOD), ramorum leaf blight or ramorum dieback in oaks, tanoaks, and other plant species. This pathogen has the potential to ravage an abundance of the plants in the state of alabama's natural environment and countless ornamental plants of economic importance. The establishment of this pathogen in alabama's nursery industry would cause a great economic loss to one of the state's top agricultural industries, due to plant loss, increased production costs, and loss of marketing possibilities. Subrecipient activities, if known or specified at the time of award: michigan state university plant and pest diagnostic lab - analyze foliar samples.