Managing root diseases by managing stands

Root diseases are important natural disturbance agents in forest ecosystems in the Pacific Northwest. The common root diseases are caused by fungi. Ro ot disease fungi inhabit roots, rather than soil. This helps them to avoid competition for food with saprophytic soil organisms. At landscape scales a nd over long time frames, the impacts of root diseases are considerable. Un derstanding the ecological roles of diseases, their impacts on resources, m anagement influences on them, and their effect on management is crucial to meeting ecosystem management objectives.