The Infestation Degree of Trees with Common Mistletoe Viscum album L. and their Health Status (on the Example of Praszka City)

• Main Authors: Elżbieta Gołąbek, Jarosław Sławiński
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Polish Society of Ecological Engineering (PTIE) 2017-11-01
• Series: Journal of Ecological Engineering
• Subjects: common mistletoe; Viscum album L; degree of trees settlement; health condition of trees; Praszka
• Online Access: http://www.journalssystem.com/jeeng/The-infestation-degree-of-trees-with-common-mistletoe-Viscum-album-L-and-their-health,76831,0,2.html

The research was carried out in September and October 2013. Their main aim was to obtain the information on the abundance and distribution of the common mistletoe in Praszka, assess the health status of the trees infested with this semi-parasite, and to determine its impact on the health of the hosts. All the trees with mistletoe were examined (in terms of the species, the number of semi-parasite shrubs, the host health). The distribution and density hosts were presented on a prepared network with an area of 1 ha and Pearson's correlation factor was used to determine the relationship between the infestation degree of a host and its state of health. Only the typical subspecies of mistletoe – Viscum album L. subsp. album, which occupied 11 species of trees were found in the city of Praszka. These were mainly: black poplar Populus nigra L., small-leaved lime Tilia cordata L. and black locust Robinia pseudoacacia L. (they are also the most common or the frequent hosts in the country). The distribution of mistletoe in the city is uneven, and this is mainly due to the degree of urbanization, sunshine, noise, occurrence of the most common hosts as well as the presence of birds. It turned out that the largest groups of hosts were located along the roads in low building areas, on the peripheries of the city as well as in parks and cemeteries. The health condition of trees inhabited by mistletoe was generally good. There was a correlation between the number of mistletoe shrubs on the host and its health status (the greater the number of shrubs, the worse the health status of the host).