Modern aspects of biological control of Fomes and Armillaria1

Biological methods can help to control root-infecting fungi such as Fomes annosus and Armillaria mellea. For example, inoculation of pine stumps with the fungus Peniophora gigantea is widely used against F.annosus in Britain. Experiments arc in progress to determine whether similar methods can be used for stumps of other conifers. The main sources of infection by Armillaria are stumps of broad-leaved trees, which are often treated chemically to prevent regrowth. Some of these treatments promote colonization by saprophytic fungi that compete well with Armillaria. In experiments, direct inoculation of stumps combined with chemical treatment has given encouraging results.