Associations between local-scale soil and tree context factors and Acute Oak Decline (AOD): plant-soil feedbacks and the cause-effect conundrum

Acute oak decline (AOD), a decline syndrome affecting mature oaks, involves bacterial pathogens which likely act as opportunists under host stress. Trees displaying symptoms (bleeding cankers) appear in localized clusters, not whole stands.

This study investigates the potential involvement of local-scale factors, in interaction with large-scale environmental drivers, in influencing onset and progression of AOD.