Survival of the oak wilt fungus in air-dried lumber

The survival of the oak wilt fungus, Ceratocystis fagacearum (Bretz) Hunt, in air-dried red, white, and scarlet oak lumber was studied in South Carolina and West Virginia. The position of boards in the piles did not have a significant effect on culture recovery of C. fagacearum. The fungus was not recovered after the initial sample at set-up time in the summer harvested oaks in South Carolina nor beyond 28 days in West Virginia. In autumn harvested material recoverability was slightly longer, 28 days in South Carolina with one positive recovery at 70 days, and much longer in West Virginia with some recovery of C. fagacearum occurring at 140 days. Recovery of C. fagacearum from white oak at both locations was generally much lower than from red or scarlet oak during any given sample period.