Pathomycete Studies on Snow Mould of Spruce

Snow mould of spruce was reported for the first time in Western Tianshan in this paper. In some forest area of Aletaishan and Western Zhungeer Mountains, 41%~62% of the spruce seedlings was damaged by the disease, which was caused by the pathogens: Botrytis cinerea Pers., Sclerotinia sclerotiorum (Lib.) de Bary and Truncatella angustata (Pers. ex Lk) Hnghes. T. angustata is a new species recorded for the first time in China. Biological characteristics of the pathogens and the pathoginicity test have been conducted both in the field and in the lab. in Kaxi Nursery, Gongliu Forest Region. In the field, Microcomputer Figure Collection System was used to observe the temperature dynamics in the layers of snow and soil. Deep snow covers the ground from fall to late spring, so that the soil does not freeze at that time, which provides a suitable condition for the development of snow moulding.