Proceedings of the symposium on current research on wood-destroying organisms and future prospects for protecting wood in use. September 13, 1989, Bend, Oregon

Abstract

In 1989 the Western International Forest Disease Work Conference and the Western Forest Insect Work Conference met jointly in Bend, Oregon, during the week of September 11-15, 1989. One of the 90-minute, concurrent workshops scheduled during this period was a discussion of the biology and present and future control strategies of wood-destroying organisms. This subject area has not traditionally been of concern to these two organizations, either as it might relate to protection of wood in use or to the degradation of wood in a forest environment. It was felt that many of the professionals attending the meeting would be interested in a discussion of current research in the general area of wood-destroying organisms and the future for protection of wood in service.

To ensure sufficient participation by knowledgeable pathologists and entomologists, the technical coordinators organized a day-long technical session on wood-destroying organisms, which emphasized state-of-the-art and future research needs and control practices. The subjects presented included: research on wood decay by the USDA Forest Service, new developments in wood-deterioration research from the International Research Group on Wood Preservation, methods for nondestructive evaluation of infestations and infections of wood-destroying insects and decay in structures, role of termites in forest management in Australia, chemotaxonomy of termites, agonistic behavior of termites, tunneling behavior of subterranean termites, bait/toxicant strategies for control of subterranean termites, and training of the pest control industry to utilize the new technologies.