A Canker Disease of Seedlings and Saplings of Tetragastris panamensis (Burseraceae) Caused by Botryosphaeria dothidea in a Lowland Tropical Forest. Gregory S. Gilbert, Postdoctoral Fellow, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, P.O. Box 2072, Balboa, Ancon, Republic of Panama. Diane De Steven, Associate Professor, Department of Biological Sciences, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Milwaukee 53201. Plant Dis. 80:684. Accepted for publication 7 March 1996. Copyright 1996 The American Phytopathological Society. DOI: 10.1094/PD-80-0684.

Infection by Botryosphaeria dothidea was associated with stem canker and dieback of seedlings and small saplings of Tetragastris panamensis XBmseraceae) in the lowland tropical moist forest of Barro Colorado Island, Panama. Experimental inoculations in the field resulted in canker formation, reduced plant growth, and increased plant mortality. However, canker development was not a good indicator of the likelihood of mortality, as many inoculated plants died without forming cankers, and plants with cankers that resulted from either natural or experimental infection suffered less mortality than did canker-free plants.