Evasive Planning for the Management of Eucalyptus Rust Austropuccinia psidii for Espírito Santo State, Brazil

Abstract

Eucalyptus is one of the most exploited forest genera on the planet. Eucalyptus has a variety of uses, mainly because of its great diversity and versatility. Brazil is among the main producers of cellulose, paper, and wood panels in the world. One of the factors limiting the production of Eucalyptus spp. is the occurrence of diseases such as rust caused by the fungus Austropuccinia psidii. This work aimed to map areas at risk of eucalyptus rust in the state of Espírito Santo, Brazil. The study was carried out in two stages: (i) mapping the rust risk areas in the state through the Geographic Information System (GIS) and (ii) applying fuzzy standardization to the infection index to generate a risk index. It was found through GIS and fuzzy standardization that most of the areas surveyed presented medium to high risk of rust occurrence. Thus, it becomes necessary to adopt complementary management measures to control the disease, especially for the months of April to November. The methodology used in this study can be implemented for other diseases and forest species in other parts of the world.