Pathology of Forest Tree Seeds: Damage, Detection and Control, a Review

Abstract

The demand for seeds of high physiological and sanitary quality, for the production of healthy seedlings of native forest tree species, has grown in recent years due to forest restoration, recovery of degraded areas and restoration of riparian forests and landscapes. Scarce research has been performed in the field of seed health with the aim of identifying fungal species, detecting their participation in the deterioration process, and conductingpathogenicity tests and pathogen transmission. There are also few studies on seed treatment and conservation for the species of interest and, consequently, on plant diversity preservation, especially for seeds of trees native to tropical forests. The high species diversity of these plant formations demands even greater efforts to succeed in identifying and controlling the major pathogens associated with seeds of forest species.