000170972 001__ 170972 000170972 005__ 20260430151736.0 000170972 0247_ $$2doi$$a10.1016/j.foreco.2026.123779 000170972 0248_ $$2sideral$$a149039 000170972 037__ $$aART-2026-149039 000170972 041__ $$aeng 000170972 100__ $$aSerradó, Francesc 000170972 245__ $$aPrescribed burns can trigger Diplodia shoot blight in pine forests 000170972 260__ $$c2026 000170972 5060_ $$aAccess copy available to the general public$$fUnrestricted 000170972 5203_ $$aClimate change has increased the risk of wildfires, making fuel reduction a key objective in forest management. Prescribed burning is a widely used forest management practice to reduce fuel loads and wildfire risk. In NE Spain, prescribed burns were conducted in a Pinus nigra stand in autumn 2023 and winter 2024, after which extensive crown dieback resembling shoot blight symptoms was observed. Diplodia shoot blight is a disease that affects conifers around the world, particularly pine species. Diplodia shoot blight is caused by the fungus Diplodia sapinea, which shifts from an endophytic to a pathogenic state when the host is under physiological stress such as drought. To determine whether prescribed fire can trigger Diplodia shoot blight, we compared the severity of Diplodia shoot blight in areas subjected to prescribed burns with that of neighbouring control areas. Ground disease assessments were combined with satellite and drone-based multispectral and LiDAR measures. Shoot blight symptoms in burned areas were more than twice as severe as those in unburned areas. Diplodia sapinea was isolated from approximately 70% of pines showing shoot blight symptoms in burned areas. Temporal reconstruction of the outbreak using satellite-based normalised difference vegetation index values showed that the disease appeared after prescribed burning. Drone multispectral imagery combined with a random forest model was a reliable method for large-scale assessment of disease symptoms. When planning prescribed burns in pine forests, managers need to take Diplodia shoot blight into consideration to mitigate the risks of an outbreak. 000170972 536__ $$9info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/ES/MICINN/PID2021-127328OB-I00 000170972 540__ $$9info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess$$aby$$uhttps://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/deed.es 000170972 655_4 $$ainfo:eu-repo/semantics/article$$vinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion 000170972 700__ $$aCaballol, Maria 000170972 700__ $$aVendrell, Oriol 000170972 700__ $$0(orcid)0000-0002-8362-7559$$aDomingo, Dario 000170972 700__ $$0(orcid)0000-0003-2615-270X$$aRiva, Juan de la$$uUniversidad de Zaragoza 000170972 700__ $$aOliva, Jonàs 000170972 7102_ $$13006$$2010$$aUniversidad de Zaragoza$$bDpto. Geograf. Ordenac.Territ.$$cÁrea Análisis Geográfico Regi. 000170972 773__ $$g613 (2026), 123779 [7 pp.]$$pFor. ecol. manag.$$tForest Ecology and Management$$x0378-1127 000170972 8564_ $$s6839914$$uhttps://zaguan.unizar.es/record/170972/files/texto_completo.pdf$$yVersión publicada 000170972 8564_ $$s2610588$$uhttps://zaguan.unizar.es/record/170972/files/texto_completo.jpg?subformat=icon$$xicon$$yVersión publicada 000170972 909CO $$ooai:zaguan.unizar.es:170972$$particulos$$pdriver 000170972 951__ $$a2026-04-30-13:58:11 000170972 980__ $$aARTICLE