Sudden oak death: geographic risk estimates and predictions of origins.

Ecological niche modelling techniques were applied to address the questions of the origins and potential geographic extent of sudden oak death, caused by the pathogen Phytophthora ramorum. Based on an ecological niche model derived from the phytopathogen's California distribution and distributions of potential host species, it was determined that the disease has high potential to colonize the southeastern United States, and that its likely source area is eastern Asia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]